Blue Daisy Blog

October is a busy time of year - there are often still flowers to give attention to, garden hygiene to get under control, crops to harvest and planning and planting for next year all to fit into your garden schedule.  

Changing daylight hours will mean that you're up against it in terms of timings before the winter really hits us but this is often a beautiful time of year too with soft autumnal lighting and spectacular leaf colour to fill your senses.  

Jobs for this month include:

October brings with it a drop in temperatures, night frosts and an increase of winds blowing the rich autumn-coloured leaves from trees.  This month the growing season comes to a close but there are still plenty of jobs to be done in and around the garden.  

Don’t worry about clearing every seed head or dying herb stems before winter sets in unless you want your garden to be super tidy, seed heads with frost or moisture from a misty start to the day can be very aesthetically pleasing as well as providing beneficial insects such as ladybirds and lacewings shelter to hibernate.  Leaving spent seed heads and stems also gives some plants an added layer of protection through the cold and frosty months.

During September you start to notice the nights beginning to draw in which always means less time to spend working, entertaining or just relaxing outdoors!  That said though it’s still a good time to be doing jobs outside.  It can also be a time for gales, so be prepared: ensure your plants, shrubs and trees are staked properly to avoid them getting damaged.

This is a great time to take cuttings from tender plants like fuchsias, harvest your fruit and veg, and go on, sprinkle a little TLC on your lawn!!  September is often considered ‘lawn care month’, a time when we reinvigorate them for next year by removing thatch, aerating and applying a top dressing.  So, for those of you doing this for the first time here’s a quick guide how to do just that and have a fabulous lawn next year!

As the nights start to draw in September usually sees gardeners working quick time to make the most of this super-busy month. 

While there are still flowers to deadhead and plenty to harvest in the vegetable plot it is also a time of preparation.  There are bulbs to plant to ensure a gorgeous display next spring. There are repairs to furniture and structures to do before the worst of the winter weather hits us.  It's one of the busiest months in the gardeners' diary and it's also officially lawn care month in Blue Daisy's!

Quite often I am asked the question ‘how can I make my garden more interesting’ and movement is one element of good garden design that often gets overlooked.  It is just as important as all the other elements, not only does it create a feel, an ambience, but also added interest.   Movement doesn’t have to be dramatic or exciting it can be soft, understated and subtle and each person can have their own take on what movement in the garden means.

It can be incorporating moving water, for instance, which shimmers and sparkles in the light but also adding that refreshing trickling sound as it moves, creating a mood.  The sound of movement often adds that extra layer that works and plays on the senses too - not only trickling water but rustling leaves, swishing grasses and other 'movement sounds' all play their part.

Navigating around a garden can also be what some people define movement to be, how to create journeys so you interact and move through the garden.  Paths are great elements for this but care must be taken with the dimensions of them and their exact purpose, adding a path as an afterthought can often look out of place.  

Incorporating plants that move gently in the breeze and give that extra vertical lift can really make them stand out from their more static counterparts.  Ornamental grasses are great for adding movement as their habits are quite different and there are some that offer good all year round interest of both foliage and seed heads which last right into winter.