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October 2025: Gardening Tips and What to Plant

Posted on 1 October 2025

Hello October! We hope you had a good September and are adjusting to the drop in temperature haha. Our September was busy, with many of our customers getting ready to renovate their lawns this autumn, as well as mulch their beds and borders. We also had lots of veg to harvest, especially carrots, chillies and tomatoes! The biggest thing that happened last month was of course the new website – we have a blog post if you need a tour and want to learn about the new features.

We have been working on the new site since about this time last year; we started with choosing which aspects from the old website and its software that we wanted to keep and what we wanted to change – and there was lot we wanted to change haha. Our social media/website manager Ellie lead the project and worked with Blackpig to choose the best design and layout for our shop. We hope everyone likes our new site!

Top Jobs:

Mulch, mulch and .. mulch! Feed your plants and provide them with an insulating later this winter. Even mulching bare patches and no-dig beds can be beneficial; organic mulch encourages worms to drag the nutrients into the soil, making the soil more moisture-retentive, free-draining and fertile (see here to learn more about why earthworms are so great). By spring, you’ll have a healthy soil that’s ready to be directly planted into! Foe Autumn/Winter mulching, we recommend our Field No.12 Nutrimulc h or No.1 Organic Soil Improver as they contain the largest amounts of organic matter.

Our recent harvest of tomatoes; here we have Tigerellla, San Marzano, and Cream Sausage

General Garden Maintenance:

Its October, its Britain, so we’re expecting rain; clean your water butts by spraying them with a jet nozzle on the hose or by scrubbing them with a brush.
Rake up fallen leaves from lawns, borders, driveways and paths, and store in a bin to rot down into leaf mould.
Build a log pile at the back of the garden, for wildlife to shelter in.

Greenhouses:

Wash greenhouse glazing, to let in as much of the weaker Autumn daylight as possible.
Ventilate greenhouses and conservatories during the remaining warm days, but reduce ventilation once cooler, gusty autumn weather sets in.
Water plants more sparingly as conditions turn cooler and days get shorter.
attach guttering to the greenhouse and install a water butt, to make good use of the autumn rain. If you already have a water butt, make sure to clear fallen leaves from the guttering.

Help out your houseplants by watering less frequently, moving them away from cold windowsills at night and placing them in brighter spots. Don't forget to repot any houseplants that have become top-heavy or pot bound into larger containers filled with Field No.23 Potting Compost.

Lawn care:

Maintenance:

Remove fallen leaves from lawns so they don’t smother the grass and block out light and moisture. Raking is the best option but using a leaf-blower on large lawns will make the job easier.
if the weather isn’t frosty, and your lawn isn’t waterlogged, carry out autumn lawn care to improve your lawn’s resilience and appearance next year. scarify, aerate and top-dress. If needed, repair any damage by re-seeding bare patches; we have a lawn care bundle where you can get our No.4 Lawn Dressing and Grass Seed at a discounted price.
No need to use a fertiliser if you’re top dressing with Field 4; our lawn dressing contains all the plant nutrition grass species require, like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus that encourage hardiness and root growth.

New Lawns:

Lay turf onto prepared soil but leave it undisturbed for several weeks to allow the new roots to establish. Spread our Field No.26 Turfing Soil before laying turf.
Sow grass seed on prepared ground (scarified and aerated) in warmer regions of the UK. You can use Field No.5 Fine Grade Topsoil and cover with a thin layer of Field 4.
Mow recently sown areas of grass for the first time – to neaten them up before winter. They should only need mowing once this year. Set the cutting height to at least 2.5cm.

Check out our friend LawnRight’s autumn lawn renovation:

Flowers:

Jobs:

Lift up and pot tender perennials, e.g., chocolate cosmos, gazanias and coleus, to protect them over winter. Pot up using Field No.23 Potting Blend compost.
Cut back perennials that have died down; trimming after flowering has finished in autumn helps to improve their appearance and flowering. If you wanted, you can leave some stems over winter to provide homes and food for wildlife, then trim back in the spring.
Perform some hanging basket maintenance: deadheading, watering and feeding can keep them going until mid-autumn. Once they are past their best, re-plant with spring-flowering bulbs, trailing ivies, winter heathers, and spring bedding plant.

