Doon Gardening Society Monthly News Letter – OCTOBER

Doon Gardening Society Monthly News Letter – OCTOBER

Dear Gardeners,

Welcome.

The last monsoon month has come to an end and we are now in October. Another 15 days or so of good sunshine and then the commencement of winters. We can still expect a few more rainy days as the North winds start blowing down South/West. The mornings and evenings are now cooler; this is the time to enjoy your favourite cup of tea on the lawn or under the verandah.

Many of us gardeners consider October to be a colourless month but in fact this is not so. If you have well planned garden with plants and trees like the Burning Bush, Camellia, Ornamental Cabbage and Kale, and Maple your October Garden would be as colourful as the spring Garden.

Garden Activities

Flowers: You still have a few more days to transfer the nursery grown perennials --- Anemone, Chrysanthemums, Asters and ornamental grasses.  

This is also the time for planting your nurseries for the following flower plants:

Agerantum	Alyssum	Antirrhium	Aster
Calendula	Candytuff	Carnation	Cinararia
Cornflower	Daisy	Dianthus	Gerbera
Gazania	Gillardia	Hollyhock	Larkspur
Lobelia	Pansy	Petunia	Phlox
Poppy	Verbania,

Bulbs and Tubers: This is the right time to take out your saved bulbs and tubers and plant these. Some of these are:

Begonia	Daffodils	Dahlia	Freesia
Galadious	Iris	Lillium	lilies
Ornithogolum	Oxalis	Ranunculuas	Tulips

Summer Bulbs: The summer bulbs like Caladiums, Gladiolus, Football Lily, Spider Lily and Tiger lily if already not dug up and preserved for the next season, their top foliage should be removed and allowed to dry for two weeks. These should then be dusted with Sulfur and stored in dry peat moss or vermiculite at room temperature.

Feeding the plants: This is also the time to feed your plants with a good quality slow release plant food like 19:19:19 (NPK). Fertilising perennials and flowering shrubs and trees with fertilisers made for flowering plants. These products contain slow-release nitrogen, sulfate of potash, iron and other micro-nutrients for overall plant growth and development.

Lawns: October is the right time for application lime to the lawn. It is also the time for the application of fertilizer to your lawn. Apply a good quality, slow-release fertiliser, with at least two feedings between the months of October, November and December. We recommend using a 26-4-12 (NPK) in October. Aerate and/or dethatch the lawn.

Fruit and Vegetable Gardens:  If you grown tomatoes in the vegetable section, this is the time to pluck the largest, almost ripe green tomatoes. Put them in a brown paper bag with some apples and they will ripen as sweet as if on the vine.

Remove all old vines of beans, squash, etc. to the compost pile and then spade or till the garden.

You can sow some of the herbs like:  

Brussels	Celery	Coriander	Dill
Leeks	Mint	Oregano	Parsley

Repot pot: This is the time to repot bound plants with potting mix.

Fruit trees: With coolers months not far, if you have not already planted the fruit trees this is the right time to plant the same --- you can still plant deciduous plants like Mango and Litchi. and decorative trees as this will give them some time to root in before the dormant winter season.

Composting: With the approaching fall the leaves of a number of your tree family will be changing colour --- yellow to brown and finally they will fall. These can be collected and added to your composite bin. It is the time to clean up your garden and get ready for the next spring.

What to sow
it is time to sow the winter vegetables. To enjoy garden fresh time this is the right time to put is a few vegetables in your kitchen garden. The suggested few are:

Vegetables

Early Winter
Brinjal	Broccoli	Brussels	Cabbage
Capsicum	Carrot	Cauliflower	Chili
Lettuce	Peas	Potato	Tomato
Radish	Turnip	Spinach

Pruning                                 

With extended sunshine you can still prune your plants.

Roses both the local varieties and the Hybrid Teas should be pruned to a height of 18-20 inches. All the dead and dry stems should be removed. Ensure to keep 5-6 eyes on 6-7 healthy stems for the new growth. Do apply “Bordeaux Paste to the cut ends. Spray the plants with Metasystox, Nuan or Rogor. A spray of Bavistin will keep the fungus away during the winters.

If your roses are in the ground, dig saucers 6 inches deep and 12 inches around the plant. Remove the earth for airing the roots for a week. Apply 1:19 solution of CPP. Refill after a week and apply water.

Regards and happy gardening