October Horticulture Hints

October and November bring some of our most beautiful days. Usually the terrible heat of summer is past, but we still have mild, pleasant days to spend outside. We will not admit to ourselves that a damaging freeze looms just over the horizon, or that a frost may send our tender tropicals to the ground in a matter of hours. We go about in a blissful state of denial, lollygagging through the pleasant fall days. Time passes, until one day a chill in the air rouses us from our stupor. We realize that winter is coming, and thousands of things need to be done in the garden.

October Garden Tasks

·         Summer annuals must be pulled and composted or discarded.

·         Winter- and spring-blooming annuals must be selected and planted.

·         Container plants that have spent the summer outside must be brought in or placed in sheltered locations.

·         Hardy herbs can be planted in the herb garden or in pots or borders.

·         Spring- and summer- blooming perennials can be divided now, and it is the best time of year to plant new perennials, bulbs, trees, and shrubs.

·         Many flower seeds can be planted now, and it is time to start the winter vegetable garden.

·         Collect seeds from cleome, cosmos, sunflower, and zinnia for next year.

Plant Hardy Perennials, Bulbs, and Annuals 

Search out the garden centers for hardy bulbs and perennials to add to your landscape. Good bets for fall planting are amaryllis, phlox, salvia, Stoke’s aster, crinum, daylily, iris, gingers, black-eyed Susan, and others. Do not expect a show, however, until next spring.

Gardeners know that they will miss out on some of nature’s most beautiful flowers if they fail to plant seeds of hardy annuals. Now is the window of opportunity to plant such annuals as alyssum, bachelor’s buttons, calendula, delphinium, larkspur, petunia, snapdragon, sweet pea, and poppy. Some have been started for you and can be purchased in containers from garden centers. Look for pansy, viola, nemesia, diascia, and snapdragons to dress up your winter borders.

Plant Hardy Herbs and Vegetables

Now is a great time to plant a few herbs in the garden or in containers near the kitchen for easy access. Perennial herbs such as sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and chives will grow for many years. Biennials such as dill, fennel, and parsley will spice up many a dish as well as grow a good crop of black swallowtail butterflies. Many spicy greens, such as arugula, swiss chard, lettuces, spinach, and other greens of winter can be grown in the garden or in containers. Don’t forget to add a few edible flowers such as pansy, viola, calendula, and nasturtium to dress up your dishes. Plant seeds of nigella and chamomile for spring flowers.

Winter vegetables to plant include beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, garlic, and greens such as turnip, mustard, and kale. Include some onions and radishes to spice up the greens. Plant strawberries now for a spring harvest.

Other Gardening Tasks

● Dig caladium tubers and store in a frost-free place for the winter. I dig mine, let them dry in the shade, remove the foliage and roots, and put them in a single layer in nursery trays. I tie a label to each tray on which I have written the name or color of the caladiums. Then I place them on a shelf in the garage. Never have I lost any of the bulbs to rot or diseases.

● Fertilize lycoris and other cool-weather bulbs and annuals during their first days of growth.

● Refrigerate tulip and hyacinth bulbs. If refrigerated now and planted in January, they will have met their chill requirement. Be sure to keep bulbs away from fruits and vegetables as they give off gasses that inhibit flower development.

● Collect seeds from summer-blooming flowers. Let them dry thoroughly and store in a sealed container in a cool place.

● Use lawn clippings and vacuumed leaves and pine needles to mulch tender plants and bulbs.

● Sow annual rye grass at the first of the month if you want a green lawn this winter. Fertilize with a complete fertilizer after you have mowed a few times.

● Divide ferns and spring and summer-blooming perennials and replant them in prepared beds. Plants divided in fall have time to establish a good root system and are better able to handle the rigors of summer. Divide fall- and winter-blooming perennials in spring.

● Check camellias, hollies, banana shrubs, and other evergreen shrubs for scales and mites. Horticulture oil can be used during the cool weather to control these insects.

● Plant trees and shrubs in fall’s favorable weather. Choose strong trees that are likely to stand up to hurricane-force winds. Some of our most wind-tolerant trees are bald cypress, crepe myrtle, dogwood, Japanese maple, live oak, southern magnolia, pindo palm, sabal palm, and red bay. Avoid planting laurel oak, redbud, cherry laurel, drake elm, sand pine, and water oak near structures because they may topple during strong winds.

● Prepare beds and plant winter-flowering annuals. (pansy, viola, nemesia, diascia, and snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale, sweet alyssum)

• Be sure they are in a sunny place, and incorporate a two- or three-inch layer of organic matter into the soil. Peat, manure, compost, or well-decomposed pine bark are all great sources of organic matter. Usually, beds need to be dug or tilled thoroughly to a depth of at least six inches.
• Mix fertilizer into the planting bed. One to two pounds of balanced garden fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed area is about right. A light sprinkling of fertilizer every four to six weeks will keep your plants growing vigorously. Use of slow-release fertilizer will lessen the need for frequent fertilization.
• Space plants in the beds so that they are not crowded. The top of the root ball should be even with the top of the ground when the planting job is finished. Mulch beds with organic mulch.
• Water thoroughly after the plants are set out. This is necessary to settle the soil around the roots and to drive out air pockets within the soil. Water daily until the plants are established, and then water only as needed. Pinch or prune spent flowers as they fade. This will keep them blooming all winter and spring.