What you could be doing in the garden right now – if it wasn’t raining that is!

You could sow sweet peas in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse. They will
overwinter quite well under some shelter. You can then plant them outdoors in
March or April to produce early blooms – which is always a good thing to have
a little early colour in the garden.

Start hyacinth bulbs early in the month, and narcissus towards the middle and
both will give you good displays at Christmas. You could be planting up winter
hanging baskets and containers using pansy, polyanthus, primrose, dwarf wallflowers
and spring flowering bulbs to create some impressive baskets.

You can plant garlic bulbs using a suitable variety such as Solent Wight, Onions
Early Crop and Swift during October and November. They like to have plenty of
cold weather to help them start off.
You could also sowiBroad Bean Aquadulce Claudia towards the end of the month
for an earlier crop of beans.
You could also prepare the ground for shallots which can be planted early in the new year.

October is also a good month for preparing the ground for planting soft fruit.
Select a well drained, sunny position that is not prone to late frosts – this
destroys blossom and means you won’t get any fruit. Dig over the area incorporating
well rotted farm-yard manure or garden compost removing all perennial weed roots
and this should give them a good start!

Tidy the garden up – clear away the leaves as they fall and cut down raspberry canes too.