Jobs to do in October

Some crops that have finished can be cleared and added to your compost heap. You can protect the soil by mulching with a layer of your own compost, which will improve the soil ready for next year. 

Sowing and planting

Fruit

• Now is a good time to plant pot-grown fruit and place orders for bare-root stock to plant in the winter. Select resilient, disease-resistant varieties suited to your local conditions.
• ​Create new plants for free by taking cuttings of whitecurrants, redcurrants and blackcurrants. You can also dig up rooted layers of blackberries and hybrid berries.

Vegetables

• In mild areas you can sow overwintering broad beans in situ. Cover broad beans with cloches or re-used old or biodegradable fleece to provide insulation in colder areas, as well as protection from pigeons.
• Sow overwintering varieties of peas such as ‘Douce Provence’ or ‘Meteor’, but only in mild areas.
• Plant out spring cabbages. Remember to net them for protection from pigeons. Ensure the netting is taut and fastened securely so birds and other wildlife don’t get entangled in it.
• Finish planting overwintering onion sets for a crop in early to mid-summer next year.
• Plant garlic cloves.
• ​To protect and improve your soil, sow green manures, such as winter field beans and grazing rye. In milder areas, Italian ryegrass can still be sown this month. 

Pruning and training

Fruit

• Trim over cranberries after you’ve harvested the fruit.

Vegetables

• Cut down stems of Jerusalem artichokes, leaving stubs about 8cm tall to mark the position of the tubers. Lay the cut stems over the soil to help insulate it, making the tubers easier to harvest during frosty weather.
• ​Cut back asparagus stems once the foliage has turned yellow. Take care, as they have spines.

Prevention

• Check stored apples regularly and remove rotting fruit.
• Keep an eye on Brussels sprouts and remove any yellowing leaves to help prevent grey mould.
• Store crops in rodent-proof containers and buildings where possible. Use humane controls only when necessary and check them regularly.

General care

Fruit

• Move citrus under frost-free glass for winter and reduce watering. 
• ​Order your new raspberries this month, make sure they are certified as virus-free stock.
• Prepare the ground ready for new fruit trees, nuts, vines, canes and bushes.
• Autumn is also a good time to mulch under fruit trees and bushes with homemade garden compost or leaf mould.

Vegetables

• Dig up outdoor tomato plants and hang them upside-down in the greenhouse to encourage fruits to ripen. Any that don’t ripen can be used green in chutneys.
• Now is a good time to get ahead and prepare new asparagus beds for planting up in the spring.
• ​When clearing old pea and bean plants, simply cut off the tops for the compost heap, and leave the roots in the soil. As they break down, the roots help return nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.