Tag: what to plant in october

Last updated: April 2026

October is when the garden shifts gear from harvesting to planning ahead. The summer crops are finishing, the first frosts are arriving in northern regions, and the soil is still warm enough for roots to establish before winter. This is the month to plant garlic, sow overwintering beans, get spring bulbs in the ground, and take advantage of the bare-root planting season that runs through to March.

If you only do one thing this month, plant garlic. Everything else is a bonus.

Regional Timing Guide

First frosts change everything. By October, northern gardens and those at altitude are already experiencing overnight frosts, while southern coastal areas may not see their first frost until November.

Garlic — The Essential October Job

Plant garlic now and you will harvest fat, flavourful bulbs next July. Garlic needs a cold spell (vernalisation) to develop properly, which is why autumn planting produces far better results than spring planting in the UK.

Best Varieties for Autumn Planting

• ‘Solent Wight’ — The most reliable softneck for UK conditions. Stores well, produces large bulbs. The RHS recommends it as the best all-round choice for home growers.
• ‘Lautrec Wight’ — Pink-skinned hardneck with excellent flavour. Slightly smaller bulbs but outstanding taste.
• ‘Picardy Wight’ — Softneck type, good for plaiting. Strong flavour, stores through to January.
• ‘Elephant Garlic’ — Technically a leek, but produces enormous mild-flavoured cloves. Plant deeper (10cm) than standard garlic.

How to Plant

1. Choose a sunny, well-drained spot. Garlic rots in waterlogged soil.
2. Break the bulb into individual cloves. Use only the largest outer cloves — the small inner ones produce disappointing bulbs.
3. Plant each clove pointed end up, 2–3cm below the soil surface, 15cm apart in rows 30cm apart.
4. On heavy clay, add grit to the planting hole to improve drainage.
5. Cover and firm down. No need to water unless the soil is bone dry.

Tip: Buy certified virus-free seed garlic from a reputable supplier (Thompson & Morgan, Suttons, or your local garden centre). Supermarket garlic is often treated to prevent sprouting and may carry disease.

Broad Beans for Overwintering

Sowing broad beans in October or November gives you a crop 4–6 weeks earlier than spring-sown plants. The seedlings overwinter as small, hardy plants and burst into growth in early spring.

Best Autumn-Sowing Varieties

• ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ AGM — The classic overwintering variety. Extremely hardy, tall plants producing long pods of large beans. Sow October–November for harvest in late May–June.
• ‘The Sutton’ AGM — Dwarf variety (30–45cm tall), perfect for containers, raised beds, and exposed or windy sites. Compact habit means no staking needed.
• ‘Imperial Green Longpod’ AGM — Heavy cropping with excellent flavour. Good for freezing.

How to Sow

1. Sow seeds 5cm deep, 15cm apart, in double rows 20cm apart.
2. Alternatively, sow in deep pots or root trainers under cover and plant out in February.
3. In very cold areas (Scotland, northern hills), delay sowing until early November or sow under cloches.

The plants will emerge within 2–3 weeks and grow slowly through winter. They are hardy to around −10°C once established, though a severe frost after germination can damage young seedlings. Cover with fleece if temperatures drop sharply in late autumn.

Autumn Onion Sets

Autumn-planted onion sets establish roots before winter and produce an earlier harvest (June–July) than spring-planted sets.

Best Autumn Varieties

• ‘Radar’ — The most popular autumn-planting onion in the UK. Japanese-type, extremely hardy, produces medium-sized golden bulbs.
• ‘Senshyu Yellow’ — Flattened shape, mild flavour, very cold-tolerant. Harvest in June.
• ‘Electric Red’ — Red-skinned autumn variety. Stores less well but excellent sliced raw in salads.

How to Plant

1. Push sets into well-drained soil so the tip just shows above the surface.
2. Space 10cm apart in rows 25cm apart.
3. Firm the soil around each set. Birds love pulling them out — cover with fleece netting for the first few weeks.

