10
Mid autumn
What to plant in October
Seedheads and rusty leaves. Time to plant for spring and tuck the garden in for winter.
Sow indoors
- Sweet peas in root trainers
Sow outdoors
- Broad beans 'Aquadulce'
- Hardy peas
- Garlic (push cloves in pointy-end up)
Flowers to plant
- Tulips (plant)
- Bare-root roses (plant)
- Spring bulbs you forgot in September
Herbs to grow
- Parsley (under cloche)
- Lift mint into a pot for winter cropping
Beginner tips
- ✦Tulips later are better — late October to November stops fungal disease.
- ✦Cure pumpkins in the sun for two weeks before storing — they keep till spring.
Common mistakes
- ✕Planting tulips in September — they sulk and rot.
- ✕Cutting back all perennials — the dead stems protect the crown from frost.
Small garden & pot options
- · A pot of tulips planted now will explode in April
- · Wallflowers in window boxes for winter colour
Raised bed suggestions
- · Garlic 15 cm apart, 5 cm deep
- · Broad beans 20 cm apart, sown direct under cloches
Plant this month
If you only do one thing in October…
- →Garlic
- →Tulip bulbs (end of month)
- →Bare-root roses
- →Spring bulbs
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