Orange and yellow gladiolus are in full flower during August.  Photo by Amanda Jarrett

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The Garden Website for October:
October's Introduction & Plant Combo - Amanda's Garden Blog Blurb - Garden Chores -  Lawn Care
Harvesting Veggies - Harvesting Fruit - Summer Pruning
Tomato Woes - Soil Solarization - Plant Police - Ask Amanda
My Garden August Flower Arrangement - Plant of the Month: Persian Silk Tree

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What's New On The Garden Website

Ask Amanda
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​For your plant & garden questions.

​Pruning Roses

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The garden website index

About & Services ​                        Contact ​                         Job Postings ​                                                     Classes & Workshops

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Learn How to Garden Introduction 

• Planting Know How
• Soil Building
• Cover Crops
• Composting
• Compost Tea

 ​ Growing Food Introduction

• Crop Succession, Crop Rotation, Companion Planting

​Pruning
Lawns

Container Growing 101

• Choosing a Container

Monthly Flower Arrangements
Growing Roses Introduction 

• Types of Roses
• Climbing Roses
• Rose Insects & Diseases
• Pruning Roses

Mulching & Types Introduction

• Living Mulches – Groundcovers​

Fertilizing & Feeding Plants Introduction

• Fertilizers & Ratios
• Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
• Organic Plant Food

Propagation Introduction

• Growing Seed Outdoors
• Growing Seed Indoors
• Taking Cuttings

​Amanda’s Blog
Plant of the Month

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October's
​plant combo

Red cabbage, white verbena, white lavatera at Hatley Castle & Park, Victoria, BC.

October is a busy month

As the summer yawns lazily into another beautiful fall, many plants slip into their autumnal dress donning colours of gold, red, yellow and orange. They know winter is coming as the daylight hours are dwindling and the evening hours are becoming quite chilly. 
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October is the perfect month to rearrange the garden. Either move small plants that are being overrun by their larger neighbours or take out a big guy to give everything more room. Before digging anything up, prepare a hole wide and deep enough to accommodate all the roots. When digging up any plant, try to get as much of the roots as you can. To make large plants easier to move, you can cut back all the stems by one third beforehand.  

There’s lots of stuff to do in the garden this month so hopefully we won't be deluged with rain. Gardening and rain don't mix.  It spreads  spreads diseases between plants and compacts soil, squishing the life right out of it. It's a good excuse to relax or to go for a nice walk instead and enjoy the beautiful colours and the crisp smell of autumn,  

Cheers,
Amanda

Million bells, Calibrachoa Superbells Double Rose, before root rot.

In the veggie garden

August harvest of grapes, been, tomatoes, parsley and kale.

• There’s no need to remove cool crops from the garden such as Brussel sprouts, Swiss chard, cabbage, turnips and kale, as they enjoy fall’s cool temperatures. A slight frost actually enhances their taste, so keep on harvesting as long as the plants are producing and tasting good.
• Harvest remaining veggies and fruit removing all plant debris, especially unhealthy ones from garden beds so as not to re-infect next year’s crops.
• Don’t let your veggie patch go fallow. It's a tad too late to plant crimson clover, fall rye and other cover crops on bare veggie beds, but you still need to prevent erosion and to reduce weeds. Use straw, autumn leaves and even thick layers of newspapers as protection.
• Cure winter squash: acorn, spaghetti and pumpkins in a warm, frost free location for 4 to 5 days. To prevent mould, wipe them down first with a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. Store at 10 to 15 C (50 to 60F).
• Plant garlic now to harvest in July. Select a well-drained sunny site and add some compost, as they are heavy feeders. Break apart the cloves from the bulb and plant them 2 to 3 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches apart.
• Direct seed for winter gardening beets, broad (fava) beans, garlic cloves, radishes, spinach, pansies, poppies, foxgloves.

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Prepping garden beds for winter

Fresh cherries for the picking.

