October Gardening Tasks

October in the garden means lovely soft coloured flowers and heady fragrances, as nature paints the landscape with a palette of pastels and fills the air with sweet scents. This month ushers in a bustling period of renewal and preparation, where gardeners can delight in the beauty of blooming irises, marigolds, and the enchanting Brunfelsia pauciflora, while also laying the groundwork for a vibrant summer ahead. From sowing seeds of colourful annuals to nurturing emerging perennials, October is a time of both immediate joy and anticipation, as we tend to our gardens with loving care and watch them transform into havens of colour and life.

General Tasks

Give lemon trees, hydrangeas, Brunfelsia pauciflora (yesterday, today and tomorrow), gardenias and other similar plants a dose of Trelmix Trace Element Solution. It contains all six micro-elements and magnesium and helps keep plants healthy and lush.
Add colour to your shade garden with impatiens, begonias, coleus and the worthiest of all semi-shade-loving plants, Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’.
Stake emerging perennials as their stems lengthen.
Apply liquid or water-soluble fertiliser to flowering plants in pots and containers.
Control weeds, as they compete for water and food.
Water more frequently as it gets warmer. Seed beds should never dry out while seeds are germinating.
After the first spring rain, apply mulches around all shrubs and trees to conserve moisture in the soil.
Freshen up garden containers containing specimen plants like lollipop standards by pruning them neatly to maintain a round shape. Remove the top layer of potting soil and replace with a fresh layer of compost.

Sowing

Sow French marigold seeds in situ. Learn more about them here.
It’s a busy time for sowing seeds of both flowers and vegetables.
Ornamental flowers to sow now – Sunflowers, Cosmos, Zinnias, Marigolds and Portulaca.
Sow seeds or plant out seedlings of summer-flowering annuals. The list is seemingly endless and includes marigolds, portulacas, zinnias, celosias and begonias.
This is the month to sow borage, chervil, dill, fennel, coriander, nasturtiums and basil. Use borage flowers and young leaves in salad, along with nasturtium flowers.

Planting

Irises will be in flower this month. Make a note to buy and plant more of these beauties. If your old stock is overgrown or not performing well, you can lift and divide them as soon as they have finished flowering.
It’s time to think of summer-flowering annuals to add colour that can withstand the heat. Plant marigolds (dwarf and tall), celosias, portulaca, salvias and verbenas. All of them are tough and more than willing to flower for many months to come.
Plant one or more of the Brunfelsia pauciflora ‘Floribunda’ shrubs in sun or light shade at your bedroom window or in a pot on the patio.
Plant out summer flowering bulbs.
Plant out perennials like Alstroemerias, Agapanthus, Anemones, Penstemons, Aquilegias and Echinaceas.
Plant out young ornamental grass plants for a spectacular summer and autumn display.

Bulbs

If you can still get hold of some amaryllis bulbs, keep them in the vegetable drawer of your fridge until exactly six weeks before Christmas. If you then plant them, they will produce lovely potted colour for you throughout the festive season.

Feeding

Christmas is around the corner. If you are planning lots of holiday entertaining outdoors, now is the time to feed all shrubs, prune them where necessary for neatness and to generate new growth. Brighten dark corners with hardy summer annuals and mulch the whole garden to combat weeds, keep the soil moist between watering and to keep it neat.
Feed hydrangeas to get them ready for Christmas.
Feed guavas, litchis, pecan nuts and mangoes.

Dividing and replanting

One can never have too many ornamental grasses. If your Mondo grass has formed thick clumps, you can divide them up into smaller chunks and plant them elsewhere. A neat and lush way to edge a bed or create a smart green collar around trees in the lawn is to use Ophiopogon japonicus. A garden edged with thick ribbons of this dark green grass is always a cut above the rest.
Clean up succulents like Echeverias and Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, which will have stopped flowering. Divide large plants and replant the babies in other parts of the garden. Propagate Kalanchoes the right way.

Plant Cuttings

Take softwood cuttings of Daisies, Pelargoniums, Lavender, Osteospermums, Arctotis, Rosemary and other perennials. .

Pruning

Prune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after flowering has finished.
Deadhead bulbs and other spring-flowering plants.
After the plants are cut, don’t let the roots dry out. Water regularly, mulch and weed.
When the stubs resprout, fertilize with a liquid fertilizer that is high in nitrogen. Feed at twice weekly intervals until the plant is ready for cutting again.

Pinch off the tip of brinjals when they are 20-25 cm high and sweet peppers when they are 15 cm high, to encourage bushy growth that will increase production.
Prune flowering peaches, almonds and ornamental quinces as soon as they have finished flowering.
Cut off the dead flower stems of winter-flowering aloes and check around the base of your plants for small pups (plantlets), which can be planted out in pots or in other areas of the garden.
Remove spent flowers from spring bulbs and annuals, and stake perennials as their stems become longer.
Prune Honey marguerites (Euryops virgineus) and all the Buddleja species as soon as they have finished flowering.

