‘ Banana palms are all clones’
Weird & wonderful
By Caroline Knight
Some people view October as a reset month. It’ s known as the October Theory. You need to leave summer behind and retune the mind into autumn mode. It halts the yearning for long days and the sun’ s warmth and, instead, it’ s time for noticing the changing seasons and a gradual shutting down in the garden. It’ s an opportunity to appreciate the warmth of the indoors, while making the most of the shorter daylight hours.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY Outside, October is actually quite a busy month. There should be squashes, main-crop potatoes, spinach and leeks awaiting harvesting, not to mention autumnfruiting raspberries and orchard fruit, including apples and pears.
• Microscopic munching in soil creates the energy that flows between plants. This plays an important role in the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycle which underpins life. Studies suggest that in just one spoonful of soil there could be more life than there are people on planet Earth. It includes bacteria, viruses,
A gentle tidy-up of the garden will reap rewards, as this is the scene you will be viewing for the next few months. It’ s also a great time to plant spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, tulips, alliums and iris. They will then be ready to spring into action as soon as the growing season comes into view.
STRANGE BUT TRUE That spring will come around is a given, but how many of these facts about the weird and wonderful world of gardening do you know?