Clean up garden beds by discarding buggy, diseased unhealthy growth from plants. It is not necessary to cut all herbaceous perennials (non-woody) plants to the ground, in fact it is best to leave about 6 inches of their stems to increase their winter hardiness. Hollow stems also provides a place for beneficial insects to overwinter: Autumn joy sedum, Himalayan honeysuckle, ornamental grasses.

It is not a good idea to rake off fallen leaves, twigs and other organic stuff from garden beds. That debris provides homes for lady bugs, lacewings and other beneficial insects to overwinter. It also provides food for plants when it decomposes. It is just not a good idea to have a ‘clean’ garden as it interferes with the nature’s natural processes.

​Chop & Drop: If cutting back chrysanthemums, cone flowers and other herbaceous perennials don't discard those healthy and blemish free leaves and stems; just pile it on top of the plant. This chop and drop method provides the plant added winter protection to the plant underneath. Removing all their foliage from the plant as well as the ground offers them no protection, leaving them vulnerable to winterkill and even death. Don’t chop and drop if the plant is diseased or is infested. Always remove and discard peony leaves every fall to prevent Measles of Peony (Red Spot, Leaf Blotch).

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Pruning

Pick beans when they are still young and crisp.

• This really is the last month for pruning. Don't wait until November as it stimulates tender new growth, which is easily killed by frost. However, no matter what time of year it is, do remove dead, diseased and broken branches as soon as possible. If plants are overgrown, don’t cut them back too much, just 1/4 maximum, as it makes them vulnerable to winterkill.
• Don’t prune when it is raining or when the plants are wet as it spreads diseases and is unsafe as tools are difficult to grip when wet. The branches tend to be quite slippery too.
• Deadhead roses and remove all dead, diseased, broken canes. Cut back overly long canes on rambling and climbing roses. This prevents strong winter winds from whipping them around dislodging the plant from the ground (windrock). Overly long rose canes also become lethal weapons for unsuspecting people passing by.

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 Protecting Trees from Caterpillars with Tree Bands:
To prevent forest tent caterpillars and other insects from devouring many types of trees including fruit trees and ornamental Japanese cherry trees, apply tree bands now. Wrap a 15 centimetre (6 inch) wide band of plastic wrap or foil backed pink insulation around tree trunks at a convenient height. Spread Tanglefoot ® on the band. Wear rubber gloves and use an old or foam paintbrush, or sturdy stick to spread this sticky, thick goopy stuff. As insects emerge from the soil in spring they will attempt to crawl up the trunk only to encounter the sticky trap. The Tanglefoot will stop them from going any farther. Remove the banding in February.

Plant Police

Black plastic does not belong in garden beds for so many reasons.

The belief that black plastic stops weeds is a fallacy. Placing it under any kind of mulch, whether it be rock, woodchips or leaves, does nothing to prevent weeds  as you can plainly see with the picture above. It also kills the soil. With no water, no air and no leaf litter to decompose the microorganisms and insects within the soil die. Plants become deficient in nutrients, suffer from lack of water, become stunted and have an ugly life. Don't put anything under leaves and other organic mulch. That defeats the purpose of the mulch. However, under rock mulch use landscape fabric as it allows movement of air and water. 

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October lawn care

• Mow 2 to 3 inches high, do not cut lower as the grass plants need food to survive the winter. Keep the clippings on the lawn if they are not forming clumps or bag them to add to garden beds as a winter mulch. Let them sit for a week or so before applying to garden beds.
• Clean up fallen leaves from the lawn by raking them into garden beds or mulch them into the lawn with a mulching lawn mower. You can also mow the leaves and bag them as you go, then add the cut up leaves to your garden beds as a mulch on top of the soil between plants.
• If you didn’t fertilize your lawn last month, do so this month with a slow release preferably organic fertilizer formulated for winter. Of the three numbers on the label, the third one (potassium), should be the highest.
• Wait three weeks to apply dolopril lime after applying fertilizer so any nitrogen in the fertilizer isn't lost into the air.
• If you didn’t aerate the lawn in spring do so now with an aerator machine. Either rent one or hire someone to do the job. Keep the sod 'cores' on the lawn, as they will decompose. You can also and topdress the lawn by applying screened compost or a commercial turf blend.
• Renovate sparse lawns and install new ones. Remove patches of dead grass and rough up the soil with a rake. Apply bone meal, then sow the grass seeds and press them down firmly with the back of the rake. Keep seeds moist until they germinate then water to keep soil moist not wet.
• There is still time to put in a new lawn by laying sod or sowing grass seed.  

