What to do in your garden now in October
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness… (John Keats)
In your:
plus:
In general
Join the fun at Apple DayApple Day
At Garden Organic Ryton on Sunday, 5th October 2008 from 10am to 5pm
You can bring along your garden apples for identification, sample apple recipes and watch cookery demonstrations. There are hundreds of apple varieties on display on the day to buy, the apple orchard can be explored and you can even pick up gardening advice from Garden Organic’s expert advisors.
Grow healthy plants
Garden Organic advisors are running an afternoon course on 11th October that will show you how to recognise and diagnose common garden pests and diseases, and show you how to deal with problems if they arise.
Pumpkin Day
Celebrate the pumpkin harvest by visiting Ryton Organic Gardens on Pumpkin Day on the 26th October! There will be lots of activities and fun for everyone.
Time for a tidy up?
As plants start to die back this month, the 'tidying up for winter' emotion tends to take hold. It's easy to sweep and clean, cut back and trim, but is it best for the garden? See the Vegetable garden and Ornamental garden sections for tips on looking after beneficial creatures.
Soil needs a cover over winter: nature doesn't like bare earth. Weeds will germinate rapidly once suppressing plant cover is removed. It’s not too late to sow the green manure, field beans in mild areas, alternatively mulch the soil with autumn leaves or leafmould instead.
- Recycle and reuse: all that garden 'rubbish' can be put to good use and turned into garden compost. Don't burn it - compost it! Either pile material into a container, or just make a tidy heap, cover it up, and let everything decompose over the winter months. You'll have a wonderful soil improver ready for next spring - and it's free!
Compost it!Our step by step booklet Composting tells you everything you need to know to turn your garden waste into compost. Available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue. -
Leafmould compost - Start collecting leaves this month to make a leafmould compost. It is
an excellent soil conditioner and particularly useful as a winter cover
for bare soil and as a moisture-retentive mulch.
Leafmould is low in nutrients, so will not cause the problem of leaching that can result from leaving compost or manure exposed over winter.
Planning for next season
Next year's catalogues will soon start to plop through letter boxes throughout the land. Take some time to plan for next year's crops - vegetables and flowers. Look for resistant varieties to avoid pest and disease problems.
Out now!The 2009 Organic Gardening Catalogue
All you need for your garden - seeds, plants, equipment
everything for the organic gardener
Online at: www.OrganicCatalogue.com- This section of our website - What to do in your garden now - is produced by the Knowledge Development Section. If you are a Garden Organic member, you also have access to our full range of factsheets and other useful information on this website, and to our Organic Gardening helpline - by email, phone and letter. More information here about Garden Organic membership.
Organic Gardening "Do's"
A checklist for going organic in your garden
Top of pageGarden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
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