While gardeners up north are mainly performing maintenance tasks come October, their counterparts in warmer areas are still able to grow lots of fresh goodies. No matter where you live, there are plenty of garden tasks to keep you busy all throughout the month. Here are a few to-dos to add to your list.
All Regions
Send a sample of your soil into your local cooperative extension to be tested, and add any amendments they recommend. Clean up your garden beds by removing any dead plant material. Use any disease-free garden debris to start a new compost pile. If you don’t already own one (and would rather not construct one yourself), invest in a compost bin. Rake any fallen leaves from your lawn and garden. You can compost these as well—just shred them first for easier decomposition. As soon as the weather becomes cooler, plant any new trees and shrubs you want to grow for the following year. Keep them well-watered until the ground freezes through (at which point water will not be able to seep down to their roots). Plant any cool-season annuals. Cover your mums, asters, and other fall flowers on nights where the forecast calls for frost. This will extend their blooming season and ensure they don’t meet an early death. Save seeds from some of your season’s most successful varietals. Harvest and dry them out, then place them in a paper envelope, writing the plant name and year on it before putting the envelope in an airtight container. Store in a cool, dark, dry location. Harvest and preserve herbs for cooking. They can be either dried or frozen. Remove any green tomatoes left on your tomato plants. Harvest your winter squash once their vines die back or, at the very latest, before a hard freeze. Winter squash is ready for picking when its rind is hard enough that you can’t penetrate it with your fingernail. Continue to pick your cool-season crops (whether they’re underground crops like beets or cold crops like cauliflower) whenever they are ready. Failing to stay on top of the harvest can slow your plants down prematurely.
Mid-Atlantic
In October, the Mid-Atlantic region can see both moderate temperatures and some residual hot weather. Take full advantage of the moderate days—your garden will appreciate the extra attention.
In portions of Pennsylvania that fall in zone five, plant spring bulbs. Take cuttings from plants that you want to propagate.
Midwest
Although the Midwest still sees some hot weather in October, the trend is clearly to more moderate temperatures, which means good times in the garden.
Continue to withhold water from both evergreen and deciduous trees in the first part of October, which will help prepare them for winter. Resume watering late in October, after the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves. In zones four and five, plant spring bulbs. Continue to divide perennials as needed. Winterize your rose bushes, especially hybrid tea roses and other modern hybrids.
Northeast
October in the Northeast can be the best of times, although the weather varies greatly from year to year. Regardless, you will want to spend as much time in the garden as possible, because wintry weather is not that far away.
Continue to withhold water from both evergreen and deciduous trees in the first part of October. This will help them prepare for winter. Resume watering late in October, after the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves.In zones four and five, plant spring bulbs.Continue to divide perennials as needed.
Pacific Northwest
October brings an average high of 61 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low of 47 degrees Fahrenheit to Seattle. The Pacific Northwest also resumes its legendary wetness in October after being relatively dry in summer.
Continue to plant shrubs and trees.Protect leafy greens from October’s heavy rains and gusty winds with row covers.
Pacific Coast
October weather in Northern California is moderate. For example, the average high in San Francisco is 69 degrees Fahrenheit, while the average low is 54 degrees Fahrenheit; additionally, you’ll get about four days of rain. Southern California gets a little cooler and a little wetter, with an average high of 79 degrees Fahrenheit, an average low of 59 degrees Fahrenheit, and an average of three days of rainfall.
In Northern California:
Plant cool-season annuals such as African daisy, Iceland poppy, larkspur, lobelia, pansy, petunia, phlox, snapdragon, stock, sweet alyssum, sweet pea, and viola. Water them frequently, especially during hot spells. Fertilize and water your roses, but do not prune them yet. Sow cool-season vegetables like beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, radishes, spinach, and turnips. Fertilize azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, and rhododendrons with a mixture made for acid-loving plants. This is your last chance to prune your oleander bushes. If you prune them any later, you’ll encourage the plant to generate new growth that can be damaged by winter’s cold. Later pruning also means a reduction in flowers for next year (since you’ll be removing flower buds).
In Southern California:
Pre-chill cool-climate bulbs (daffodils, crocus, hyacinth, and tulips) before planting. Plant warm-climate bulbs such lily of the valley and dahlia.
Hawaii
The average high in Honolulu in October is 87 degrees Fahrenheit, while the average low is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll get, on average, eight days of rain.
Prune your avocado trees. Prune your mango trees. Prune your Plumeria trees.
Southwest
In the high desert, temperatures start to dip in October. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example, expect an average high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low of 36 degrees Fahrenheit; you will get about five days of rain. Even Phoenix, Arizona, evens out a bit in October: You will have an average high of 89 degrees Fahrenheit, an average low of 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and hardly any rain.
Plant herbs such as cilantro, dill, fennel, and parsley. Seed quick-growing cool-season vegetables such as carrots, lettuce, radishes, and spinach. Transplant seedlings of broccoli and cabbage. Dig up summer-blooming bulbs. Plant strawberries.
Southeast
The weather in the Southeast can become a bit more moderate in October. Atlanta, Georgia will see an average high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low of 54 degrees Fahrenheit, with seven rainy days.
Water your plants during dry spells, especially any trees and shrubs planted this fall, plus winter and spring bloomers. Plant a cover crop in your vegetable garden. Harvest sweet potatoes before your first frost. Continue to plant perennials.
