Jobs to do in October

The leaves are starting to fall from the trees - there's lots of work to be done to stay on top of your garden this month. Follow our list of jobs to start preparing your garden for winter.

Lawn Care

You should keep on weeding your lawn whenever you need too and have a general garden tidy up in the borders – but you should not be giving your garden a thorough spring clean.

In October it is common in most places that the leaves fall from the trees. If left unchecked, large numbers of fallen leaves can block out any sunlight from reaching the grass and suffocate your lawn.

If there’s an abundance of fallen leaves on your lawn you should consider picking them up. You can do this easily with a garden rake, or more quickly with a garden vacuum like those from the Flymo range.

There are many good uses for fallen leaves. Why not make your own leaf mulch to insulate your tender plants over the snow period, or to make leaf mould, a helpful soil conditioner, but remember to clear up and burn diseased material, because you don’t want to be spreading that over your lawn or flower beds.

A last mow of your lawn can be done this month before you need to leave the lawn for the winter. If there are only a few leaves on your lawn, if you have a wheeled lawn mower, why not remove the grass box and drive over them. This will chop them up finely and enable them to breakdown and add their nutrients back into the soil.

By adding a slow release autumn lawn fertiliser to your lawn, you can then ensure that your grass has everything it needs to maintain its good look throughout the cold period.

Clean Out the Greenhouse

This is the perfect time of year to start a spring clean – in the greenhouse! Using warm soapy water inside and out, clean windows and remove any algae from the base and structure. Clean windows will allow the maximum amount of light to get in over the winter and keep it warm, but more importantly – it will help to prevent nasty pests from hibernating in there and allowing them to leap into action when the spring comes around.

Once the greenhouse is clean try taping bubble wrap top to bottom to the structure. This will help insulate it during the winter and help keep anything you are growing inside at a comfortable temperature.

Prepare the Soil

Your garden soil is one of the most precious things in the garden. Now is a good time to turn your soil and remove any weeds. Doing it now will reduce the amount of work you need to do in the spring. Adding mulch or soil conditioner like leaf mould will help create good soil for growing the following season.