Lawns

Water lawns early in the morning to minimize the chance of fungal infestation. If you are battling with weeds, fertilize and water the lawn well. A well-fed lawn will usually smother annual weeds without the need for herbicide application. Wait two weeks and if there is still a problem consider spraying with a broad leaf weed killer. Grow a summer worthy lawn.
Correct small irritations that catch the eye (like bald patches) by digging out the affected turf and replacing it with a piece of the same size and shape taken from a less visible part of the lawn. To re-grow grass in the area from which you took the piece first fill it with fine compost, then level it and plant grass seed or a few runners or plugs. Hollows and bumps can be fixed by cutting out the turf in the affected area and adding some compost to level out a hollow or taking some soil away to level out a bump then gently replacing the piece of turf and tapping it down lightly with the back of a spade.
In areas where it is difficult to grow the usual lawn types consider the following alternatives, which are flat growing, hard-wearing and don’t need mowing – Dichondra micrantha (wonder lawn); Mentha pulegium (pennyroyal), which is good for wet and shady areas; Phyla nodiflora (daisy lawn) – for drier conditions in sun; or Zoyisa tenuifolia (Korean grass) – slow growing but very hardy.
Mow regularly, making sure that you never cut more than one third of the length of a leaf blade.
Water and fertilize regularly.
Keep the lawn level and free of depressions where water and debris can accumulate.
Rake up grass clippings and leaves to allow the lawn blades to photosynthesize efficiently.
Get rid of broadleaf weeds in existing lawns by spraying with a selective herbicide. Before spraying, fertilize your lawn, water well, wait two weeks and then spray for weeds. Repeat if necessary.

Pests

Check your veggies for pests, especially under the leaves, and be ready to spray with organic insecticides as soon as they are noticed.
Put out snail bait amongst strawberry plants and provide a mulch of straw, coarse clippings, or weed matting to prevent the fruit from touching the soil. Pick the fruit frequently to encourage new ones.
Watch out for insects such as aphids, mealy bugs and whitefly on soft new growth, and control with the correct insecticide.
Thin out peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums when they are about pea-size. They need a second application of a general fertilizer suitable for fruiting plants. Continue spraying and baiting against fruit fly and codling moth.
Inspect all members of the lily family (such as Agapanthus, Crinum, Clivia, Nerine, Amaryllis and Haemanthus) for lily borer, a caterpillar that has transverse yellow and black bands around the body. They are most active at night and can be treated with a contact insecticide.
Watch out for insects such as aphids, mealybugs and white y on soft new growth and control infestations with the correct insecticide.

Rose Tasks for September

In all regions, the only real work in October involves spraying every second week to prevent the appearance of aphids, thrips, bollworm, red spider, small beetles and powdery mildew. With a good high pressure spray pump this should only take you half an hour, depending on the number of roses.
One of the most enjoyable ways to spend time among the roses is disbudding and deadheading.
An October activity that is not a chore is picking roses for the home. To prevent stressing the plant, don’t pick more than half of the blooms from any one bush.
Water deeply twice a week. If you haven’t yet done so, spread a layer of mulch, 5 to 10 cm deep, over the beds to keep the roots cool and conserve water. Give one dose of rose fertilizer, such as Vigoroso, during the month.
If you find minute black specks on the underside of the leaves spray with Ludwig’s Rose Spider Mite and Spray Stay, following up with Milbeknock.
Roses that were not fertilized in September should be fertilized now to encourage new sprouting before the first flowering is over.
When cutting for the vase, always leave a good balance of stems and leaves on the bush, otherwise the roots go into shock, and it takes longer for the rose to recover.

October Veggie Sowing Guide

Here are some easy summer veggies to grow – Carrots, Cucumbers, Green beans, Lettuce, Radishes, Squashes and baby marrows, sweet peppers, Tomatoes and Spinach. Here’s how to sow vegetable seeds.
Here are some herbs to sow this month – Basil, coriander (Cilantro), dill, nasturtium, Italian parsley (Flat leaf parsley), chives, peppers – both sweet and hot, sage.
Sow these fruit vegetables – Brinjal, chillies, sweet corn, mealies, pumpkin and Hubbard squash, bush and trailing squash, sweet melon and watermelon.

Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands

Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), carrots, celery, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, parsnips, pumpkins, radishes, spinach and Swiss chard, sweetcorn/mealies, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes.

Middleveld (Pretoria and other less frosty areas)

Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, carrots, capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), cucumbers, melons and watermelons, parsnips, pumpkins, radishes, bush and trailing squashes, sweetcorn/ mealies, spinach and Swiss chard, tomatoes.

Eastern Cape and Little Karoo

Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, cabbage, carrots, capsicums, cucumbers, lettuce, melons and watermelons, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, sweetcorn/ mealies, bush and trailing squashes, Swiss chard, tomatoes.

Western Cape (and Southern Coast)

Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, carrots, capsicums, cucumbers, lettuce, melons and watermelons, parsnips, pumpkins, radishes, bush and trailing squashes, sweetcorn/mealies, turnips.

Northern Cape and Great Karoo

Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, capsicums, carrots, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, sweetcorn/ mealies, bush and trailing squashes, Swiss chard, tomatoes.

Lowveld and KwaZulu-Natal coast

Capsicums (chillies and sweet peppers), sweetcorn/mealies.

Veggie Garden Tasks for September

Feed young veggies every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer and remove any weeds that germinate between them.
Put out snail bait amongst strawberry plants and provide a mulch of straw, coarse clippings, or landscaping fabric to stop the fruit from touching the soil. Pick the fruit frequently to encourage new growth.
Once a week water all citrus trees deeply.
Thin out peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums when they are about pea-size. They need a second application of general fertilizer like 3:1:5SR or an organic equivalent.
Continue spraying and baiting against fruit fly and codling moth.
Mulch under tomatoes, brinjals, peppers, and squashes, to keep the roots cool and moist.
As all danger of frost passes, consider the following seeds: all members of the curcubit family – cucumbers, marrows, melons, pumpkins, squashes and zucchinis. Also maize, sweet corn, bush beans and climbing beans are in peak planting season now.