Maintenance

Entrench fuchsias and geraniums

A lot of people do not have the space in their house, shed or garage to overwinter their collection of fuchsias and geraniums (Pelargonium). You can also bury them in the garden (cover with soil) or leave them to overwinter in a large box with pot soil.

Fallen leaves

Fallen leaves are not only good for the compost heap or for producing leaf mould; they can also be used to cover sensitive large perennials like Gunnera. Leave the Gunnera foliage in place, but create a fifty centimetre high netting fence around the base of the plant and fill the space within it with fallen leaves.

Dig up bulb and tuber crops

• Gladioli, Ixias, dahlias, tuberous begonias etc. cannot cope with frost and ideally need to be dug up now if you want to keep them.
• The signal for this is usually the blackening of the foliage on the dahlias due to low temperatures.
• Do not dig them up too soon, since the growth of bulbs and tubers particularly occurs during this late period.
• Cut stems two centimetres above the bulb or tuber and leave the stumps to dry out in a dry, well-ventilated spot.
• After a while they will let go easily and the soil around the bulb or tuber will also have dried out enough for most of it to fall off.
• There is no need to clean them further.
• Store the bulbs or tubers in a cool place which is usually damp.

Make compost

October traditionally sees a lot of organic waste coming from the garden. Instead of removing it, why not make compost from it?

Make manure weed-free

• Often if you fertilise your (vegetable) garden with old farmyard manure, you get a lot of weeds.  So the best thing to do is to compost the manure first.
• Alternate layers of manure with other compostable material.
• The high temperature which develops during composting (up to 60 °C) eradicates the weed seeds ability to germinate.
• The end product is a highly nutritious compost.