October Garden Tips

Usher in the autumn season with creative displays for indoors and out! Transformation quickly occurs with pots of mums, pansies, cabbages, and ornamental peppers when combined with pumpkins, gourds, and bales of hay.

Create a spectacular vignette in your landscape with bales of hay, a scarecrow or two, multiple sizes of pumpkins and gourds, pots of garden mums, corn stalks and for more texture consider adding old tools, a set of antlers or birdhouses. The autumn color palette offers a myriad of wonderful colors from which to choose; purples, rusts, gold’s, yellows, oranges, deep greens, and browns can be used. Whether you are mixing colors or working with only one, use color abundantly to create massive appeal. Create a pyramid of pumpkins and gourds by selecting different colors and stacking them one on top of the other. Simply displaying a “pile” of pumpkins in the same color palette and different sizes will draw one’s eye and interest to an area of your landscape.

Color Creations filled with blooming or colorful foliage plants can be used on patios and porches. Freshen up existing containers by nestling an interesting pumpkin or gourd in amongst the plants. Fill a favorite basket or pot with a mixture of produce for a simple, impressive look. Add a bit of nature into your containers with branches, corn husks, berries, and other materials to enhance the overall look.

If you did not apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your lawn in September; apply it by the first two weeks of October. You should also fertilize your St. Augustine or Bermuda lawns no later than the first week of October.

October is bulb buying month. They are in fresh supply and will provide welcome late winter and early spring color for the landscape. Refrigerate Tulips and Hyacinth bulb for at least 45 to 60 days to provide enough chilling to bloom properly. Plant them in late November or early December.

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