To Plant:

Spring flowering bulbs. Plant drifts of bulbs informally in your lawn, e.g., crocuses, daffodils, allium and fritillaries. Mix Field No.1 Organic Soil Improver with the existing soil around the bulbs, to add nutrition and organic matter.
Sow sweet peas in deep pots in the greenhouse, for early flowers next summer.
Hardy annuals. October marks the final sowings of hardy annuals to overwinter for an early flush of spring flowers. For instance, phacelia is a great plant for bees and other pollinators. Sow these direct in well-prepared soil (mix Field No.23 in drills) or in a seed tray (of No.23) for planting out in spring.
Perennials. Also the final sowing of perennials that need a cold spell to aid germination, e.g., primulas and cowslips. Cowslips are a tough perennials that do best in a partially shady spot near water, like the pond edge. Fresh seeds need a cold period to germinate so sow in October in seed trays or multi-celled trays. Fill trays with Field No.23 Potting Blend compost.

Fruit & Veg:

Jobs:

Cover salad plants with cloches to prolong cropping.
Divide large clumps of herbs, e.g., chives, lemon balm and marjoram, then share with friends, or replant them by mixing soil improver in with your soil to add organic matter.
Cut fruited stems of blackberries and autumn raspberries down to the ground after harvesting.
Harvest the last of your crops, e.g., courgettes, pumpkins, squash, and maincrop potatoes. Finish picking French and runner beans, but leave a few pods to ripen fully, so you can save the seeds.

To Plant:

Peas. For an early crop next spring, sow hardy cultivars like ‘Avola’ and ‘Meteor’ peas now. Sow them direct in 5cm drills in the ground, mixing in Field No.23, or in root trainers to plant out in a couple of weeks. Its also a good time to plant out peas sown in root trainers or guttering in September.
Hardy broad beans. Sow this month to germinate and put on some growth before entering winter dormancy. They will provide a spring harvest a few weeks earlier than spring-sown plants. Sow direct in the soil (mix Field No.23 in drills) or in multi-celled trays (of No.23) to plant out in a couple of weeks.
Cauliflowers. Early-summer cropping cultivars, e.g., ‘Snowball’ can be sown now to overwinter, and then planted out in spring. Sow in multi-celled trays of No.23 and thin out to one seedling per cell, then plant out in spring.
Rhubarb crowns. These can be planted now, and established clumps can be divided. Mix Field No.1 Organic Soil Improver in with the soil when planting.
Salad mixes are easy to grow! Sowing in early October may get you a small crop before winter, but then plants will enter dormancy and not start growing again until March. Sow in pots that you can move into the greenhouse or indoors for shelter.
Herbs, e.g., basil, dill, chives and parsley. Seeds can be sown now and grown on windowsills throughout winter. Use Field No.23 Potting Blend compost.

Trees & Shrubs:

Jobs:

Move deciduous shrubs that are in the wrong place or have outgrown their current position. Mix Field No.1 Soil Improver into the planting pit.
Trim deciduous hedges to keep them looking tidy over the winter.
Prune climbing roses. This is best to do in late autumn and winter, once leaves have fallen. Pruning will keep your roses healthy, well-trained and will enhance their flowering display.
Check tree ties and stakes before winter gales cause damage. Replace them if necessary and if needed replace the twine.

To Plant:

When planting, mix Field No.1 Organic Soil Improver with the existing soil of the planting pit.

Bare-root fruit trees like apples and pears, and fruiting shrubs, e.g., blackcurrants, gooseberries, and currents. Order them to plant out from late autumn to early spring, although it is best to plant them out as soon as they arrive, as it gives them the best chance of becoming established before temperatures fall.
Containerised trees and shrubs, and large semi-mature specimens, for planting over winter.
Plant evergreen shrubs and conifer hedges while the soil is still warm