Tasks for October

British gardens have a new and unwelcome visitor as an Asian hornet has been spotted for the first time in Gloucestershire. New Garden Pests The sighting prompted a search for its nest across a three-mile surveillance zone. A large nest was subsequently found at the top of a conifer tree and destroyed. The insects are up to 3cm in length, [...]

Ripen the last of the green tomatoes now before it’s too late. There are always a few underripe tomatoes left at the end of the season, but there’s still time to persuade at least some of them to turn red before the first frosts. Persuade those Tomatoes! First, 'stop' your plants by removing growing tips so they're concentrating on fruit [...]

Celebrate the nation’s favourite fruit at an Apple Day near you. These annual festivals of all things appley are taking place around the country throughout this month, so look out for the event nearest you. National Apple Day! Among the biggest is the National Apple Festival, held at the home of largest collection of apples in the country, Brogdale Fruit [...]

The brilliant colours of autumn, caught by rays of mellow sunshine, are among the highlights of the gardening year. It’s also time to put the garden gently to bed, so there’s plenty to get on with this month! General tasks: Go on a slug and snail hunt looking for both pests and clumps of their pearly white eggs. Clear autumn [...]

Plant a windowsill herb garden for a delicious taste of summer in the depths of winter without even having to step outside your back door. As the gardening year slows it's hard to give up luxuries like chopping generous handfuls of fresh herbs straight into your cooking. But indoor herb gardens created this month keep you in freshly-picked flavour all [...]

Turn your pampered pumpkins into scary Hallowe'en faces ready to scare off passing ghosties and ghoulies (or just marauding trick-or-treaters) on October 31st. This is one gardening job all the kids can get stuck into. Choose your biggest, ripest pumpkins (they should sound hollow when you knock them) and cut them away from the plant with about 5cm of stem. [...]