Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Gardening
Top Ideabooks
- Enjoy the Peak of Spring Gardening — Here's What to Do in May
- 11 Perfect Plants for a Moonlit Garden — in Pots
- 6 Beautiful Plants for a Shady, Wet Site
- 6 Captivating Roses for an Alluringly Fragrant Garden
- 5 Essential Considerations for a Landscape Design Project
- Get on a Composting Kick (Hello, Free Fertilizer!)
Rocky Mountain Gardener's October Checklist
Winterize now to save money and headaches later, but don't forget to savor this month's magic in the garden
Houzz Contributor. I am a landscape/garden designer, garden coach, writer, and public speaker with over 25 years of professional experience creating beautiful outdoor environments that are lifestyle friendly and Colorado "green". Please contact me at jhcstudios@yahoo.com if you would like more information about my services.
Houzz Contributor. I am a landscape/garden designer, garden coach, writer,... More »
October is the beautiful bridge month between autumn and winter. The days are noticeably shorter, bright and cool. October is a busy month in the garden, the time to prepare for the harsh cold and snow of winter while enjoying every moment you can spend outdoors.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Winterize water features. The freeze-and-thaw cycle of winter weather can wreak havoc on these valuable garden assets. To minimize the damage:
|
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Prepare for snow. If you haven’t had frost or snow yet, you will soon. Early snows tend to be heavy and wet, and can damage plants — especially those that haven’t shed their leaves yet. Keep a broom handy and be ready to sweep the snow away to lighten the load on tree and shrub branches. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Winterize your watering system. Frozen pipes or components can be costly and inconvenient to repair. To prevent this:
|
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Remove leaves from lawn areas. Leaves left on lawn areas will compact under the snow, smothering the lawn and contributing to disease problems like snow mold.
|
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Amend the soil. Planning to install a new vegetable or flower garden next spring? Now's a great time to prepare the soil. Use organic amendments to increase water- and nutrient-holding capacity and to improve aeration and water flow. Adding amendments now allows you to work in the garden while the soil is relatively dry, thus preventing the potential for soil compaction that can occur if you try to do it during the wet months of early spring. Come springtime the soil will be ready to plant.
- Amendments must be mixed well into the soil — spade or rototill to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
- Composts and aged manures work best for sandy soils; sphagnum peat or wood chips are ideal for clay.
- Incorporate 3 cubic yards of amendment per 1,000 square feet of soil. (That’s about 8 cubic feet of amendment for a 10-foot by 10-foot area of soil.
- Mulch the bed with a couple of inches of leaves or shredded wood to help prevent soil erosion during the winter.
| Enjoy puttering. Pull weeds and spent annuals, plant bulbs and harvest herbs and cool-season veggies for hearty meals. Most of all, spend time with family and friends surrounded by nature's October glow! More guides to Rocky Mountain gardening | Find your U.S. garden checklist |
Ideabook updated on Sept. 29, 2012.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
Grasses plumes our winter flower.