It’s been a windy, wet start to October, sunflowers have fallen, most of the harvests have been cleared away but there’s always the winter brassicas in the kitchen garden or allotment for plenty of plant based nutrition. Now is a great time of year to secure structures for winter in the garden, tie up any unruly plants and remove any old annual plants to make way for some winter annual bedding.
No matter what the weather (unless the ground is waterlogged), now is the time to get mulching your beds and borders. Small gardens, larger spaces and allotments will benefit from a layer of mulch applied to the soil and around plants (leave a gap between the mulch and stems). Mulching now means all of the nutrients will be absorbed into the soil over the next few months making it perfect for planting in next spring. Existing plants will get some much needed food, weeds will be suppressed and if you use PlantGrow, you might even find slugs and snails stay away from your precious plants. They don’t seem to like PlantGrow at all! Quite the opposite for me however, since it covers my no dig plot and contributes to the most perfect of winter cabbages I have ever grown. Both the natural fertiliser and the bio mix can be used as a mulch – which I also use to tuck my Dahlias in after I’ve cut them back in late October. I leave the tubers in the ground with a thick mulch and cross my fingers winter isn’t too long and cold!
If you want to create a new border, this time of year is a great time to do that as well. If you border is to be where grass is currently, just lay some cardboard directly on the grass and put a thick layer of PlantGrow down, stamp on it to firm it in and you’ll be good to grow next spring! Simple as that.
Don’t forget to plant your spring bulbs as well! They’ll be buried under all that mulch over the winter months, storing energy and getting ready to burst into colourful bloom next year.
