October is often a lovely time to be in the garden. The autumn colours on the nursery are already here. If the weather is good, we are hoping for some stunning days outside!
Time spent tidying up your garden this month will give you a head start and yield better results when it comes to spring next year.
Here are our top tips for things to do in October:
Tidy and compost fallen leaves
It’s important to sweep up fallen leave. They can harbour fungal spores and are a great hiding place for slugs, snails and adult vine weevils. Composting is a good way to make use of this debris. Plus it will give you a good quality leaf mould to use in the future.
Harvest and store apples
Hopefully your fruit trees will have produced a good crop and now is the time to start enjoying them. Remove any diseased fruit from the branches so they can’t infect next year’s crop. Also clear away fallen fruit from the ground.
Clear away weeds and encroaching grass from around this season’s planting
It’s a good idea to have one final weeding session around trees, hedging and shrubs that have been planted this year before the cold weather sets in. Not only does it leave your garden looking neat and tidy over winter. It means that weeds are not using vital nutrients and water supplies needed by the plants. Plus it will help them to overwinter better giving you a head start in the spring next year.
Finally, don’t forget to place your orders for rootball and bareroot hedging and trees. We will be starting to lift the hedging plants from November onwards until spring. The earlier in winter you plant your bareroot and rootball plants, the more time they will have to establish before spring next year.
Need specific advice? Just ask!
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We’d be delighted to offer our suggestions for your needs and site conditions. Simply contact us at enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or call 01723 862406.