October Gardening Tasks
October is an exciting time in the home garden. With daylight saving underway and more light in the evenings, there’s extra time to get outside and start planning and planting the summer vegetable garden, fertilising plants and towards the end of the month picking the first strawberries.
Sow and Plant the Summer Vegetable Garden
This month the vegetable garden really starts to take shape. Plan planting carefully, rotate crops where possible and allow enough room for larger or spreading vegetables such as pumpkins, melons and courgettes you plant later on.
If you are starting a new garden, choose a spot that gets plenty of sun and is sheltered from strong prevailing winds. Read our How to Start a Garden from Scratch guide for step by step advice.
Before any planting, mix fresh Garden Time™ Compost or Vegetable Mix through the existing soil. If growing in pots, refresh your soil first.
HARVEST: asparagus, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, silverbeet and spinach.
SOW OR PLANT: keep sowing beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, sweetcorn, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, radishes, silverbeet and spinach. For quick crops such as lettuce and radishes, stagger sowing every 2–3 weeks to help spread the harvest.
In cooler parts of New Zealand, hold off planting other warm-season crops such as beans, melons, pumpkins and courgettes until late October or early November, when conditions are warmer and more settled.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes love warm conditions, and it’s not just the air temperature that matters. Warm soil is important too, so there’s no advantage in rushing plants into the garden. In many parts of New Zealand, mid-to-late October is a useful guide, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
In the meantime, keep sowing and growing seedlings indoors or under cover so they’re ready to plant out when conditions are right.
Plant Kūmara Once the Soil Warms
If the kūmara slips you started in September are ready, October is the beginning of the main planting window. Kūmara prefer warm soil and should only go outside once frost risk has passed.
Kūmara spread as they grow, so give them plenty of room. If space is tight, they can also be grown in a large container or grow bag using Garden Time™ Vegetable Mix.
- Choose a sunny, sheltered spot with free-draining soil.
- Mix Garden Time™ Compost through the existing soil and add Garden Time™ Chicken & Sheep Pellets according to the pack directions.
- Create mounds around 30cm high to help the soil warm and drain freely.
- Plant each slip in a ‘J’ shape, burying about two-thirds of the rooted shoot.
- Water in well after planting.
Plant for Summer Colour
October is a good time to get summer annuals underway for colour through the warmer months.
SOW INDOORS: arctotis, asters, cosmos, marigolds, petunias, phlox, salvias, sunflowers and zinnias.
PLANT OUT: alyssum, cornflowers, hollyhocks, nemesia, portulaca, statice, sweet peas, verbena and zinnias, where conditions suit.
Prepare planting areas as you would for the vegetable garden, or refresh pots and containers with Daltons Premium Potting Mix.
More Flower Inspiration
Love flowers? Our new Cut Flower Garden and Cottage Garden guides are packed with ideas for creating gardens with plenty of colour, character and flowers to enjoy both outside and in the vase.
Take Softwood Cuttings
Fresh spring growth makes October a good time to propagate many plants from softwood cuttings from plants such as geraniums, petunias, salvias, fuchsias and herbs.
- Use clean, sharp secateurs and choose healthy, pest-free new growth.
- Plant cuttings into Daltons Premium Cutting Mix. Keep them somewhere warm and bright but out of strong direct sun and keep the mix moist rather than wet while roots develop.
Strawberries
In warmer areas, the first strawberries may begin ripening towards the end of October, although the main harvest generally starts from November.
- Feed with Garden Time™ Strawberry Fertiliser according to the pack directions.
- Keep soil evenly moist as flowers and fruit develop.
- Add fresh Daltons Premium Mulch & Feed around plants to help keep developing fruit off the soil and retain moisture.
- Protect ripening fruit from birds if needed.
Fruit Tree Care
Fruit trees are in active spring growth, while strawberry plants are flowering and starting to develop fruit.
If they haven’t already had their spring feed, apply Daltons Premium Fruit & Citrus Fertiliser according to the pack directions.
- Spread fertiliser around the drip line, the area beneath the outer edge of the tree’s canopy where many feeder roots are found, rather than against the trunk. Water in well afterwards.
- Mulch around young trees to help retain moisture and reduce weed competition, keeping mulch clear of the trunk.
