Flower Garden - October

Continue to plant bulbs in the open garden. Enrich the soil in the planting hole with a sprinkling of J. Arthur Bower’s Bonemeal.

This is also a good time of year to plant new shrubs and perennials. The warmth in the soil will help them to get quickly established. Be generous with the planting mixture and be sure to water in well in dry weather.

At this time of year the amount of material suitable for composting multiplies alarmingly. Summer bedding, trimmings from perennials and fallen leaves will all rot down, so don’t waste them. Use up all your existing homemade compost to mulch around established borders or to add to planting mixtures for new acquisitions. Then start a new compost heap. Always mix together the different materials – this helps decomposition. Whether you favour a purpose-made compost container, such as those supplied by local councils, or an open heap, you’ll find that the addition of a compost activator will help you produce high quality compost easily and cheaply. Choose from the J. Arthur Bower’s Garotta Granules, Activ8 Organic Compost Maker or New Horizon Organic Liquid Compost Maker.

October is a good time of year to move established evergreens and conifers. Get a friend to help and dig them up with the biggest rootball you can manage. Prepare the new planting site well with lots of your favourite planting mixture – make sure to include J Arthur Bower’s Bonemeal to boost root formation. Then water in very well. You’ll need to continue for several weeks until the plant becomes established.

Dig up dahlias as soon as frost blackens the foliage. Cut back the stems to about 10 cm (4 inches) and remove as much soil as possible before standing the plants upside-down for about a week to allow them to dry out. Store the tubers in boxes, covered with slightly damp Multi-Purpose Compost . If you don’t have a frost-free greenhouse or shed, you can keep the tubers in a spare bedroom or unheated porch.

Rooted cuttings should be planted out before the end of the month. If they’re rather tiny keep them in pots until the spring.

Renew the writing on plant labels that are starting to fade otherwise you may find that winter rain washes away the writing altogether.

Some alpines with woolly or hairy leaves hate winter rain. You can protect them with tiny open-ended cloches made from large lemonade bottle sliced horizontally. Fasten the cloches down with wire.

If blackspot or rust has been a problem try and pick off infected leaves as far as you can and dispose of them – don’t put them on the compost heap. If they fall to the ground and blow about they will spread the infections next year.