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Monthly Garden Tips

October

Azaleas and Camellias

The fungus that causes petal blight in azaleas and camellias over-winters in fallen flowers, leaves, and old mulch. To decrease the chances of blight, remove all the debris under the plants and apply new mulch.

Birds

If you enjoy watching and listening to birds in your yard, put up a bird feeder and keep it stocked. If you encourage them to come now, you'll need to keep the feeder stocked all winter, especially in snowy or icy weather. If you grow fruit you don't want the birds to get, or you have cats, you might think twice before you put up a feeder.

Bulbs

Plant spring flowering bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, iris, anemones, snowdrops, snowflakes, and glory-of-the-snow. Work a Tablespoon of superphosphate into each planting hole to insure stronger bulbs in the future. Established bulbs will also benefit from a feeding of superphosphate, about 1 Tablespoon per square foot of bed.
Plant a Caribbean Lilly in a pot with equal parts sand and planting mix.
Unless you live in the Lower South, it's time to lift and divide dahlias. Cut stalks to about 1-inch from the tuber, shake off the dirt and let it dry out. Store in a cool dry place that doesn't freeze. In areas that stay warm year round, you can leave them in the ground. Just be sure to mulch well.
In the Middle and Upper South, you will need to dig up cannas, caladiums, and callas for the winter. Cut off the leaves and let the roots dry out for a week. Store in paper bags in a cool,dry location where the temperature stays about 50 to 60 degrees F.
Do not divide balloon flowers, gas plant, Lenten Rose, and Virginia bluebells.

Flowers

• Annuals
  Plant cool season annuals, such as sweet-peas, pansies, calendula, annual candytuft, foxgloves, larkspur, snapdragons, stock, sweet alyssum, snapdragons, Drummond phlox, cornflowers, forget-me-nots, and dianthus. They can withstand most Southern winters to give you late Winter or early Spring blooms.
  Plant pansies now for winter blooms, and a show in they Spring.


• Perennials
  Order Perennials and shrubs, or trees, from mail-order sources now, while it's early in the planting season.
  Planting and dividing perennials in the fall gives their roots time to become established before they are subjected to the heavy demands of Spring growth and blooming.
  For sunny areas try Shasta daisies, bee balm, yarrow, gaillardia, coneflowers, coreopsis, and garden phlox.
  For shady areas, try plantain lily (hosta), Lenten rose, snakeroot, astilbe, and Virginia bluebells.
  Plant or divide and plant Peonies this month. Allow 3-4 feet between plants. Dig holes 2-3 feet wide and deep, and mix backfill with compost or other organic matter. Add 1 pound of bonemeal or superphosphate to 2/3 of the backfill for each hole and fill the hole to within 8-10 inches of top. Finish filling the hole with backfill that doesn't have the bonemeal or superphosphate mixed in. Set the division so the eyes are 1 inch below the surface of the soil. Water well. Feed established peonies with superphosphate.
  Also plant garden phlox, hosta, daylilies, yarrow, coneflower, veronica, bleeding heart, fox glove, coralbells, evergreen candytuft, wildflowers, and blue sage.
  As perennials fade or look bad, cut them down almost to the ground.
  An application of superphosphate and lime (in acid soils) this month is beneficial for Iris.
  Southern maidenhair fern, American maidenhair fern, and Lenten Rose will also benefit from some lime, ½ cup per square yard, sprinkled on surface of soil and scratched in.
  One way to over-winter geraniums is to lift them from their pots, wash soil from their roots and store in a cool, dry room where they won't freeze. In the Spring set the dormant plants out, and cut back to 4-6 inches in height. New shoots should sprout from the old stems and bloom in about a month.

Herbs

Prepare your herb beds for winter. In the Upper South, transplant rosemary, lemon grass, lemon verbena, sweet marjoram, and bay into pots to, keep indoors. Pineapple sage usually comes back from the roots in the Middle and Lower South, but to play it safe, take some cuttings to root indoors.
Divide clumps of chives every 3 years to promote new growth, and reduce crowding. They grow best in well drained soil with plenty of compost worked in. When harvesting chives, cut the blade all the way down to the ground. This promotes new growth and prevents having brown stubs. If you want to grow a pot of chives inside this winter, now is the time to pot them. Divide your outdoor clump and select the youngest mature plants for indoors. Put 8-10 plants per 6-inch pot.

Houseplants

Move them indoors before the first frost. Repot those who have outgrown their pots, and check the pots for hitchhikers such as lizards, frogs, and bugs, before you take them in.
To get your Christmas cactus to bloom, put it outside this month where it will be exposed to nighttime temperatures of 50-55 degrees, and withhold water to force all the blooms to open at the same time. When you see little buds forming, bring it back inside and start watering again.

Lawns

In the Upper and Middle South, it's time to plant cool-season grasses. In the Middle and Lower South, you can overseed warm season grasses with ryegrass, when nighttime temperatures drop below 70 degrees. Check with your County Extension Agent for the best grasses for your area.

Roses

Plant container roses. Make sure to water well during dry spells.
Since frost is due in the Upper South, it's time to prepare roses for the winter. As soon as the leaves have fallen from the roses, rake the mulch and debris from the roses to eliminate over wintering diseases. Apply a thick layer of new mulch. It's best to mulch after the first frost causes plants to go dormant.

Shrubs and Trees

Fertilize Spring flowering shrubs and trees to get a good bud set.
Time to start planting container or balled-and-burlapped trees and shrubs. Dig a hole about twice the size of the root ball, and mix compost with the backfill. Water well, and keep them watered, it sometimes gers dry in October. Be sure to mulch well.
If you want to change the color of your French Hydrangeas, you need to amend the soil. For pink flowers, add enough lime to increase the alkalinity of the soil to pH of 6.5 to 7. For blue flowers, add enough aluminum sulfate to increase soil acidity to pH 4.5 to 5.5. Your County Extension Agent can usually tell you how much, but you may need a soil test. You will need to repeat the application each fall, because the soil tends to return to its natural pH level over time.

Vegetables

Plant cool weather vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, cabbage, lettuces, greens and radishes, in all but the coldest areas of the South. It usually frosts this month, in the Upper South.
Fall is the time to start onions so they will be ready to harvest in the Spring.
In the Upper and Middle South, pick your tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and okra before they get frost bitten. Kale, collards, and turnip greens will taste better after the frost has sweetened them.
Water the soil before you pull your carrots up, and they will come out easier. Cut the tops off before they can draw moisture out of the carrots and leave them limp.

Vines

Root prune wisteria for better bloom next Spring.