Avoid planting onion sets where you grew onions, garlic, or leeks in the previous two years. Rotating your allium crops helps prevent white rot and onion fly.

Winter Salads Under Cover

With a cold frame, cloche, or unheated greenhouse, you can keep harvesting salad leaves through the winter months.

What to Sow Now

• ‘Winter Density’ AGM lettuce — The gold-standard winter lettuce. Semi-cos type, incredibly cold-tolerant, sweet and crisp. Sow now for cuts from December onward.
• ‘Chartwell’ AGM lettuce — Butterhead type, very hardy, slow to bolt even in fluctuating winter temperatures.
• Lamb’s lettuce (corn salad) — One of the hardiest salad crops. Will crop outdoors without cover in all but the coldest areas.
• Winter purslane (claytonia) — Mild, slightly succulent leaves. Thrives in cold, damp conditions that would kill most salads.
• Pak choi and mizuna — Fast-growing oriental greens. Sow under cover for baby-leaf harvests in 4–6 weeks.
• Spinach — Autumn-sown spinach is hardier than spring-sown. Protect with fleece or a cloche and pick leaves through winter.

Sow into modules under cover and transplant, or direct-sow into beds protected by cloches. Water sparingly — winter salads suffer more from damp and rot than from cold.

Spring Bulb Planting

October is the ideal month for planting most spring-flowering bulbs. The soil is still warm enough for roots to develop before winter dormancy.

Plant Now

• Daffodils (Narcissus) — Plant at three times the bulb depth (roughly 10–15cm). Early varieties include ‘February Gold’ and ‘Tête-à-Tête’.
• Crocuses — Plant 8–10cm deep in drifts for a natural look. ‘Pickwick’ and ‘Remembrance’ are popular choices.
• Hyacinths — Plant 10cm deep, 15cm apart. Excellent for pots and window boxes as well as borders.
• Alliums — Large ornamental alliums (‘Purple Sensation’, ‘Globemaster’) need planting now for a May display. Plant 15cm deep.
• Muscari (grape hyacinths) — Naturalise well in grass or borders. Plant 8cm deep.

NOT Yet: Tulips

Wait until November to plant tulips. Planting too early increases the risk of tulip fire (Botrytis tulipae), a fungal disease that thrives when soil temperatures are above 10°C. Late planting avoids this. Mark your calendar for mid-November.

Bare-Root Trees and Shrubs

The bare-root planting season runs from October to March. Trees and shrubs sold without pots (bare-root) are cheaper, establish faster, and offer a far wider choice of varieties than containerised plants.

What to Plant

• Fruit trees — Apple, pear, plum, cherry, and damson trees are all available bare-root from specialist nurseries. October planting gives roots the longest possible time to establish before spring growth.
• Roses — Bare-root roses from reputable growers (David Austin, Peter Beales) are significantly cheaper than potted roses and often establish better.
• Hedging — Beech, hawthorn, privet, and hornbeam hedging is most cost-effective bought bare-root in bundles. October–November is the ideal planting window.
• Soft fruit — Currant bushes (black, red, white), gooseberries, and grape vines are all available bare-root.

Planting Tips

1. Soak bare roots in a bucket of water for 2–4 hours before planting.
2. Dig a hole wider than the root spread, not deeper.
3. Spread roots out in the hole. The graft union (swollen point on the trunk) should sit just above soil level for fruit trees.
4. Backfill with a mix of excavated soil and compost. Firm gently.
5. Stake fruit trees securely — use a short stake at 45° with a rubber tree tie.

Fruit Planting and Maintenance

New Strawberry Beds

October is a good time to establish new strawberry plants from runners or cold-stored plants. They will root in before winter and fruit well next summer.

• ‘Cambridge Favourite’ AGM — Reliable cropper with good flavour. The standard choice for most UK gardens.
• ‘Florence’ AGM — Late-season variety, extends your picking season into August. Large, firm berries with excellent flavour.
• ‘Hapil’ AGM — Heavy-cropping mid-season variety. Tolerates heavier soils better than most strawberries.

