October is one of the most colourful times of the year. Many flowers are still blooming
and the leaves on trees and shrubs are beginning to change to fiery colours like red,
yellow and orange.

It’s a good time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials as the soil still has some warmth
and will help to get them established and an excellent time to plant conifers.

National Conifer Week, which takes place in October, highlights the many benefits of
growing conifers in your garden.

Conifers are cone-bearing seed plants and include cedars, cypresses, firs, junipers, larches, pines, spruces, and yews.

While being practical and useful, conifers are also visually stunning and can transform a garden into something quite magnificent.

They are a wonderful way of adding colour and shape to your outdoor space especially as many conifers change colour throughout the year.

With several hundred varieties of conifers available in the UK, there is one to suit every
type of garden, and they are easy to look after.

They need good drainage and water to get them established, but once growing will need little attention as they are pretty disease resistant and maintenance free.

In addition to conifers, another way to bring colour to the garden at this time of year is
with autumn bedding plants.

One of the most exciitng group of plants to brighten up any part of the garden is Heuchera. Native to North America where their roots, know as alumroot, have been used in traditional medicines for years, Heuchera were originally grown for their flowers – dainty spikes of red, pink and white bells.

They carry their plume like flowers high above their crowns of leaves, but gardeners are now mainly interested in their foliage which comes in a variety of colours.

Heucheras grow in full or partial sun, in well composted soil and are fairly pest resistant.

They can be established as ground cover in many garden situations like under trees where grass could struggle.

October is often a time spent clearing up after the summer and preparing for the winter
and spring ahead so on the ‘to do’ list this month is…

Plant autumn colour
Create a bird feeding area
Move tender plants inside or into a greenhouse to protect against frost, or fleece
Harvest autumn vegetables
Collect falling leaves
Plant spring flowering bulbs
Prune tall growing roses
Dead head all faded flower heads and remove any parts of plants that have died
back

National Garden Gift Vouchers can be bought and redeemed at over 2,000 outlets, with more than 90,000 garden plants and products on offer. Visit www.thevouchergarden.co.uk to see the outlets that sell and accept them.