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a container for fall

Brighten up your entrance or a key area in your garden with a container full of plants to add a touch of colour and flair. Select a sturdy container with drainage holes. Do not cover the holes with rocks or pot chards as this impedes drainage! It is an outdated practice. Mix together three parts sterile potting soil, one part Sea soil or compost and two parts vermiculite and place in the container so it’s 2/3rd full. Select evergreen perennials such as coral bells (Heuchera sp.), lenten roses (Helleborous sp.), variegated Japanese sedge (Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' and don't forget to add some spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils. Add some branches from some interesting woody plant such as Harry Lauder's walking stick (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') to add drama.

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Amanda's Garden Blog

Check out my blog on my gardening experiments, trials. tribulations and excursions. 
To subscribe to my blog click here. 
Trees That Drip That Sticky Stuff
Balcony Bliss
One Huge Beetle! 
A Summer's Day Harvest
The Dunbar Garden Club Private Tour
Leaky Birdbaths and Slug Free Strawberries
Easy Roses
Oops... Wrong Plant, Wrong Place
I Had An Ugly Lawn...

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 October's garden chores

Water trees and shrubs a few feet on both sides of the dripline, as that's where the feeder roots are.

• New Beds: Need more garden beds? Now is a good time to prep a new bed so it is ready for spring. Try your hand at sheet mulching also referred to as lasagna gardening, as it is an easy time saver.
• Plant spring flowering bulbs. Wrap tulip bulbs with chicken wire when planting. Dust all bulbs with cinnamon as it is a natural fungicide and sprinkle with bone meal to promote root growth.
• Perennials: Divide summer and fall flowering perennials if they are overgrown.
• Annuals/Bedding Plants: You don’t have to remove deceased petunias and other bedding plants unless they are sickly. Ones with hardy seeds often survive the winter to regrow come spring such as lobelia, alyssum, calendula, cleome and snapdragon.
• Winter Bedding Plants: Plant cold hardy bedding plants: winter pansies, primroses and cyclamen. Even if you don't have a garden or are fed up of gardening for the year, consider a container full of winter treasures by the front door. Add tulips, crocus, hyacinths and other spring flowering bulbs so it will carry on well into spring. Throw in any extra perennials such as coral bells (Heuchera sp.), bergenia, primroses (Primula sp.), winter heather (Erica carnea), lavender, (Lavandula sp.), English daisies (Bellis perennis).
• Collecting Seeds: Keep the seed heads on pansies, hollyhocks, sweet Williams, wall flowers, foxgloves and other biennials or collect them to sow in early spring.
• Cuttings: Take hardwood cuttings from deciduous shrubs and evergreens now through winter and early spring. Take cuttings from dormant, mature stems with firm wood that doesn’t easily bend.
• Weed:  It is a weedy time of year as it is the end of the growing season. Bite the bullet and start removing them by hand. It is quick and efficient. Try your best to get all the runners and roots. Get those seeds heads and flowers too. Put down 3 inches of mulch to prevent more weeds from growing.  
  