Raspberry Canes

Autumn is the ideal time to plant new raspberry canes. They establish well over winter.

• ‘Glen Ample’ AGM — Spine-free canes, heavy crops of large berries. Summer-fruiting (July).
• ‘Joan J’ AGM — Spine-free autumn-fruiting variety. Fruits from August until the first frosts.
• ‘Polka’ AGM — Autumn-fruiting with excellent flavour. Good disease resistance.

For autumn-fruiting varieties already in the ground, leave the canes standing until February, then cut all canes to ground level.

Blueberry Bushes

Plant in ericaceous (lime-free) compost in a large container or raised bed. October planting allows root establishment before spring.

• ‘Duke’ AGM — Early season, reliable cropper. Self-fertile but fruits better with a second variety nearby.
• ‘Spartan’ AGM — Large, flavourful berries. Good autumn leaf colour as a bonus.

Green Manures

Bare soil over winter loses nutrients through leaching, develops a crust, and encourages weeds. Green manures solve all three problems at once.

Best October Choices

• Winter field beans — Fix nitrogen in the soil. Very hardy, thick growth suppresses weeds. Dig in during March.
• Crimson clover — Nitrogen-fixing legume with attractive red flowers. Hardy through most UK winters.
• Phacelia — Fast-growing, excellent for bees if it flowers before being dug in. Less hardy — killed off by hard frosts, leaving a natural mulch.
• Winter tare (vetch) — Vigorous nitrogen-fixer. Good for heavy soils. Cut and incorporate in early spring.
• Grazing rye — Extremely hardy grass that prevents soil erosion and suppresses weeds. Dig in 4 weeks before planting.

Broadcast seed thickly over cleared beds, rake in lightly, and water if the soil is dry. No other care needed until you dig them in next spring.

October Garden Tasks

Lawn Care

October is prime time for lawn work — our autumn lawn maintenance guide covers the full routine in the right order.

• Scarify to remove thatch (dead grass and moss build-up)
• Aerate compacted areas with a garden fork or hollow-tine aerator
• Overseed bare patches while the soil is still warm enough for germination
• Apply an autumn lawn feed (high potassium, low nitrogen) to toughen grass before winter

Compost and Leaf Mould

• Rake fallen leaves and pile them into a wire-mesh bin or black bags (punch a few holes) to make leaf mould. It takes 1–2 years but produces the finest soil conditioner available.
• Turn your compost heap to speed decomposition. Add a mix of fallen leaves (carbon) and spent crop material (nitrogen).

Greenhouse Maintenance

• Clean glass or polycarbonate panels inside and out to maximise winter light
• Check door and vent seals for gaps
• Install a minimum-maximum thermometer to monitor conditions
• Move tender plants (citrus, pelargoniums, fuchsias) under cover before the first hard frost

General Tasks

• Lift and store dahlia tubers after the first frost blackens the foliage. Dry upside down, then store in just-damp compost in a frost-free place.
• Divide herbaceous perennials — October is ideal for splitting overcrowded clumps of hostas, hemerocallis, and sedums.
• Net fruit bushes to prevent birds stripping buds over winter.
• Insulate outdoor taps and drain hoses to prevent frost damage.
• Plant up containers with winter bedding — pansies, violas, heathers, and ornamental cabbages provide colour through winter.

What NOT to Plant in October

• Tender crops — Tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, cucumbers, and aubergines are finished for the year. Clear the plants, compost the foliage (not if diseased), and prepare beds for next year.
• Tulips — Wait until November. Early planting risks tulip fire disease. This is one of the few bulbs where later really is better.
• Most bedding plants — Petunias, marigolds, and other summer annuals will not survive frost. Replace with winter-hardy alternatives (pansies, violas, cyclamen).
• Half-hardy herbs from seed — Basil, coriander, and dill will not germinate reliably in October temperatures. Wait until spring.

Frequently Asked Questions

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