October Garden Tips
Welcome to Garden View’s monthly gardening tips. We hope you find this information useful and check back often as we will feature new tips each month as well as new articles to the right.
Fall is planting time. Planting in fall gives roots a chance to establish during the cooler months, so plants are better prepared for the surge of growth in spring. Fall planting also saves water compared with planting in summer heat.
October is a great month to transplant bulbs, divide clumping perennials, plant trees, refresh annual color, and adjust irrigation. It is not a good time to fertilize deciduous fruit trees in our climate, because it can encourage tender growth at the wrong time of year.
Plant permanent landscape plants, divide overgrown perennials, start cool-season color, reduce irrigation frequency, and avoid pushing frost-tender growth before winter.
October plant care and pruning
Split Plants
Fall is a good time to divide overgrown clumping perennials.
Dig up and split clump-forming plants such as clivia, iris, agapanthus, gingers, daylilies, and bird of paradise. Replant healthy divisions while the weather is cooler so they can establish before spring.
Deciduous Type Daylilies
Cut back, feed, and protect from snails.
Cut deciduous daylilies back to about 4 inches. Fertilize after cutting back, water in well, and apply snail bait or deterrents where needed.
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
Remove faded flower stems and divide carefully if needed.
Remove stems after flowers have faded. Established clumps can be split and replanted with care, though large clumps can be heavy and slow to recover.
Ivy Geranium
Trim lightly and feed with balanced fertilizer.
Ivy geraniums respond well to some trimming this month. Feed with a balanced fertilizer and continue progressive pruning on geranium types as needed. Cut back Geranium sanguineum if you have not done so yet.
Santa Barbara Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus)
Cut back and fertilize after bloom.
After flowering, cut back and fertilize Santa Barbara daisy. Garden View crews often do this twice per year. It is a great low-growing, creeping, water-wise groundcover.
Trim Impatiens
A warm-weather cutback can help them look better into winter.
In Southern California, impatiens are usually treated as warm-season annuals. Cutting them back to about 3–4 inches while the weather is still warm can help them push fresh growth before winter.
They may look unattractive for a short time, but the fresh growth can make them more presentable and longer-lasting in protected areas.
Do Not Fertilize or Heavily Prune Frost-Tender Plants
Avoid tender new growth too close to winter.
Avoid fertilizing or pruning more than necessary on frost-tender plants such as bougainvillea, citrus, hibiscus, natal plum, and thevetia unless the plants look pale or yellowish.
Heavy pruning or feeding now can stimulate new growth that is more likely to be damaged by winter cold.
Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia)
Train young plants and prune only as needed.
Train a central leader when angel’s trumpet is young if you want a tree form. You do not need to prune heavily unless it is in the way.
For next year’s flowers, keep at least 6–10 nodes above the “Y” on flowering branches; branches above the Y are the ones that produce flowers.
Lawns in October
Cool-Season Lawns
Cool-season lawns such as Marathon and other hybrid fescues can be cut shorter now. In winter, Garden View often fertilizes cool-season lawns with a complete fertilizer when the lawn shows it needs it.
Rather than fertilizing strictly on a calendar, it is often better to feed when the lawn is telling you it needs help.
Warm-Season Lawns
Bermuda, St. Augustine, and kikuyu will stay green longer into winter if fertilized in October. Overseeding Bermuda can take place this month and next; perennial rye is preferred because it germinates quickly and avoids some issues common with annual rye.
Overseeding St. Augustine is not usually recommended. In shade, St. Augustine may not recover well in spring, and dethatching should be done first if overseeding is attempted.
Bermuda in Fescue Lawns
Bermuda invading Marathon/fescue lawns is difficult to eliminate. Garden View crews may overseed only the infested sections. In small infestations, good horticultural practices to keep Bermuda in check are often the most practical option.
Plant Lawns
October is prime time for new cool-season lawns. Sod is usually the best option, but it must stay moist while roots grow, especially during hot spells. This can mean sprinkling two or three times a day at first.
Reseed thin spots or patch with sod after pulling out dead debris and scratching up the soil.
Planting in October
Plant Winter Annuals and Spring Color
Plant soon for holiday and early spring color.
Calendulas, pansies, Iceland poppies, and primroses planted now may be blooming by the holidays. Also look for bedding begonias, candytuft, chrysanthemums, delphinium, dianthus, foxglove, lobelia, penstemon, phlox, snapdragons, stock, pansies, and violas.
Along the coast, include calceolaria, cineraria, nemesia, and schizanthus.
Plant Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, and Vines
Most permanent plants get their best start in fall. October is a good time to add new plants, replace tired ones, or start a new garden from scratch.
In inland areas, leave space for citrus and heat-loving subtropicals, which are usually best planted in spring.
Plant Vegetables
As summer crops fade, plant winter replacements. From seed, sets, or transplants, choose beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, chives, garlic, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.
For salads, sow arugula, chicory, endive, mustard greens, turnip greens, and Oriental broccoli.
Sow Flowers
Sweet peas grow easily from seed. For a bulb-cover or spring wildflower look, sow sweet alyssum, baby blue eyes, bachelor’s buttons, California poppy, clarkia, and forget-me-not directly in the ground.
Bulbs, Corms, and Tubers
Buy bulbs soon while nursery selection is best. Traditional choices include tulips, anemone, daffodil, Dutch iris, narcissus, and ranunculus.
Also try allium, babiana, freesia, homeria, ixia, ornithogalum, scilla, sparaxis, tritonia, and watsonia—many do well in Southern California’s mild-winter climate. Read our Bulbs 101 article.
Wind, staking, and pruning timing
Prune and Stake
Santa Ana winds are less likely to damage trees if dense tops are thinned carefully. Stake or guy newly planted trees that are not firmly rooted yet.
Oaks and Pines
Do not prune oak trees any more than absolutely necessary until next summer. Pine trees, however, can be pruned now.
Before buying or using any insecticide, first read the label and strictly follow label recommendations. Mention of trade names or commercial products is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by Garden View.