It will send excited South African gardeners, big and small, young and old, experienced or ‘green’, marching off to their nearest garden centre where they will find seedling tables groaning under annual and vegetable seedlings, and beds heavily stocked with perennials in season, groundcovers, ornamental grasses and all the other stalwarts of spring and summer, to plant.
So, say “welcome” to one of the most beautiful months of the year with flowers galore, and a potential summer harvest of fresh veggies and herbs beginning to grow up in the veggie patch! Falling blossoms followed by tiny fruit on the fruit trees are an early promise of something sweet to feast on later. The first strawberries are getting their lipstick on shyly amongst the leaves, and the sweet scent of star jasmine is in the air. October is also time to feed all your plants and to protect your mid-spring treasures against pests and weeds.
In the limelight…
October is known as ‘rose month’ and the iconic ‘Iceberg’ is probably the best-selling rose ever! Hard on its heels is a cousin called ‘Burgundy Iceberg’ – equally free-flowering with blooms in rich jewel-like colours of burgundy with disease-resistant, healthy foliage. You simply have to plant some – even if it is only one in a pot!
Bountiful flowers
For instant colour go for calibrachoas which sport a mass of miniature petunia-like flowers. All nurseries will have them in stock in ‘colour pots’ and all you have to do is to fill all your containers, hanging baskets and window boxes with them. They are value for money as they flower endlessly in full sun and you will be surprised at the large range of colours and growth habits.
Hot tip: Feed calibrachoas twice a month with a water-soluble fertiliser to keep them in full flower and do not over water, as they hate constantly soggy soil.
Seedling newsflash!
Ready-to-plant annuals in seedling trays are definitely the fastest and cheapest way to turn any garden into a garden of Eden and at this time of year, you are spoilt for choice. Flower seedlings to plant with abandon today include: petunias, lobularias (allysum), gazanias, penstemons, Chrysanthemum paludosum and C. multicaule, Sunpatiens and celosias for sun. In shady areas, plant seedlings of New Guinea Impatiens, begonias, impatiens (Busy Lizzie) hypoestes and coleus.
Seedling success relies on:
Compost enriched soil.
Not being pulled out by their stems – push them gently out of their punnet from below, with a pencil or stick and firm them down gently in a planting hole that fits the size of their root balls.
Regular watering afterwards.
Pinching out their growth tips as they go along, to make them bushier.
Regular feeding of lawns with a granular lawn fertiliser spreader (to be used according to instructions given on the product) and by hand out of a bucket for garden beds.
Dead-heading in support of continual flowering.
Remember to put out cutworm bait after planting young seedlings.
Sow like a pro
All summer-flowering annuals and most summer vegetables and herbs can be sown now that night temperatures are higher. Here are some handy tips when sowing:
- Large seeds– place a piece of chicken wire over the seed tray to make a template for sowing evenly. Use one seed per hole.
- Small seeds– fine seeds such as petunia or lobelia can stick to your fingers and are difficult to spread out. Mix them with dry sand or bread flour in an old flour shaker and shake the mix lightly over the moistened soil.
Flowers to sow now include annuals like cosmos, marigolds, portulacas, zinnias and sunflowers.
Bright and beautiful
Remember to add ornamental grasses to your garden as they will supply a lovely show in late summer and autumn.
Perennials to plant in all regions include: agapanthus, gauras, nemesias, osteospermums and geraniums of all kinds. Also go for gypsophila and masses of pretty but tough angelonias. Plant more summer-loving perennials like alstroemerias, agapanthus, gauras, penstemons, columbines and echinaceas.
Stalwart of the October garden must be Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine). This versatile creeper with its glossy dark green foliage and aromatic, pure white flowers, can be used to trail over pergolas and fences and if planted en mass, as a fast-covering ground cover under trees. It also grows fantastically in pots and can even be pruned into a weeping standard.
Plant Amaryllis in pots: Use good quality potting soil that drains well and pots that are just a little bigger than the bulb’s own width. Beware the planting depth: The bulb’s ‘shoulder’ must protrude above the soil surface and the ‘nose’ should reach just above the pot’s rim. Keep the pots in a warm, well-lit position and the soil always moist.
Lawn care: Correct small irritations on the lawn (like bald patches) now, by digging out a piece of turf surrounding the bare patch, and replacing it with one of the same size and shape taken from a less visible part of the lawn. Fill in the excavated piece from where you took the turf, with fine compost, level and re-seed, or plant a few runners of plugs to cover the area again. Hollows and bumps can be fixed by cutting out the turf in the affected areas and either taking some soil away in the case of bumps, or adding some compost to level out a hollow. Gently re-place the piece of turf and tamp down lightly with the back of a spade. In shady or other areas where it is difficult to grow the usual lawn types, you can consider the following alternatives which are flat growing, fairly hard-wearing and need no mowing: wonderlawn, penny royal – good for wet and shady areas and daisy lawn for sun and drier conditions.
Combat fungal disease and encourage strong root systems by watering deeply, early in the morning.
Spectacular succulents: Clean up succulents like echeverias and Kalanchoe thyrsiflora which will have stopped flowering, and divide and replant the babies in other parts of the garden.
Hunger busting!
Here is a guide of easy-to-grow veggies to sow and plant now:
- Carrots – sow seeds directly several times from spring to autumn to ensure a continuous harvest. The soil must be cultivated deeply to make it loose and friable.
- Cumbers – sow seeds directly. The plants will need sturdy stakes to keep the fruit off the ground.
- Green beans – plant seeds of bush types which are easier to manage.
- Lettuce – keep on planting oak and loose leaf lettuce seedlings – available in trays from your local nursery.
- Radishes – sow small amounts directly throughout summer.
- Squashes and baby marrows – sow seeds directly. As soon as they emerge, they need to be thinned out to allow ample space for you to trail them up some obelisks made of poles. You can also trail them over a wire fence.
- Sweet peppers – plant seedlings from your nursery.
- Tomatoes – plant seedlings from your nursery. Tomato seedlings should be planted deeper than they originally grew in their nursery trays. The plants will be more anchored and sturdier and roots will develop along the buried portion of the stems. Pinch off the lower leaves when you plant them.
- Spinach – plant a few rows of spinach every few weeks to ensure a continuous supply.
Feed young veggies every two weeks with a water-soluble fertiliser and keep a sharp eye on germinating weeds between the rows. Put out snail bait amongst strawberry plants and provide a mulch of straw, coarse clippings, or weed matting to prevent the fruit from touching the soil. Pick the fruit frequently to encourage new ones. Water all citrus trees deeply, once a week. Thin out peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums when they are about pea-size. They need a second application of a general fertiliser suitable for fruiting plants. Continue spraying and baiting against fruit fly and codling moth.
Sow more parsley, chives and basil seeds in pots to keep on a sunny kitchen windowsill.
KwaZulu Natal
Inspect all members of the lily family such as agapanthus, crinum, clivia, nerine, amaryllis and haemanthus for lily borer, a caterpillar which has transverse yellow and black bands around the body. They are most active at night and can be squashed by hand, or treated with a contact insecticide.
Harvest the last avocados and plant a last crop of young strawberry plants.
For more information on bringing Life to your Garden, visit our website www.lifeisagarden.co.za or join the conversation on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/lifeisagardensa.
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
