October

Lawns
Make the last cuts of the lawn longer, at an inch or so, to strengthen the grass through the cold months and give it some foliage to live on. Choose a dry, windy day to do this, when all the dew has evaporated.

Rake off fallen leaves regularly.

Pruning and Training
Finish off the clipping of hedges and topiary.

Make sure the long stems of roses and other climbers are tied in before winter winds can tear them off.

Take hardwood cuttings of buddleias, forsythia, fancy elders, currants and gooseberries, by simply sticking strong 12-inch cuttings two-thirds into the ground where you want them to grow. Right way up, of course!

Rub down wooden garden furniture and apply a coat of oil or preservative before the winter.

Flowers
Lift the roots of dahlias and tuberous begonias now, as soon as the frost blackens the foliage. Store them dry in trays or boxes, in a cool, dark place such as a garage. Clumps of canna rhizomes should also be lifted, and are better dropped just as they are, soil and all, into pots or boxes and packed round with loose soil. Then they can join the dahlias until spring. Potted cannas can be cut down and go into store just as they are.

Pick leaves off gravel drives before the worms come to collect them and bring soil up to the surface. Net ponds against heavy leaf fall, or rake them off.

Kitchen Garden
Lift a few roots of mint and set them criss-cross in a shallow pot for winter or early spring picking. Leave the pot outside until a few weeks before you want it, then bring it indoors to the warm.

You can start digging over empty parts of the vegetable garden now, and getting some compost in there. The bottom half at least of the heaps you made this spring and summer should be ready to use.

Set new strawberry plants into well-enriched soil. A cloche over established perpetual strawberries will keep them warm and fruiting for a little longer, but make sure they do not become too dry.

Pick apples and pears.

Insulate with bubble-wrap greenhouses that are to be heated.

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