- Check new leaves, flowers and young fruit regularly for signs of pests or disease.
Grapefruit, lemons, oranges and tangelos may also be ready to harvest this month, depending on the variety, region and season.
Refresh Herbs and Containers
More herbs can be planted as temperatures warm. Choose a sunny spot with free-draining soil, or grow them in pots close to the kitchen. Plant parsley, chives, coriander, dill, thyme, oregano, mint, sage and rosemary. Basil needs reliably warm conditions, so in cooler or frost-prone areas it may be better to wait until November.
For container growing:
- Refresh pots with Daltons Premium Potting Mix. While you are at it give pots a clean so they look their best.
- Choose larger containers where possible, as small pots dry out faster as temperatures rise.
- Garden Time™ Water Storage Crystals can be mixed through the growing media where extra moisture retention would be useful.
- Mint has a mind of its own and can spead throughout the garden, keep it contained in a pot instead.
Feed Roses
Roses are putting on plenty of fresh growth and early flowers may begin opening towards the end of October.
- Feed bush and climbing roses with Daltons Premium Rose & Flower Fertiliser from mid-to-late October, following the pack directions.
- Check young growth and flower buds for aphids and watch leaves for signs of black spot or rust.
- Add Daltons Premium Mulch & Feed to help retain soil moisture as temperatures rise.
- Deadhead finished flowers as blooming gets underway so you keep new ones coming.
Give Hedges a Spring Trim
Evergreen hedges such as buxus, laurel and pittosporum can be lightly trimmed after their spring flush to keep them tidy and encourage dense growth.
- Avoid cutting too hard into old wood unless you are renovating an overgrown hedge.
- Feed established hedges if needed with Daltons Premium Tree & Shrub Fertiliser or Daltons Premium Extend Complete Fertiliser according to the pack directions.
- Add mulch around the base of your hedge to protect against summer heat.
- Water young hedges during dry or windy spells.
Get Lawns Growing
Lawns are coming back to life with fresh, green growth, so its time to do any repairs, sow new areas and start fertilising existing turf.
- Apply Daltons Premium Lawn Fertiliser to established lawns according to the pack directions and water in well.
- Mow little and often with sharp mower blades rather than cutting the lawn too low.
- For bare or thin areas, remove dead grass, loosen the soil and level with Daltons Premium Lawn Soil or Garden Time™ Lawn Soil.
- Sow grass seed suited to your site and keep the surface consistently moist while it germinates.
- Windy spring weather can dry newly sown lawn areas quickly, so check them regularly while the grass establishes.
- For smaller patches, Daltons Premium Lawn Patching Gold contains seed, fertiliser and growing media in one mix.
Quick Answers
October is a busy spring planting month. Get summer vegetables and flowers underway, plant kūmara once the soil is warm, feed lawns and roses, care for strawberries and fruit trees, mulch ahead of summer and refresh herbs and containers.
Beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, sweetcorn, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, radishes, silverbeet and spinach can be sown or planted during October where conditions suit. Warm-season crops such as beans, melons, pumpkins, tomatoes and courgettes should wait until the soil is warm and frost risk has passed.
In many parts of New Zealand, tomatoes can be planted outside from mid-to-late October once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed. Cooler or frost-prone areas may need to wait until November.
Kūmara are generally planted from October through to December once the soil is warm and frost risk has passed.
Yes. Applying mulch while the soil still holds good spring moisture can help reduce moisture loss, suppress weeds and protect the soil as temperatures rise.
Yes, once the soil is warm enough. Prepare the area well, choose grass seed suited to your site and keep newly sown soil consistently moist while the grass establishes.
The main spring rose feeding programme can begin from mid-to-late October. Apply a fertiliser formulated for roses according to the pack directions and water it in well.
Gardening Terms Explained
Growing different plant families in different parts of the vegetable garden from season to season to help reduce pest and disease build-up.
Sowing smaller amounts of a crop every few weeks to spread the harvest over a longer period.
Building up soil into raised mounds or ridges. For kūmara, this helps the soil warm and drain freely.
The area beneath the outer edge of a tree’s canopy, where many actively feeding roots are found.
A cutting taken from soft, fresh new plant growth, usually during spring or early summer.
A plant that can be damaged by frost and needs protection until cold conditions have passed.
