As the weather cools and plant growth slows there is still plenty of propagating, tidying and harvesting to do this month.
- Continue to mow lawns with the blades set on a high setting of about 4cm.
- After flowering cut back the growth of Penstemons by about one third and then further in late spring.
- Apply a dry mulch such as straw or wood chip to borderline hardy plants such as Dahlias.
- Check for pansy problems such as downy mildew and leaf spot. Destroy infected plants.
- Now is the time to take hardwood cuttings of deciduous trees, shrubs and climbers. Cut sections 15 to 30 cm long from healthy shoots of this years growth and insert into pots of cutting compost.
- Harvest leeks by gently lifting with a fork, harvest every second or third leek so the rest can keep on growing.
- When the foliage of Jerusalem Artichokes starts to yellow cut it down to about 8cm, harvest tubers now into winter.
- Find a spot to make a wildlife stack out of logs, branches and prunings.
- Pond care, barley straw bales put in ponds to reduce algae in the summer can be removed. Leave them by the pond for a day to allow any invertebrates to escape.
- Growth rate slows in cooler months so plants do not need additional feed, excess nutrients may be washed out by the rain and cause a problem by seeping into the watercourse.
- Wormeries should be protected in winter. Move them into a shed, greenhouse or garage.
- Autumn fungi. Fruiting bodies often appear this month.Pathogenic fungi such as honey fungus and some bracket fungi are a concern , however most fungi feed on dead organic matter so are not only harmless but often beneficial.