Words and photos by Olivia Thomas

Settle into autumn

Dark evenings are really starting to draw in, and it’s time to think about how you’ll use your garden over the next few months. Do you have spaces in your garden that will take you outside through autumn and winter? Now is the time to prepare while there’s still light to work with. Consider if you have space for seating, or overhead shelter. Is it close enough to the house that you’ll want to head out there when it’s dark or raining? Think about lighting in your garden, both attractive lighting to allow you to spend time outside year round and practical lighting that will allow you to do essential jobs in safety.

Garden clear-up

The garden starts to quietly collapse in early autumn, ready for a winter’s rest. Pull up dead annuals, clear up fallen branches, keep paths safe and clean. While you’re going round, think about what worked this year and what didn’t - any star plants? Anything you wish you’d not bothered with? Did you get to use your garden how you wanted? Be sure to take notes; trust me, you won’t remember everything come February!

When you’re raking leaves, if you don’t have space for a formal compost heap, stick them in a black bag and make sure they’re a little damp. Put the bag away in a dark corner, and in a year or so you’ll have leaf mould, one of the finest kinds of compost there is. (You’ll know it’s autumn when Gardner’s World mainly consists of Monty banging on about leaf mould. But he’s right.)

While you’re getting the leaves off the lawn, be sure to give it a really good scrape over to get off dead grass, moss and general debris. This is called scarification, and while it might look a bit of a mess when it’s been scraped through, it’ll do the grass a world of good for spring.

But don’t get too neat and tidy - the wildlife in your garden wants things a little looser over winter. Leave seedheads on plants, and leave grass longer where you can.

Bulbs

Afraid you should have ordered your tulips, narcissi and other spring bulbs by now if you wanted anything specific, but there’s lots still available and now is the time to plant them; they should be in by November at the latest. Tulips and daffodils are fantastic for pots, so there’s space for them in any garden. Plant bulbs at least twice their own depth, then leave them to do their thing. Always a great job to remind you that spring will come again.

Fancy a bit of a project? Try a bulb lasagne to take you right through the spring.  Here’s Sarah Raven to show you how:

https://www.sarahraven.com/articles/how-to-plant-a-bulb-lasagne

Think ahead to Christmas

There, I said it. Sorry not sorry. Plant up paperwhite narcissi bulbs, then keep them in a dark place and bring them out 4-6 weeks before Christmas into indoors warmth and light to force a festive display. Keep seed catalogues as they drop through the door to give you gift ideas for the gardeners in your life (and leave them around with varieties you like circled to drop hints for yourself…). Bare-root roses and fruit trees make great presents, and now is a good time to order.

October gluts 

Apples, apples, apples. Obviously you should work your way through the full gamut of crumbles and pies, then move onto chutneys, then freeze prepared crumble fillings for winter (get the last lot of foraged blackberries to freeze alongside for bonus points). We usually make our cider in mid-October, and if you still have apples to spare see if anyone local to you is a cider-maker.  October 21st is National Apple Day, and there are lots of local events celebrating apples in all their guises. 

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/members/welshrarebits-nigel-slater-s-english-apple-cake 

My essential autumn recipe - Nigel Slater’s apple cake. 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-apple-chutney 

One to start with - also try Nigella’s Christmas chutney 

Chillis are also ready to harvest before the tender plants die off. Chillis are easy to freeze, but if you want to do something more with them now, try chilli oil or chilli jam. Jamie Oliver is the king of things to do with chillis - start here for ideas:

https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/store-cupboard-heroes-4-ways-with-chillies/

And finally, it’s my birthday month! 

If you know any other people born in the best month to be born in, garden gifts include the plum tree variety ‘Opal’ for this month’s birthstone, or marigold seeds, the October birth flower, to sow in the spring. 

Any autumn gardening questions, ideas, suggestions? Comment below, or DM on Instagram @a_middle_aged_londoner or @larkroseflowers. Happy October gardening!