October is a good time to flex your green fingers.
It is a month when extensive gardening to-do lists should be the order of the day, says a statement from a nursery.
Plant and sow
• Plant summer-flowering bulbs like gladiolus, galtonia, amaryllis, tuberose and dahlia. Feed with bulb food and water well.
• October is an excellent time to sow seeds of candytuft, alyssum, Californian poppy, cornflower, cosmos, dianthus, phlox, verbena, zinnia, marigold, cineraria, lavatera and lobelia.
• Sow these vegetables now: beetroot, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumber, eggplants, lettuce, parsnips, pumpkins, radish, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and Swiss chard.
• There’s still time to plant new lawns this month in the form of lawn runners or lawn seeds. Feed new lawns with 2:3:2 to promote strong root growth.
Feed
• Feed fuchsias every two weeks with a high potash fertiliser like 3:1:5 to aid flower development. Pinch out the growing tips to encourage bushy growth.
• Feed spring annuals and bulbs every two weeks. Remove faded flowers and, once bulbs stop flowering, feed with 3:1:5 to ensure good flowers next season.
• Keep pansies and violas flowering until January by regularly feeding and dead-heading.
• Enhance the colour of blue hydrangeas by watering them with a solution of aluminium sulphate (25 g dissolved in 5 litres of water). Pink hydrangeas should be fed with a dusting of agricultural lime at the base of the plants.
• Feed established lawns with a handful of 4:1:1 per square metre. Raise the mower blades, as longer grass will help keep the roots cool in the hot months ahead.
• Feed indoor and outdoor container plants with a liquid fertiliser like MultiFeed or Seagro.
