Jobs for OCTOBER

Soon our containers of summer flowers will be over. Replace them with pots decked out for winter. Select evergreen shrubs such as hebe, pieris,osmanthus and sarococca and mix with evergreen grasses such as carex, red rooster and maybe add a cyclamin, helebore or heather for some vibrant colour throughout the winter months.

Put bulbs in at the same time and extend the winter colour into spring with crocus, tulips and daffodils.

Fill in bare patches in your lawn. rake out dead grass and cover the patch with a thin layer of multipurpose compost and sew the seed. Water well and cover with a thin layer of compost. Protect from birds with some chicken wire or fleece.