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  • HOME
    • About Master Gardener Volunteers
    • 2023 Master Gardener training
    • Demonstration GARDENS
  • Request Our Help
    • Speaker Request
    • Garden HELP Desk
    • School/Community Garden Consultation
  • Garden Zone
  • GARDEN CALENDAR
    • January winter
    • February to do list
    • March timely tips
    • April 15th last frost
    • May spring frenzy
    • June garden tasks
    • July summer tasks
    • August hot summer
    • September gardens
    • October fall begins
    • November planting
    • December gardens
    • NCSU Garden Newsletter
  • Our Publications
  • Videos
  • Consider a Donation

October
​Garden Tasks
in the Piedmont


​Vegetables

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October is a great time of year to enjoy the garden
  • Plant onion sets, garlic, cabbage, collards, swiss chard and kale. 
  • Watch for and treat green worms on broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and collards.
  • Wrap green tomatoes individually in newspaper and store them in a cool dry place before the first frost for fresh tomatoes into December.
  • Pumpkins and winter squash store better if they are harvested with a few inches of stem remaining intact.   
  • A great resource is the planting calendar for Central North Carolina covering vegetables, fruits and herbs.   

Perennials, Annuals & Bulbs

  • ​​Perennials:
    • Continue to dig and divide spring and early summer blooming perennials before the foliage dies back.  Daylily, hostas and shasta daisies are some examples. 
    • Place identification markers beside herbaceous perennials before they die back for the winter, so they won’t be disturbed when planting in the spring. 
    • Clean, crushed eggshell may be sprinkled around hostas, Lamb’s ear and other plants that slugs adore.   
  • Annuals:
    • Plant pansies, snapdragons and ornamental vegetables for fall color.   ​
  • Bulbs:
    • Plant spring-blooming bulbs from late October through December. 
    • Keep your bulbs in the refrigerator until you’re ready to plant them.
  • Elephant ears and Caladium bulbs: 
    • ​Dig up and store.
    • Keep in dry peat moss in a cool place to replant next spring.  
  • Paper whites and Amaryllis bulbs:
    • Plant late this month and early November.  
    • Allow six weeks from the time you plant for the flowers to open. 

Trees, Shrubs & Groundcovers

  • Plant new trees and shrubs.  
  • Start that fall leaf pile. 
  • Watch for and treat lacebugs on azalea and pyracantha.  
  • Fertilize your roses, if you didn't do this in September.  

Lawn & Landscaping

Plant cool season grasses like tall fescue.
  • Rake newly seeded lawns weekly to prevent leaves from smothering the new grass.  
  • Aerate lawns​. Coring lawns, subject to heavy traffic and/or clay soil, will help to minimize compaction and improve rooting. 
  • Build a leaf pile and improve your garden soil. ​

More Fall Tasks

  • If your water garden is small, cover it with a tight mesh netting to keep leaves out of the pond.  
  • Start a compost pile:  
    • Make use of all those falling leaves and have compost ready to work into the garden next spring.   Remember: don't add weeds or diseased foliage, and stems go in the compost pile.  
  • Houseplants that spent the summer outdoors should be cleaned up and brought indoors when night temperatures fall below 50 degrees. 
    • Check for insects and spray well with water to wash off insects and their eggs.
  • Fill your birdfeeders and birdbaths for migrating friends flying south.  
  • Leave seed-bearing perennials – i.e., ornamental grasses, coneflower, sunflowers, black-eyed Susan – to feed the birds and to provide cover for beneficial insects over the winter.   
  • Gather materials for winter arrangements; hang them upside down to air-dry in a warm dark room -- try salvia, Silver King artemisia, purple coneflower, goldenrod, hydrangea, lamb's ears, zinnia and ornamental grasses.  
 Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener℠ Volunteers 
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 ​The Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program is a part of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and North Carolina State University
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