Lift and divide old crowns of rhubarb. Harvest apples and pears for eating or storing. Only store unblemished fruit to prevent it rotting in storage. Pick blackberries, hybrid berries and autumn raspberries.

Order fruit trees and bushes from mail order catalogues and nurseries and prepare the ground well before planting.

New trees can be planted as soon as the autumn weather sets in. The soil will still be quite warm in early October, even if the weather is cool. The roots of new plants will benefit from this.

Pick the last of the remaining runner beans. Any really late and stringy ones are better composted than eaten.

Dig up outdoor tomato plants and hang them upside-down in the greenhouse to allow the fruits to ripen. Any that don’t ripen can be used green in chutneys.

Continue lifting carrots and beetroot plus any remaining potatoes still underground in mild areas. Only store healthy, intact roots. Parsnips should be left in, as they taste better once frosted.

October is a good time for digging over vacant areas of the vegetable plot, as the approaching cold weather may help to improve the soil structure by breaking down large clumps into crumbly particles. After digging, any vacant ground can be covered with black polythene to prevent re-colonisation by weeds, or smearing of the surface structure by rain-splash (this is known as 'capping').

Perennials and herbaceous plants

Cut back faded herbaceous perennials and add to compost heap.

Lift and divide poor flowering or overcrowded herbaceous plants such as Achillea, Artemisia, Aster, Campanula, Crocosmia, and Phlox. This will revive them for next year. Division is also a cheap way of increasing your stock of favourite plants.

In many colder areas, this month is the last opportunity to scarify, aerate and top dress lawns. Scarification removes layers of thatch and can be done with either a spring-tine rake or a powered scarifier.

Rake fallen leaves off lawns before they block out light and air penetration to the grass.

Get your lawnmower, hedge trimmers (plus any other power tools not needed over the winter) serviced now in preparation for next year.

Brought to you by Joyce Bullock from

Eco Creations.

For more information visit

www.eco-creations.co.uk

or call 01858 829081