October 2020
We had lovely September weather again here in Herefordshire, hot and dry and yet softened by exquisite light, and this glorious late-season weather seems a pattern emerging out of climate change, but we know it is all borrowed from summer and when October arrives with the accompaniment of rain, winds and plummeting temperatures at least it feels as though the balance of the seasons are reasserting themselves. In fact we can still have golden October days and as long as frost holds back, the flower borders are still full and rich with colour although visibly on the wane.
Last year October I returned from a filming trip in a Californian heatwave to find floods that meant I ended my journey from the airport by walking the last half mile to my house up to my waist in water - and the flooding remained to a greater or lesser degree right through to March - again, this seems to be a regular pattern resulting from climate change and as gardeners we have to learn to accommodate and adapt to it.
Flooding in this garden seems glamorous here - until it starts to get too close to the back door - because the garden is suddenly set in the middle of a huge lake, which is very beautiful. But it does leave a mess as well as thousands of weed seeds and of course areas get saturated and boggy. However this winter flooding enables moisture-loving plants like hostas, rodgersias, rheums and gunnera to cope much better with summer drought, so we plant accordingly.
And of course the autumnal colours roll in and light up our trees, shrubs and hedges for the few weeks before they all come streaming down - and we start the weeks-long task of collecting each and every one to make into leaf mould.
BOOKS
‘MY GARDEN WORLD’ was published on September 17th and reprinted three times in the first 24 hours after publication, going straight into The Sunday Times best-seller charts at #2. It seems that the book has chimed with the experiences of so many people who have connected closely - often for the first time - with the fascinating nature world on their doorstep.
‘AMERICAN GARDENS’ was published on Sept 22nd - delayed from last May because of the pandemic - and has had some very favourable reviews - not least because of Derry Moore’s stunning photographs. I can’t wait to able to get back to the States and revisit old friends and discover more wonderful gardens.
What to do in the garden this month:
If you do not already posses them, invest in horticultural fleece and some cloches. The point is that these are only useful if you have and employ them before you need them and there is no guarantee that there will not be a hard frost in October. Cloches are very good for rows of vegetables, keeping them dry as well as warm (although I always leave the ends open – happy to trade some heat for some ventilation) and fleece is the best temporary protection against frost, either laid out over small plants or draped over shrubs and bushes.
Bring tender plants in under cover before they need protection. In my garden this includes Bananas, salvias, citrus, pomegranates, olives, pelargoniums, succulents, fuchsias, eucomis and hedychiums but NOT dahlias and cannas, which can be left in situ until the first signs of frost damage have affected them. Then they can be cut back, dug up and bought indoors to check over before storing in old potting compost in a cool, dark place where they will stay alive but not grow over winter.
Keep deadheading throughout October, particularly the equatorial plants like dahlias. This will extend their flowering season and squeeze the last bloom from them.
Save yourself a fortune by collecting seeds from perennial plants, using paper (not polythene) bags. Always label seed packets immediately. Store in a cool, dry place until ready for sowing.
It is not too late to take cuttings and there is no more satisfying process in the garden if it is successful. Choose healthy non-flowering growth, use a sharp knife and very free draining peat-free compost (add an equal measure of grit or perlite to the compost) and keep the humidity high. Most things will strike now and overwinter successfully without needing potting on.
It is worth taking trouble to store the fruit so that it lasts as long as possible. Only store perfect apples, which discounts all windfalls. Pick apples by gently lifting and twisting so that it comes away easily in your hand and handle them as though as fragile as an egg to avoid any bruising. Store them so that they are not touching in boxes or trays, somewhere cool, but frost-free, dark and not too dry. A cellar, shed or cool garage is usually ideal.
You can plant or move deciduous trees shrubs and hedges even if they are still in leaf as they have finished growing and the soil is still warm so the roots will begin to grow immediately. It is essential, of course, to give them a really good soak when you do so and to repeat this weekly until the ground is really wet or the leaves have fallen. But if you are planting or moving a number of trees or shrubs, it is best to start with any evergreens before deciduous plants as they need to maximise root growth before winter kicks in.
Plant or move biennials such as forget-me-nots, wallflowers, foxgloves, onopordums and mulleins. Dig up healthy verbena bonariensis, cut back and pot up to use to take cuttings next spring and take cuttings of penstemons and salvias.
Continue planting spring bulbs but wait another month for tulips.
SOW SWEET PEAS - By sowing sweet peas in October you will have bigger plants with a stronger root system that should give flowers next spring earlier and last longer. But the disadvantage is that these young plants will need storing and some protection over winter if the weather is bad. So I sow some now and another batch in February and spread the risk.
I sow three seeds in a three inch pot although root-trainers also do the job very well. Use a good potting rather than seed compost. Put them to germinate on a windowsill or greenhouse and once the first leaves have grown, place outside in a cold frame or protected spot. They only need protection from hard frosts, mice and becoming sodden, so do not provide any extra heat. They will be ready to plant out in April.Cut back and compost all rotting foliage in the borders but leave as much winter structure as possible.
Start digging any ground that you want to replant this winter or use next spring. Doing it at this time of year means that it is accessible, dry and there is more daylight to do it in! But if this seems daunting do 30 minutes a week in two 15 minute sessions. Leave the soil in large slabs for the weather to break down over winter.
If you have raised beds – and if not October is an ideal month for making them - mulch them with an inch or so of garden compost as they become clear, leaving the worms to work it in ready for sowing or planting next spring.
Unless the weather is bad most leaves do not start falling until November but gather them all and store every last one – nothing makes for a better soil conditioner or potting medium. If you do not have somewhere to store them sort this out early in the month. A simple bay made from four posts and chicken wire is ideal.
Sow ‘Aquadulce’ broad beans outside for an early harvest next May or June and Sow sweet peas in pots and over-winter in a cold frame.
Keep cutting the grass for as long as it keeps growing, however it is better to have the grass too long than too short over the winter months. Rake out thatch and moss and add to the compost heap.
Cut off any hellebore leaves that are obviously diseased and mulch around spring-flowering perennials with a 50: 50 mix of last year’s leaf mould and garden compost.
Prune climbing roses - Climbing roses flower on shoots grown the same spring so they can be pruned hard now. (Rambling roses on the other hand produce their flowers on shoots grown the previous summer so should only be pruned immediately after flowering.) Start by removing any damaged or crossing growth or any very old wood which can be pruned right back to the ground. The main stems should be fanned out at an equidistance as horizontally as possible, tying them to wires or a trellis. Then all the side shoots growing from these main stems - which produced this year’s flowers - can be reduced to a short stub of a couple of leaves. The effect should be a tracery of largely horizontal growth with pruned side-shoots running along their length. Finally make sure it is all tied firmly in to avoid winter damage.
We give our deciduous hedges - hornbeam, hawthorn and field maple - a light trim in October which keeps them crisp right through the winter and looks really good when everything else has sunk into decline.
The tree fern, Dicksonia, is not reliably hardy although it is quite happy down to about minus 5. If you are really worried and have the space you can dig them up (they have minimal roots in the ground) and keep them in pots in a frost-free place until Spring. But there is no need to bring them in under winter cover if you protect them where they need protecting most.
The secret is to make sure that the central soft inverted cone at the top of the stem (it is not really a trunk as it is made up of rods of root) is unable to fill with water that can then freeze. The easiest way to do this is to pack it with straw which both insulates and acts as a sponge. I change this straw once or even twice during the winter. Then I bandaged a thick layer of fleece around the vulnerable top 6-9 inches of the stem to provide extra insulation. The leaves will die back anyway so need no care and the lower part of the trunk is not the crucial growing point, so this can remain unprotected too.