• Compost: The compost bin is probably full at this time of year. Make sure you don't add plants that have set seed unless the temperature within the compost reaches 60°C (140°F) for 2 weeks. Same thing goes for diseased and insect ridden plant parts. Turn the compost and water if needed.
• Birds: If you plan on feeding the birds this winter, put out bird feeders and suet feeders. Make sure you keep the feeders topped up as the birds will become to depend on your for survival. Don’t let them down; they need you.
• Garden Shed: Move any chemicals, fertilizers, seeds and other products to a frost free area over the winter.
• Gift Plants: Start gift plants such as amaryllis, paperwhite narcissus and hyacinths to brighten up the house during winter or to give as gifts.
•  Outdoor Furniture: Remove patio furniture or cover them but do relocate them to a sheltered location. Don't forget to place any pillows and soft furnishings indoors.
• Drains & Eaves: Remember to clean out the house eaves. Remove debris from storm drains and catch basins so they are clear receive the winter rains. Although they belong to the city where you live, removing fallen leaves and other debris from them prevents pooling and flooding on the street and on your property. Check them periodically especially after a storm, strong winds and heavy rains. Don't forget to clean out the gutters, before it gets too nasty to do so.

Collect seeds once seed heads are mature, plump and brown like this scarlet runner bean pod.

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Prepare winter crop transplants like these pac choi plants, by hardening them off before planting them outside.

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winter protection 

After the snowy, cold winter we had last year, I’ve been thinking I should do more to protect my plants this fall. Our globe cypress was smashed after repeated dumps of heavy wet snow. Many evergreens suffered the same fate resulting in broken limbs and disfigurement. Some plants just didn’t make it due to fickle fluctuating temperature whilst for others, it was just too cold. There’s many ways to protect plants depending on what they are. 

​Tender Plants, Transplants, Roses & New Plants: Protect the crowns (where roots and stems meet) of any new plants, transplants, hybrid teas and other grafted roses, borderline hardy plants: New Zealand flax (Phormium sp.), pineapple lily (Eucomis autumnalis), freesias, palm trees, elephant ear (Colocasia spp.), bananas, as well as small shrubs such as rock rose (Cistus spp.), and lavenders. To protect the crowns, either pile up soil on top or use at least 3 inches of mulch or leaves on top of the crown. It is such a simple thing to do but it is an effective method to insulate the soil against temperature extremes and fluctuations.

For Added Protection: Wrap tender shrubs and trees in layers of breathable fabric from their tip, right down to the ground. Don’t leave a space between the wrap and the soil surface as the thermal heat from the earth is then lost to the air. Avoid using plastic. It suffocates plants and has little insulating value. Old sheets, carpets, blankets, tablecloths and other breathable fabric are excellent insulators and keep plants toasty over the winter months. Another alternative is caging plants by wrapping hardware cloth or chicken wire around the dripline (where their canopy of leaves ends). Gently place leaves inside the cage on top of the plant so it’s completely covered.
Protecting Cedars and other Evergreens:
Wrap string around cedars and other evergreens to keep their branches together and to protect them from breakage from high winds and heavy snow. It’s too late to prune them so put that pruning gear away. If they are cut back now, the new tender growth will be injured by winter temperatures and cold winds.

This witch hazel appears to be ready to pounce on anyone who is brave enough to sit on this wee bench.

​Container Plants Winter Protection: Trees, shrubs and perennials that are living outside in containers need extra care to protect them from freezing and thawing and prolonged icy snaps. If possible, move outside containers that contain plants under the eaves or another protected location so they don’t drown with the winter rains. It also helps to keep them a tad warmer. To insulate plant roots, wrap the containers with bubble wrap, Styrofoam, blankets, mats or whatever. Add at least 3 inches of an organic mulch on the soil surface if there is room. Another alternative is to bury the pots in the garden. The thermal heat from the earth will keep them much warmer than sitting on a deck or patio.

