When autumn activities have to be put on hold
October is a busy gardening month at the best of times with fruit, vegetable and ornamental features demanding attention, but when it arrives on the tail of a mini-Indian summer as recently, it tends to put some autumn activities on hold.
We thought that the flowering shrubs, roses included, had done their thing, and planned to shorten their longer growths, bearing in mind the purchase they offer to autumn winds determined to loosen plant root systems.
But warmth and sunshine prevailed, coaxing certain plants into a second flowering.
The Peruvian orange blossom (Choisya ternata), weigela and sweetheart rose (Cecile Brunner) have neither hinted of going to sleep nor having a trim just yet.
If you’ve been deadheading your roses continuously since the first flush of bloom in late June, keep going and they will respond positively.
Nature will tell them when it`s time to take a rest. Don’t worry about them flowering out of season and failing to do so next year as a result.
Just enjoy the bonus and help them prepare as usual when they’re ready.
Prune where appropriate during dormancy, following that up with a pre-spring dressing of fertiliser and generous organic mulch. The same applies to any hardy shrubs charmed into repeat flowering by the weather.
Groups of the half hardy annual rudbeckia are such good value as they bloom from July until the first frost.
Two patches of ‘Marmalade’ in this garden show no sign of faltering in their respective flowering efforts as daylength decreases rapidly.
Japanese anemone, helianthemum, hydrangea, sedum and a host of hardy fuchsias are also telling me to put the full autumn tidy-up on hold until they’ve finishing performing.
The lawns appear to be in agreement. At this stage of the season I would normally be into the fortnightly mowing regime, but weekly cuts remain necessary for the sake of tidiness.
When you have ornamental borders comprising mixed plant types, it’s clearly not form to prune everything at once, especially when some are still in bloom.
Thank goodness then, for those herbaceous perennials and annuals that have just completed their growth cycle.
They are currently meeting our need to wade into the border, wield the secateurs, and reduce them to ground level.
This marks the beginning of a process that can continue until the onset of the winter season.