October Gardening Calendar

Vegetables

• Sow cover crops such as winter rye after crops are harvested.
• Weeks 1-2: Continue harvesting tender crops before frost.
• Weeks 1-2: Gourds should be harvested when their shells become hard or when their color changes from green to brown.
• Weeks 1-2: A few degrees of frost protection may be gained by covering tender plants with sheets or lightweight fabric row covers.
• Weeks 1-2: Dig sweet potatoes before a bad freeze.

Fruits

• Store apples in a cool basement in old plastic sacks that have been perforated for good air circulation.
• Week 2-3: Persimmons start to ripen, especially after frost.
• Week 4: Place wire guards around trunks of young fruit trees for protection against mice and rabbits.

Lawns

• Weeks 1-2: Seeding should be finished by October 15.
• Weeks 2-3: Broadleaf herbicides can be applied now to control cool season weeds such as chickweed and dandelion.
• Weeks 3-4: Now is a good time to apply lime if soil tests indicate the need.
• Weeks 3-4: Continue mowing lawns until growth stops.

Ornamentals

• Plant spring bulbs among hostas, ferns, daylilies or ground covers. As these plants grow in the spring they will hide the dying bulb foliage.
• Container grown and B & B trees and shrubs can be planted. Loosen the soil in an area 5 times the diameter of the root ball before planting. Mulch well after watering.
• Continue watering, especially evergreens if soils are dry.
• Nuts or seeds of woody plants usually require exposure to 3 months cold before sprouting. This may be provided by outdoor planting in fall or "stratifying" in an unsealed bag of damp peat moss placed in the refrigerator.