October Gardening Checklist:
- Add compost/manure or mulch to your garden
- Divide and transplant large perennials
- After leaves have fallen, you can transplant deciduous trees and shrubs
- Lift summer bulbs like Canna’s and Dahlias before frost nips them
- Clean out bird feeders and stock them up with fresh seed.
- Protect trees and shrubs from mice or rabbit damage
- Earlier in the month, it is still a good time to treat your lawn for grubs ( see tips below)by applying nematodes.
- If you have a lot of weeds in your lawn you can apply corn gluten this Fall and again in the Spring to inhibit the weed seeds from germinating
- Fall/ Winter lawn fertilizer can be applied now, consider organic options instead of the traditional synthetic options.
- Keep Lawns clean of too many full leaves; shred and spread them in your garden and even in your lawn. Once shredded they will break down quickly.
( use this Shredding Tip from my radio show co-host Matthew Dressing “ Put your leaves in a Rubbermaid or garbage can and use your lawn trimmer to shred the leaves inside the container and then distribute the shredded leaves throughout the yard. )
- Purchase Spring bulbs for planting soon but plant them later in October; cooler temps, more water and less chance the squirrels will dig them up.
- And lastly, get your snow blower serviced. If we all do this it will be guaranteed to NOT snow anytime soon.
This is very helpful. Would you have a recommendation for preventing deer from eating white pines on the property?
Hi there,
Have you tried something as simple as tying aluminum pie plates from the tree? I have heard that the noise and reflections from blowing in the wind can discourage them.