January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

General Care

Make sure your greenhouse heaters and any other electrical equipment required over the winter is working.

Flower beds

Make the best use of good gardening weather and do any digging required for the autumn. Soil can be water saturated and heavy, soil dug now will beak down in winter frosts.

Lawn

Sort out any areas with drainage problems ready for the winter. This is a good month for laying turf. However make sure the the lawn bed is free from weeds.

Pond

Get ready to winterise pond filters. Make sure they are empty of water ready for winter frosts. Thin out oxygenating plants. Remove dead leaves. Feed your fish for as long as they eat it. Remember they do not need as much if any in the winter and uneaten food will sink and rot.

Greenhouse

It is really essential that you know your heating system can work under load. Bring in plants that might suffer from wind and early frosts. You may wish to add a polythene inner lining to preserve heat in the winter.

Vegetables

If you’ve been growing beetroot lift now. Harvest the last of your marrows as well as pumpkins and squashes. Clear away dead vegetables and dig over the ground. Plant spring cabbages. Carrots can still be lifted and garlic bulbs planted. Over wintering broad deans can also be sown. October is a good time to sow green manures (clover) to act as soil improvers.

Indoors

Red spider mites can be a problem now, watch out for them.  Place plants for the winter where they will be warm but not in direct heat, out of draughts and where they receive plenty of light. Remember window cills can be cold places in the winter. It is not a good idea to buy houseplants after October as they will not have time to acclimatise before the short days of winter.