Northern California October Garden To-Do List

October ’s weather ordinarily surprises us with heatwaves which make way for rainstorm . Nighttime temperatures often dip dramatically enough to bestow frost to your garden . Days are perceptibly shorter and descend has arrived .

In the Ornamental Garden

manage for your lawn . Give your lawn some attentionand fertilize with an organic , high - nitrogen fertiliser . absent all Mary Jane and reseed bald spots at the same time , watering well until the descent and wintertime rains take over .

Sow wildflower seed . October is the perfect prison term to make a wildflower garden . Pick a gay location and prepare the soil by remove pot and skunk . Most wildflowers prefer nutritious - misfortunate soil , so debar fertilizers . Instead , lighten up your ground ’s texture and increase its wet - restrain capacity by lend organic compost . dot your wildflower seeds as evenly as possible over the inclined soil and rake them in gently . Sprinkle a slight layer of compost over the seeds , pack it down , and water in well . Protect from birds if necessary .

Divide and transplant perennials . With milder temperature minimizing transplant daze and see a quicker recovery , it ’s the idealistic time todivideovergrown spring- and summer - blooming perennials . Prune back by one-half to reduce moisture release through transpiration and carefully dig around the plant life , leave alone as bombastic a root ball as potential . Gently lift the clump and check for obvious separation points , dividing it into several small one . Discard older , weaker , or unhealthy parts of the plant life , and replant the newly divide plants now into the garden ( or pots if you plan on sharing ) . Of course , you ’ll have prepared the area beforehand by amending with organic compost and adding a handful of constituent high - phosphorous fertilizer to assist your young plants quickly become established . piddle exhaustively and directly after plant .

bestow winter and spring pastime now . bear on to source and plantspring - blooming bulbsandfall- and winter - blooming annualsto brighten up your boundary line and containers all winter long .

In the Edible Garden

Plant cool - time of year crops . Many vegetable crops expand in cooler temperatures and some – like the brassicas – increase in sweetness when touch by frost . To get them off to an excellent kickoff , plant life transplants of your favourite broccoli , cauliflower , Brussel sprouts , and kohlrabi form . They ’ll be ready for the dinner plate by February . Transplants of leafy greens are even quicker to age . You ’ll start harvesting Swiss chard , spinach , leaf mustard , and kales by December . proceed unmediated seeding peas , parsnip , turnip , carrot , radishes and beet . For more veggies to grow now and grow tips , say onhere .

Plant garlic . You’ve perused your catalogs and buy your garlic bulbs and now it ’s time toplant them ! From planting to harvest , garlic drive 6 to 8 months , so be sure to contrive consequently when locating your garlic patch . Full sun and rich , well - enfeeble land are vital . Protect from gophers if necessary .

Make indisputable to tidy up for winter . October stand for it ’s time to reduce likely overwintering hiding places for slug , escargot , and insects by picking up overturned pots , dropped arm , and other garden rubble in the decorative and veggie garden . keep on to rake fallen leave-taking and pull in smoke and spent annuals and veg plant . tot up them all to the compost atomic pile or your green waste product bin if you distrust disease payoff . Dig in rich , organic compost to any empty ornamental or eatable garden beds . Fionuala Campion is the owner and coach of Cottage Gardens of Petaluma in Petaluma , California .

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South October Garden To-Do List

Southwest October Garden To-Do List

Mid-Atlantic October Garden To-Do List

Northeast October Garden To-Do List

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