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Ten October Gardening Tasks Worth Doing Now
gardening sustainability wildlife-habitat
October is the gardening month most people waste by doing nothing, and Joe Lamp'l's ten-task list makes the case that the window closes faster than you think. A few of these are genuinely time-sensitive: deer rutting season starts soon, and once a young tree's bark is stripped up to four feet high, it doesn't heal, so corrugated irrigation tubing goes on now. Fall tree and shrub planting works better than spring for the same reason: cool air slows what's above ground while warm soil keeps roots growing, but only if you dig the hole two to three times wider than the root ball and set it slightly proud of grade so water drains away rather than pooling. Northern gardeners should treat this list as already urgent; south of Atlanta you have a few more weeks.
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Showing the shorter version.
Joe Lamp'l, host of the Joe Gardener Show, runs through ten October gardening tasks. Northern gardeners should move earlier on most of these; south of Atlanta (Zone 8A), later.
A few items have real urgency or easy-to-get-wrong mechanics.
Deer damage to young trees. Wrap trunks up to four feet high with corrugated black irrigation tubing before rutting season starts. Once a buck strips the bark, that damage is permanent.
Lawn fertilizing. Use slow-release, organic nitrogen — Lamp'l points to Milorganite — not synthetic soluble fertilizer. Soluble nitrogen pushes new growth right as the grass is trying to go dormant, which is the opposite of what you want heading into winter.
Fall tree and shrub planting. Cool air and warm soil make fall the better planting window for woody plants: roots establish without the heat stress of summer. Dig the hole two to three times wider than the root ball but slightly shallower, so a quarter to a third of the root ball sits above grade. That keeps water from pooling at the crown. Backfill with native soil, not amended mix — university research shows native soil produces better long-term root spread.
The rest of the list: pull dahlia tubers before a freeze, divide perennials while the soil is still warm, plant garlic and spring bulbs now, save seeds from native perennials, prep frost blankets for cool-season crops, and leave fallen leaves where they land if you can — they shelter overwintering insects and other wildlife.
Joe Lamp'l, host of the Joe Gardener Show, walks through ten time-sensitive gardening projects for October, with the note that timing should shift earlier for northern gardeners and later for those south of Atlanta (Zone 8A). The list covers protecting young trees from deer antler damage, winterizing lawns with slow-release fertilizer, readying frost blankets for cool-season crops, digging up dahlia tubers before a freeze, dividing perennials while soil is still warm, leaving fallen leaves in place for overwintering wildlife, planting garlic cloves, putting in spring-flowering bulbs, saving seeds from native perennials, and planting trees and shrubs in fall when cool air and warm soil favor root establishment.
Several items have specific how-to details worth noting. For deer protection, Lamp'l recommends wrapping tree trunks up to four feet high with corrugated black irrigation tubing before rutting season begins — once the bark is stripped, the damage cannot be reversed. For lawn winterizing, he emphasizes slow-release, organic nitrogen (such as Milorganite) rather than synthetic soluble fertilizer, which can force unwanted growth as grass goes dormant. For fall tree and shrub planting, he advises digging the hole two to three times wider than the root ball but slightly shallower, so roughly a quarter to a third of the root ball sits above grade — this prevents water from pooling at the roots — and backfilling with native soil rather than amended mix, which university research has shown leads to better long-term root spread.
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