Your mid-October Gardening TipsOctober in the Garden:
This is the first real month for putting in cool season annuals. The soil is still warm but the air temperatures are cooling making this a perfect planting month. There is still a good chance of some warm days and even drying Santa Ana winds so keep newly planted annuals well watered until thoroughly rooted. Cool-season annuals to install now include pansy, viola, stock, Iceland poppy, linaria, English daisy, alyssum, calendula, snapdragon, ornamental cabbage and kale, bedding cyclamen and primrose. For instant color garden mums can still be planted. Because of their quick growth and heavy flowering potential annuals need more fertilizing than most other plants in the garden. Keep deadheading (removing spent flowers) to help them continue blooming.
This is the earliest month to consider planting most California natives. Some choices are Cleveland sage, monkey flower, Catherine's lace, sugar bush and the western red bud. California lilac (ceanothus - the blue bush on all the hillsides that blooms in the spring) is always a great choice.
With all native plants watering is the most important thing to be concerned about. Native grasses (such as feather grass) can be planted now. Feather grass is a historic cool season grass that grows in clumps 1 to 2 feet tall and wide. For centuries this perennial bunch grass covered much of California until it was grazed almost to extinction by cattle during the nineteenth century and replaced by the imported annual European grasses that cover our hillside today. Native grasses are also very good choices for erosion control.
These plants are generally summer dormant although they usually retain their foliage. To establish these plants they should be planted in the fall or early winter at the onset of cool weather and rains
Camellias: Continue to keep camellias well irrigated in warm or windy weather. If camellias dry out too much now they will not show immediate stress. However this is a main cause of bud drop in their February - March bloom period. Camellias are shallow rooted. Do not cultivate or allow other plants to grow in competition with their roots. Disbud Japanese Camellias now for larger blooms next spring. If there are more than about two buds per cluster gently twist off any extras and you will have larger and better formed flowers next spring. Sasanqua camellias are about ready to begin blooming. Feed them after the bloom cycle is finished. Japanese camellias are done with their "growth" cycle for this year and have already set their flower buds for next year. Do not apply any general fertilizer to camellias until after their blooms have finished next year.
Citrus: Citrus may be starting to show a few yellow leaves especially if there have been some cool night temperatures. Don't panic as this is normal. Feeding is all done on most plants. An exception is potted citrus which should be fed with a � to 1/3 dose application through the fall. Use a fertilizer that is rich in trace minerals such as most organic fertilizers like Dr. Earth. Be careful with irrigations now. Warm, dry weather requires irrigations while cooler temperatures require little irrigation.
Fuchsia: These are about done with their show for this year and may look a little ragged. Stop fertilizing now and let them harden off a bit before the cool months begin. There is still a chance of some unusually hot or windy spells. During these days be sure to check the soil moisture carefully especially plants in hanging baskets. Groom them by removing dead flowers and any developing seedpods.
Gardenias: This is your last chance to apply an iron supplement. Iron only works effectively in warm soil so an application now will keep the plants a bit greener all winter. Like Azaleas and Camellias, Gardenias are shallow rooted and dry out quickly. Keep them well watered during any hot or windy periods.
Herbs: This is the beginning of the planting time for cool-season herbs. Cool-season and other herbs that can be fall-planted include anise, arugula, borage, chervil, chives, cilantro, comfrey, dill, fennel, feverfew, garlic chives, lavender, lemon grass, lovage, parsley, rosemary, salad burnet, sorrel and tansy. Basil (except African Blue Basil) is struggling. The short days and cool nights are taking their toll and they aren't growing but are trying to set flowers and seeds. Do your best to pinch out the flower buds and harvest whatever leaves you can.
Hydrangeas: Contrary to some references or your own temptations do not prune hydrangeas this late in the year (except the 'Endless Summer' variety). Hydrangeas bloom on one-year-old stems. Pruning now will eliminate most of next year's flowers. To try to get blue or lavender flowers on an otherwise pink plant start applying Aluminum Sulfate to the soil now. White flowered varieties will not change color and not all pinks will be effected the same.
Plant Pansies: Pansies are an indispensable ingredient in fall and winter color gardens and landscapes in the San Diego area. You may want to plant a combination of both bedding plants and seeds - plants for instant color and seeds for color later on. Pansies require a soil that drains well. Add organic materials such as compost or peat moss and work the soil well. At planting time add an organic fertilizer to the soil.
Soil Care: As you know or will discover with more experience a good garden begins with the soil. Investing in the soil, managing the soil and protecting the soil are not afterthoughts in a successful garden but the foundation. Healthy soil is living and breathing, teaming with earthworms, microorganisms, beneficial fungi, bacteria, microbes and other invisible life. This section (possibly the most important topic of all) will provides some helpful guidance to good soil care.
A thick layer of organic mulch (averaging about two inches) should be maintained on top of the soil year-round. Add additional mulch as needed to maintain this level. This is one of the most important months of the year to apply this mulch. This mulch will moderate soil temperatures, reduce weed germination, and significantly improve both soil life and soil quality.
If you can, begin a compost pile or purchase a compost bin (we carry an excellent model). Home compost is one of the best ingredients you can add to your soil. Over the next couple of months there will be lots of fallen leaves from deciduous trees and these are excellent additions to a compost bin.
Use insecticides only if necessary and even then use the least toxic product. Many of these products move into the soil and interfere with invisible soil life. Since this is one of the biggest planting months of the year be sure that before you put a plant into the ground you have considered the soil and are doing all you can to improve it and sustain its health.
Tropicals: Many of these will still be blooming and looking good. It is not unusual for many of these to have a big fall flower burst now. Look for lots of color now on plumeria, hibiscus, bougainvillea and ginger. Let these heat loving plants harden off a bit before the cool temperatures of late fall and winter. Reducing or eliminating nitrogen fertilizer and cutting back on watering will help the plants get ready for the cooler months ahead.
Water Newly Planted Trees and Shrubs: Trees and shrubs planted in the fall get off to a good start as the soil is still fairly warm and the weather is usually mild. Foliage growth is slow and the plant's energies go into root development. If there is no rain it is important to water newly planted trees and shrubs a couple of times a week for the first few weeks.
Wisterias: No need to prune now. You'll make your final pruning of the year in December. The foliage of wisterias may be looking a bit dry and even showing some tip burn. No need to worry - there is not much you can do to about this right now. Watering needs will be greatly reduced now and there is no need to fertilize.
A handy, dandy checklist :
Amend your soil with a dressing of organic material
Turn your compost pile (or get one going). Use your garden debris and leaves to start a compost pile.
Plant trees and shrubs. Be sure to keep them well-watered even through the winter.
Prune Oleander in October before next season's flower buds have formed.
Feed and water roses but don't prune now.
Now through January is the best time to move shrubs and young trees that are growing in the wrong place. Ground covers are also planted now through the cool season.
