Tip #5: Begin planting Pansies, Violas and other Fall and Winter flowering annual plants now.
You live with your landscape 365 days a year. Fall can be full of color just like Spring! By planting fall-blooming plants, you can keep your landscape and garden interesting even during the cooler months, when not much else is blooming. Pansies and Violas are perhaps the most popular cool-season annual bedding plants for use in flowerbeds and containers. Flowering cabbages, kales, mustards and Swiss Chard are colorful foliage plants perfect for mixing in with your pansies and violas to add height, texture and color contrast.
Tip #6: Plant fall bulbs now.
Fall is a great time to plant daffodils, hyacinths, tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs. Our favorite way to plant Daffodil bulbs is to hand-scatter the bulbs along the borders of beds, islands or woodland borders as if Mother Nature planted them herself. Plant Tulip bulbs beneath your pansies and watch them put on a spectacular show when they rise through the pansies in Spring! Hyacinths are most impressive when planted in groups/patches.NOTE: In the South and warmer regions, bulbs bought in October should be kept in the refrigerator until mid to late November when they can safely be planted.
Caution: Do not store bulbs in the same compartment of your refrigerator with apples.
Tip #7: Begin to winterize your perennial garden.
Clip back dead growth and spread a layer of mulch or compost to protect plant roots from the colder temperatures that are on the way.
CAUTION: DO NOT cut back Lantanas until next spring when the new growth begins to emerge - Fall pruning almost insures death of Lantanas.
Tip #8: Plant fall vegetables this month.
Now is a good time to plant fall vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, spinach, collards, cauliflower and mustard and turnip greens.
Tip #9: Now is a great time to plant perennial plants.
Many fall-blooming perennials are now available at your local nursery and garden center such as, asters, salvias, daisies, perennial grasses, sedums, and of course hardy fall garden mums.
Tip #10: Check crape myrtles for honeydew aphids.
These small green insects hang out on the underside of the leaves during the day and then move to the top of the leaf at night leaving behind trails of sticky residue. This residue collects dust and pollution that appears like a black mold. To kill these insects you could spray a chemical insecticide or a product containing neem oil.
Tip #11: October is a great time to plant most shrubs, trees, or groundcovers.
Contrary to popular belief the cool season is the best time to plant ornamental shrubs and trees. Planting during the cool season - when plants are in their dormancy - will require much less attention to watering. Too, it allows plants to acclimate to their new home where they will benefit from the early spring root flush when soil temperatures begin to warm.
