Monthly Gardening Guide
OCTOBER
Your Gardening To-Do List
Bulbs
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Plant spring-blooming bulbs; add bone meal or bulb fertilizer (Like Bulb-tone) for best results.
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Dig and store tender bulbs before ground freezes; after frost blackens foliage, cut back to 6" and dig up, wash off soil, let dry for two weeks, then store in boxes filled with peat moss/bark chips in a cool, dry place.
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Move fall-blooming crocus after flowering
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Pot paper white bulbs, starting now and every 2-3 weeks for continuous flowers.
Shrubs & Trees
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Plant deciduous trees and shrubs (wait until spring for evergreens).
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Keep shrubs and trees well watered through first frost to ensure they go into winter hydrated.
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Feed with a slow-release fertilizer (like holly-tone) to boost root growth.
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Use burlap to protect plants that are susceptible to breakage from snow.
Vegetables & Herbs
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Plant lettuce, spinach and radishes through October 15 and protect with row covers or a cold frame.
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Overwinter carrots, turnips and parsnips; cover with straw/leaf mulch; harvest as necessary.
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Harvest potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash.
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Harvest gourds after a hard frost.
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Sow cover crops of oats, winter rye and wheat through October 15 to conserve soil nutrients and add organic matter when tilled in spring.
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Bring herbs indoors and place in a sunny window or under cool white fluorescent lights.
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Create new beds: cut grass low, cover with newspaper, then layers of organic matter, followed by a thick layer of straw or mulch.
Lawn
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Overseed, patch, or start a new lawn through October 15.
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Fertilize once this month.
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Keep newly seeded lawn watered, and don't let it dry out.
Annuals & Perennials
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Plant pansies, chrysanthemums, ornamental cabbage, and kale for cool temperature color.
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Divide/move/plant new perennials, using a root stimulate (Espoma Bio-tone); mulch and water well.
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Keep watering perennials until second heavy frost.
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Trim dead or diseased stems.
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Remove leaves from around plants (except around Joe Pye Weed, which might contain overwintering butterflies.
Wildlife
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Provide food (including suet) and water for birds.
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Leave hummingbird feeders out for stragglers and new borns.
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Clean bird baths, feeders and nest boxes; hummingbird feeders once a week.
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Pile leaves and trimmings in a corner of the year for winter protection for ground-dwelling birds and hibernating replies.
Houseplants
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Continue to bring houseplants indoors, repotting as necessary.
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Treat with horticultural and neem oils to control aphids, mites, mealy bugs, scale and whiteflies; check periodically for pests.
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Check your gardenias for spider mites.
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Reduce fertilizer for tropicals to twice a month and half the dose.