Timely Tips for October Gardening

By Jens Molbak
For The Woodinville Weekly, October 2009

What to do when fall colors fade, skies turn gray and everything in your yard looks a bit shaggy?

Here are four easy yet rewarding gardening activities for October: refreshing containers; planting spring bulbs; decorating your entry; and prepping perennials for winter.

Refreshing containers

If there’s an all-around plant that makes us all smile on into spring, it’s winter pansies. They’re perky, hardy, colorful and perfect to replace fading summer annuals.

“Pansies do well just about everywhere you want something to add color over the winter,” says container designer Jodi Burkland.

Here are more of Burkland’s favorites for cool-season containers: Grasses, especially phormium and carex; heucheras and euphorbias for vivid color; wire-vine, sedum angelina and vinca for their trailing qualities; Swiss chard and kale for color and texture; and ferns for shady spots.

Evergreen plants add beautiful year-round interest to containers. “Put them close to other plants,” Burkland advises. “They get bigger faster if they’re huddled together for the cooler fall weather.”

Planting bulbs

This is a great time of year to buy and plant bulbs for a lovely pop of color in the spring. “When selecting bulbs, look for firm bulbs with uniform color and no signs of disease,” bulb expert Paul Dever explains. “Also look at the size of bulbs. Bigger-size bulbs produce bigger flowers. They may cost a bit more but you’ll be happier with larger bulbs.”

Dever also recommends grouping at least 10 or 12 bulbs together so they stand out instead of being lost among other plants.

Another suggestion to increase the impact of your bulb-planting efforts is to go vertical. Plant 3-4 bulbs with different blooming times all in the same hole. Try putting alliums or daffodils at the bottom, covered with an inch of soil. Add tulips and more soil, topped with crocuses or grape hyacinths and more soil. The result is a slow motion fireworks display of color that lasts for months.

“Everything a bulb needs to flower is already in the bulb when you buy it,” Dever explains. “However, if you want bulbs to last two or three seasons, put a little fertilizer covered with a bit of soil (to avoid burning) under the bulbs.”

Decorating your entry

Pumpkins and corn stalks, set on hay bales or planters, can transform your entry for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Or make a wreath of pansies, twigs or maple leaves.

Burkland’s favorite: “Go for the gourds, which last a long time and come in unusual shapes, textures and sizes. They’re great to pair with pumpkins in unusual colors.”

Prepping perennials for winter

Now’s the time to prune, mulch and divide hostas, heucheras, daylilies and bleeding hearts, according to perennial specialist, Lynda Robertson. A list of other perennials to tend to now and which to care for in the spring is available at Molbak’s.

“When a perennial starts to lack luster, that’s the time to divide it and give some to your gardening friends,” Robertson says.

Use bags of bark mulch, compost or other organic mulches around the perimeter. Don’t cover up the crown, or pack the mulch down. “The lighter and airier the better to avoid water logging,” she says.

Happy Gardening!
Jens

Jens Molbak and his wife, Blair, own Molbak’s in Woodinville. He can be reached at jmolbak@molbaks.com. More information on gardening is at www.molbaks.com.