Garden Chores for October

Hello friends, can you believe that October is here already? I just read that this September has been colder than normal, and that this winter is going to be milder and much wetter. As the weather cools and more rains come, it's time to ready the garden for the winter months. This will be the last monthly to-do until the gardening season starts up again in March. 

Hello autumn! The daylight is waning, and there is a distinct chill in the air in the evenings. The sun is no longer as piercingly bright during the day, and the crisp sunny days are punctuated by more frequent spells of wet weather.

The main actors on stage in the garden theater this month are the panicle hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, Japanese anemones, sedums, Russian sage and ornamental grasses. Zinnias, cosmos and dahlias will continue to flower if you have been deadheading the faded blooms all summer long, though not as floriferously, as they do prefer the heat; however, they will plod on with a display till the first frost. 

This is a good time to assess your garden and think about lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials this month, or wait till spring. The soil will be warm enough for plants to put down root growth until the cold weather really hits. The only exceptions are ornamental grasses which do not do well if you try to divide them now. Leave them until you see a flush of new growth in the spring before you dig and divide.

October is perfect for planting bulbs for spring/summer color, such as crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths or ornamental onions. Fall is also a good month to move and transplant shrubs or trees once their leaves have dropped and have gone into dormancy. Consider leaving seedheads of flowering perennials up and not cleaning up too much plant debris to help wildlife overwinter.