Expert advice on what to do with your garden this week.
Vegetables
October is a highlight in the garden calendar as seeds sown this month pop up quickly and there are usually few checks to good growth during the early summer months.
The ideal time to sow seeds is as soon as the soil is fit to work after rain, but in dry weather water the ground well the day before sowing.
To obtain successive crops of peas, sow a fast-maturing variety and a main crop now.
Novella will produce plump pods in nine to 11 weeks from sowing.
Greenfeast takes 11 to 13 weeks, so by sowing them at the same time, the later crop is ready as the first tails off.
Peas require plenty of lime and phosphates and grow best where the summer is not too hot or dry. Keep the soil moist by working in plenty of compost or well-rotted stable manure.
To offset dry, light soil sow peas in trenches of compost with a layer of absorbent material, such as sphagnum moss, in the bottom to hold moisture.
Cover the compost with a thin (5cm) layer of ordinary soil and keep the top of the trench 2cm to 5cm below the surrounding ground.
French, scarlet runner and butter beans can be sown now in most areas.
If late frosts are usual in your area, hang fire on these tender vegetables until next month, or start seed under cover for planting out later.
Scarlet runners do best when sown in double rows 20cm apart, with 15cm between plants.
Growing to a height of 2m to 3m, the plants need a firm framework of wood or steel piping to withstand strong winds.
A bean tepee of strong bamboo or metal enables three or four plants to be grown in a small space. Dwarf beans should be sown in rows 40cm to 60cm apart, with the seeds 8cm apart in the rows.
Asparagus may still be planted.
Two- or three-year-old crowns, looking rather like small octopuses, can be bought from garden centres and give faster results than growing from seed.
The most important factor in succeeding with this hardy perennial vegetable is well-prepared ground, rich in compost and, ideally, with seaweed worked into it.
Allow 40cm between each plant, place in position 10cm below the ground, spreading the roots as widely as possible, then cover with fine soil.
Avoid the temptation to harvest in the first year and the reward will be better crops in the future.
Flowers
Roses respond well to a top-dressing of commercial rose fertiliser or a layer of rotted stable manure spread around them.
Rain will wash the nutrients down to the roots.
Disbudding may be necessary on vigorous rose varieties to prevent overcrowding, while shoots crossing over and damaging one another should be pruned.
Narcissi and other bulbs that have finished flowering must be left for another couple of months until their leaves die away.
Until that happens, leaves are creating food for the bulbs.
A widespread curse is the narcissus fly, which lays its eggs in November.
The grubs hatch and burrow into the bulb, where they grow to resemble large maggots, turning the centre of the bulb into brown sludge.
Covering the bulbs after flowering with fine shade cloth or pea straw will keep out the flies but does not look good.
Growing narcissi in pots, then covering with pea straw after flowering and putting the pots out of sight under cover can be a better option.
If bulbs have to be removed after flowering but before the leaves have died down, lift carefully with the leaves intact.
Lay bulbs in shallow trenches, cover with soil and lift again when the foliage has died away.
Dahlias may still be lifted and separated, even if shoots are already above the surface.
Divide clumps, and if a good shoot is detached from the tuber, don't throw it out but set it in sandy soil to root.
Fruit
Even in a small garden, some fruit can be grown, notably strawberries and gooseberries.
Strawberries can be grown in a ceramic planter or used as a border to a garden bed.
Gooseberries lend themselves well to being grown as standards in pots.
They also can be planted along a wire or fence, a modest form of espaliering that makes them easier to harvest.
