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!)
Pacific Northwest Gardener's October Checklist
Break up tidying time by planting spring bulbs, tending to veggies and giving leaves a rich new life
I’m a Houzz contributor, co-author of FINE FOLIAGE (March 2013, St. Lynn's Press), a container garden and landscape designer, serious plant-aholic and public speaker for all things gardening. In other words I’m usually covered in a layer or two of soil, I drive everywhere with a large tarp for impromptu plant purchases and I’m truly passionate about sharing the joys of gardening.
I’m a Houzz contributor, co-author of FINE FOLIAGE (March 2013, St. Lynn's... More »
I'm a fair-weather gardener. I prefer to sit in front of a log fire enjoying my winter garden through the windows, rather than donning full rain gear and Wellies to deal with soggy perennials. That means getting ahead during these pleasant early-autumn days.
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Time to plant spring bulbs. Start with the fun stuff! We all prefer planting to weeding, and this is the month to get spring bulbs into the ground.
|
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| To many of us, daffodils are the symbol of spring. They look best when massed in the garden, so try planting them in drifts along a pathway — or tuck them in between late-flowering perennials, such as black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp). As the bulb foliage dies down, it will be hidden by these emerging perennials. |
|
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| You can achieve a similar effect in a shade garden with bluebells planted near hostas. |
|
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Plant fall container gardens. Refresh your container gardens with a selection of winter-hardy evergreen shrubs, perennials and seasonal color spots.
Small conifers, bright spurge (Euphorbia spp) and evergreen sedums are easy candidates for containers — especially when dressed up with a few cheerful pansies.
Don't forget to add bulbs to these containers for an additional layer of interest next spring. Dwarf daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are just a few of the possibilities.
Shown: 'Princess Irene' tulips are stunning with 'Peach Flambe' coral bells (Heuchera).
Small conifers, bright spurge (Euphorbia spp) and evergreen sedums are easy candidates for containers — especially when dressed up with a few cheerful pansies.
Don't forget to add bulbs to these containers for an additional layer of interest next spring. Dwarf daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are just a few of the possibilities.
Shown: 'Princess Irene' tulips are stunning with 'Peach Flambe' coral bells (Heuchera).
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Focus on exciting foliage to make shade containers as equally colorful. Brightly variegated Aucuba, coral bells (Heuchera), evergreen ferns such as the orange-tipped autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosa) and variegated grasses beautifully round out shady container gardens.
by Le jardinet
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
'Pink Frost' hellebore is a winter superstar, blooming for several months with flowers in every shade of pink — all at the same time! You can also include snowdrop bulbs in partially shaded pots.
|
by Niki Jabbour
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Extend the harvest. Many vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts and parsnips, survive even harsh frosts. Cover more tender lettuce and carrots with a floating row cover (like Harvest Guard) or a cold frame to extend the growing season. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| While you're in the vegetable garden, take out the last of the summer crops, such as tomatoes and tender herbs. (I hope your basil did better than mine this year.) Be sure to remove fallen leaves from beneath the apple trees — especially if your trees suffered from apple scab. Do not compost these leaves. I replace the top inch of soil with fresh compost as an additional precaution to prevent fungal spores from spreading. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Generally tidy up. Soggy hostas are not the most attractive design statement. Cut them down together with other tired perennials and grasses, but leave a few seed heads from coneflowers (Echinacea) and grasses as winter food for the birds.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Divide and multiply! October is a good time to divide many perennials, such as hostas and false spirea (Astilbe). A swift slice with a sharp spade does the trick for most plants. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| I also need to dig up my bearded iris plants, divide them and then replant with their knuckles visible. Overenthusiastic mulching has buried them too deep, so they didn't bloom well this year. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Play in the leaves. Consider leaves nature's gift to the garden. All you need to do is get them to the right place. Those on your lawn can be shredded with the lawnmower, then either added to your compost bin or put straight back onto the garden as a mulch. Do not cover crowns of perennials, however, as they could rot. |
by Home Ecology
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Make composting easier. We have a large garden, and the compost bins are some distance away from many planting beds and borders. We therefore have several wire cages for compost hidden behind evergreen trees, but a portable frame such as the one shown here would also work.
I rake the leaves into these and leave them to break down before spreading the rich mulch back onto the garden the following year. It saves moving the leaves twice.
I rake the leaves into these and leave them to break down before spreading the rich mulch back onto the garden the following year. It saves moving the leaves twice.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Enjoy the season. Crisp air, sunny days, the fragrance of candy apples from katsura trees and the everchanging, colorful display of autumn leaves is upon us. Enjoy these days and the opportunity to be outside. More guides to Pacific Northwest gardening | Find your U.S. garden checklist Photo courtesy of idog |
Ideabook published 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:
