October already and day light saving giving us more time at the end of each day to enjoy. This month is where chasing weeds becomes a full time job - Hoeing and hand pulling weeds is still the best option in planted areas. If you are clearing a garden to plant out for a summer show I suggest clear all annual weeds, pull out, or dig well under. Couch needs to be taken right out, get each long runner under the ground and any little pieces that may have been chopped with the spade, they grow and spread very fast if left.( I spot spray Couch with round up now in badly effected areas) Once all obvious weeds are gone cover the area with organic compost, thick enough to keep the light from allowing any seeds left behind from weeds to germinate, don't dig it in and risk bringing weed seeds up to the light. just plant straight into the compost. Organic compost, mushroom compost, any medium that has been heated to the point of destroying any seeds that it once contained. NOW plant,plant, plant! as many annuals and perennials as you can into the prepared area. They will grow really fast from now on and beat any weed seeds that first have to germinate. I have spent a good deal of time this week pricking out and potting up plants I have raised from seed which I am now starting to harden off a little in readiness for planting as soon as I know the frosts are no more. The garden centers are full of lovely annuals so here on the coast plant out pots and protected gardens for a head start to summer and remember to feed once a week with liquid fertiliser. Further inland it will be a while yet before you will be planting out tender annual plants but use this time to work up the soil letting the sun in to dry it and warm it up before the compost goes on ready for planting out. I have been noticing a few cherry blossom trees with root stock branches being left to grow. By this I mean any branches that develop below the graft (where the branches begin at the top of the trunk); these should be cut off while still small. If they are allowed to develop into branches they will take over the whole tree because they will grow faster than the grafted stock. all flowering cherry trees are grafted onto a strong root stock of a very ordinary white blossom tree so if you have a tree with lovely pink or white blossom and you notice some blossom looks different then most likely it will be a branch growing from below the graft, cut it right out. Leave bulbs that have finished flowering alone, they now need to take up food through their leaves to fill the bulb with enough nutrients to secure a good flowering next year. Uncover the crowns of peony roses now if you have had them protected with pea straw, they need maximum light to grow straight and strong. The lawns are doing well now, lots of growth and mowing, it is the perfect time to sow a new lawn now or fill bare patches in existing lawns, spring sowing's result in a lot of weed growth but they are usually annual weeds and the first mowing takes care of them. Sow your seed thickly to get a good strike. Once seed is sown on firmly prepared ground lightly rake over and keep the moisture up until you get a strike. At this time of the year a green haze should appear in no time, do not mow too early, the ground needs to be firm and the new growth thick before the first mow. keep the blade on the lawn mower high for the first couple of mows, each mow will help the new grass to thicken and the roots will get stronger as they cope with supplying food to new growth. Spraying out lawn weeds can be done now, to be kind to worms i spot spray rather than cover the whole lawn in poison. Never a non lawn weed spray to spot spray on lawns, it will Leach well past the weed and kill the surrounding grass leaving ugly dead patches all over the lawn. Vegetable & Fruit The vegetable garden is doing well now even though we are having a few cold snaps, the good thing about that is that there are still, no white butterflies around my garden yet!! I will be ready with the fish emulation when I do see them. This is a good spray to confuse them; To them I guess veg looks like veg but smells like protein. Think about companion planting in the veg garden and the glass house. I use the very small marigold called tagetes, in a glass house it has a strong marigold fragrance to keep the white fly away and planted with garlic outside in the veg garden is the old method of keeping the green fly away. It is very easy to grow from seeds saved each year, will not grow tall to throw shade and it is very pretty. Keep planting all the vegetable plants on offer, like beetroot, lettuce, potatoes, peas, spring cabbage, broccoli, and carrot seeds, I have a heap of lettuce come up in a seed tray that I keep in a cool place, I plant out a few of the small plants every second week so they will mature at different times, Strawberries are flowering ready to fruit now so feed them well with liquid manure to help them along. Raspberries and currants are moving into leaf as well now and gooseberries are already forming fruit so they would all enjoy a feeding right now. Gardening by the moon LAST QUARTER Monday, 8 October 2012 Garden: Sow root crops Harvest produce Manage weeds Sow grass (it will establish strong roots in this period) . Cheers, Linda