Just when you thought that the gardening season was drawing to a close – It’s really the beginning of the season! You can start to plant some crops for next season such as Garlic, Peas and Broad beans. Garlic needs a period of cold so make sure to get some in the ground now in time for the first frosts.
Tidy garden borders – dying plants can be an eyesore and need cutting back. You can also cut down herbaceous stems and clear the tatty remains of annuals, but it is a good idea if you leave perennials like sedum, astilbes and grasses as they will provide winter interest as well as some much needed wildlife shelter. Ladybirds appreciate winter quarters and will repay your hospitality by disposing of aphids in industrial quantities next year.
Flower Garden
- Finish planting spring bulbs
- Cut back chrysanthemums and put in the greenhouse if necessary
- Cloche Christmas roses
- Protect tender plants from frost
- Cut back herbaceous plants
- Stop (pinch out the top shoot) autumn sown sweet peas
- If your soil is free draining plant out rooted cuttings of carnations and pinks
Veggie Garden
- Plant garlic
- Plant new fruit trees and prune existing wall-trained fruit
Sow Broad beans and Peas. Broad beans and Peas can go straight in the ground in the UK at this time of year. Put a cloche or some fleece over them just to get them going. In colder places put a sturdy cover over them if you’re expecting a hard frost. They will grow slowly over the winter and then put a spurt on it in early spring and be the first ones to fruit. You need to sow overwintering varieties, for example, Aquadulce for Broad beans and Douce Provence for Peas.- Dig heavy soils and leave in clumps for the frost to break down
- Pick off any yellow leaves from Brussels Sprouts
- Harvest winter Cabbage, Leeks and Parsnips
- Lift Chicory and Rhubarb for forcing. Rhubarb crowns should be at least three years old
- Bring in the last of the dried beans such as Runner and French
Forcing Bulbs for Winter Colour Indoors
General Garden Jobs
- Wash your pots and seeds trays thoroughly in soapy water.
- Clean and oil your tools
- Order some seed catalogues
- Check your guttering and water butt
- Also, this is the time to be looking at the bulbs you’re forcing for Christmas to be sure that they get the right conditions to be in bloom on Christmas Day, whether that’s greenhouse, cold frame, airing cupboard or just a couple more weeks under the stairs.
