The early days of October swept through and in Gloucestershire we were nudged by the edge of Hurricane Amy as it headed north. Generally, the days were kind and the bedding plants continued to perform and most notably Dahlias have been wonderful. The colour is changing though, and leaves are falling and so will begin the big clean up.

If you haven’t done so already get lifting any bedding that you might wish to keep. The geraniums have been great but will want shelter if you hope to keep them for next year. Having mentioned Dahlias, they too will need lifting or very generously mulching. If you have any Busy Lizzies or Begonias (whilst you will not want to save them all) pot one or two for the kitchen window sill. They will give some extended performance across the next couple of months. The more garden debris you can get to the compost heap the better but do be mindful of the fact that vermin enjoy the warmth of the heap and I have already had rats to attend to.

You can include a bit of pruning in the tidying plan, with fruit trees and roses coping with a restorative trim, clipping out the dead, broken or overcrowded growth of trees and shrubs. Keep it gentle, you are just protecting the integrity of plants if the weather turns rough. Check out supporting structures too, rickety trellis, canes and tree stakes all want to be stable.

I am still playing with a few salad bits from seed (if you like radishes, try a few in a large pot with a bit of shelter, they romp. The big deals on the vegetable front now are the Aquadulce broad beans and garlic. You certainly need to crack on with the beans, they will sulk a bit once the ground becomes cold and soggy (but they are certainly worth the trouble). Garlic benefits from late planting, the bulb deciding it’s time to grow, once it has had a bit of cold. Cloves grow well in slightly lighter ground and are easy. Just break off the cloves from the bulb and pop them in pointed end upwards. In the flower borders you can still be planting bulbs and pansies.

And finally, bare root hedging will be available in the coming days and if you are after a hedge, bare is best and cheapest.

Happy Gardening

Chris Evans
www.dundrynurseries.co.uk
www.thebutterflygarden.org