Monty Don reveals gardening task you need to do before winter hits

MONTY DON has shared an important task gardeners should do in October, to guarantee your outdoor space looks its best for years to come.

Now that the weather has begun to turn, and the nights are drawing in, you may be thinking about hanging your gardening gloves up for the year.

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However, gardening legend Monty revealed that there is one task you should make sure to do next month.

Writing in his “The Full Monty” feature in Gardeners World Magazine, the expert shared that October is the perfect time of year to plant hedges, due to the “warm” ground.

He explained that during this time, roots establish themselves easily, making this a task perfect for beginners.

He said: “So plant hedges. Make them low, tall, straight and curved.

“October is the best month because the soil is warm, and the roots will get established with little or no demand from the foliage.”

The BBC presenter advised planting small hedge plants, as not only are they cheaper, they “establish much quicker”.

Sharing advice on how to look after your hedge, he added: “Keep the base weed free and mulched, and let the leaders of each plant reach the desired height before cutting back.”

“Then trim once a year after the birds have nested and the young fledged. That’s it.”

Monty revealed that the task does not require much skill, but will guarantee “decades of pleasure and beauty”.

Preparing your lawn for winter

Another task that gardening fans are urged to do in October, is to prepare lawns for the cold winter months.

Lawn growth begins to slow down in October, after speeding up during the hot summer months.

Once the growth has slowed down, Jane Fairlie, technical development manager at Pelsis Doff revealed that there are a number of jobs you should be doing.

“Although growth is slowing, lawns still benefit from attention in October,” she said.

“Scarify to remove thatch and moss, overseed any bare patches and apply lawn feed to strengthen grass roots before winter.

October gardening jobs

The Sun’s Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the jobs you need to tackle in October.

“It’s a good time to trim deciduous hedges – like box, yew, hawthorn, hornbean and beech – plus hedge trimmers are a great upper body workout!

Make leafmould – gather up all the fallen leaves and fill either bin bags or plastic carrier bags. Seal the top, stick a few small holes in the bag – and then store for a year or more. Free compost!

It’s unlikely you’ll get any more red tomatoes so have one final harvest and chuck the plants on the compost. See if you can get the green ones to ripen by putting in a drawer (some say with a banana). Also keep the seeds from a couple – and plant again next year if they went well.

Finish getting in your spring bulbs. Ideally you’d have done daffs and alliums, but tulips are better in the ground when the soil temperature gets a bit colder. 

It’s good to leave some plant litter in the ground – it adds to the nutrients as it rots down, and provides shelter and food for insects. But remove the manky brown bits collapsing all over the lawn/winter structure. 

Mulch – it not only suppresses weeds, but keeps the soil warm, improves water retention and adds a little winter duvet to your outside space. 

October’s a good month for carrots, peas, asparagus, broad beans, and rhubarb.”

“Keep mowing if the weather is mild, but raise the cutting height as growth slows.”

Scarifying your lawn means removing dead grass, moss and debris from the top of the lawn.

This allows air, water and nutrients to access the soil, and promote healthy growth of grass.

You can get a special scarifying tool to do this job, or a garden fork will do just fine if you’re on a budget.

Overseeding a lawn simply means spreading new grass seed on top of the lawn, to fill any bald spots, and leave the grass looking thicker.

It takes just five minutes to do, and will make a huge difference come spring.