​Bringing in Tender Plants
Some tender plants cannot be left outside even with winter protection so bring them inside as soon as possible. Fuchsias, geraniums (Pelargonium sp.), angel trumpets (Brugmansia spp., Datura spp.), bougainvilleas need a frost free location. Wipe down their pots with soapy water; remove weeds and debris from the soil surface and any free loading slugs and bugs. Wash the plants with dish washing liquid water if necessary. Be prepared and don’t freak out if plants decide to lose all their leaves and flowers when you bring them inside. It’s because their growing conditions have changed from outside to inside. With proper care, they will sport new growth in no time. Water plants when the top ½ inch of soil is dry to the touch. If they dry out too much they are prone to spider mites. Place them in front of south window or under grow lights. Leave the light on for 8 to 12 hours.

​Lifting Tender Summer Bulbs: 
Lift gladiolus, dahlias, tuberous begonias and other tender bulbs after a frost or when the plant is obviously dying down for winter. Allow their leaves to turn yellow before lifting gladiolus or hang them upside down by their foliage on in a frost free location until the leaves yellow.
You don't have to remove dahlias from the ground, as they usually (but not all the time!) survive our mild coastal winters of zone 8. It was a pretty brutal winter last year and I lost one of mine that had been in the same spot for years so I’m storing all of mine this year. Either wait for frost to kill their tops or cut back all stems to 6 inches to a foot. Wait a few days, then dig them up.
Once bulbs, corms and tubers have been lifted, remove as much soil as possible by hand then place them in a dry area, away from frost and moisture for a week to cure. After curing, place the labelled tubers, corms etc. in cardboard boxes so they are not touching. Dust with nature’s fungicide: a healthy dose of cinnamon, then cover completely with dry vermiculite, perlite, peat moss or sterile potting soil. Store in a dry, frost free place 4 to 8 degrees Celsius.

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My Garden's August Flowers

August's flowers includeblack-eyed susan, garden phlox, Golden Sceptre dahlia, Traderhorn gladiolus, peegee hydrangea, miniature pink rose, white yarrow, cape fuchsia, Japanese anemone and anise hyssop.

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Plant of the Month
Persian silk tree/Mimosa
Albizia julibrissin

The 'petals' of the mimosa are actually stamens.

The flowers sit atop the lateral feathery branches.

Mimosas have broad spreading canopies like a parasol.

Common Name:  silk tree, Persian silk tree, mimosa
Botanical Name: Albizia julibrissin
Family:                Fabaceae
Growth rate:       fast, but is short-lived
Form:                 a graceful small tree with a broad, horizontal canopy like a parasol
Genus:               Albizia      
Species:             julbrissin
Plant Type:         deciduous tree       
Mature Size:       5–16 m (16–52 ft)
Origin:                 Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan, Korea, China
Hardiness Zone  USDA zones 6 to 9
Leaves:               feather-like, bright green foliage, bipinnate,  up to 45 cm (18 in) long x 25 cm (10 in) broad, folds inwards at                                 night and in the rain    
Flowers:              fragrant clusters of white or pink pompom-like blossoms
Fruit:                   brown, flattened pods 20 cm (8 in) long x 1 in wide, containing several seeds
Bark:                   dark green-grey with vertical stripes as it ages
Exposure:           sun
Soil:                    soil tolerant but prefers dry conditions. 
Pruning:             In late winter to early spring remove branches that are too low, distorted, broken and too long. Since mimosas                             are prone to many diseases and insects, remove infested parts any time of year and disinfect tools after each                             cut. 
Uses:                 provides dappled shade so use in mixed borders, as an accent and as a specimen
Cultivars:            Pink Silk Tree (A. julibrissin f. rosea), 'Summer Chocolate' has dark bronze leaves with pale pink blossoms.  
Mimosas are beautiful trees, but they are not reliable this far north. Albizias prefer dry, warm conditions, which means they struggle with diseases in British Columbia due to our wet weather. As tree matures, the trunk often divides into a V shape, where water collects, causing rot. They are invasive in areas where it is hot and dry, as their seeds are viable, however, it is too cold here for their seeds to become a problem. Roots are shallow but spread far so keep them away from driveways, patios and other hardscaping. 

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Love plants, love to garden. ​
​Amanda's Garden Company
The Garden Website ​