Space Coast gardening calendar for October: What to plant, what to trim | Sally Scalera
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October has arrived, so thoughts of fall are only natural.
Our temperatures certainly don't feel like fall yet, and the trees are still green, but at least summer is officially over.
Read on for some ideas to spruce up your yard, especially after our long hot summer, but first a few announcements.
Brevard Discovery Garden open to visitors. The Brevard Discovery Garden will be open to visitors from 9-11 a.m. the first and third Wednesday of the month beginning Oct. 5. On BDG Visitor Days you will be able to stroll through the various demonstration areas, including the pollinator garden, herb garden, rain/swale garden, bromeliad garden, Florida native garden, coastal garden, royal Poinciana shade garden and the orchard.
Master Gardener volunteers will be working in the Garden on BDG Visitor Days and will be available to answer your gardening questions. The garden is at 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa.
Brevard Discovery Garden volunteers needed. The BDG is also looking for volunteers to help with garden and nursery maintenance, plant propagation, irrigation, etc. If you like to play in the dirt and want to learn more about gardening, volunteering at the Brevard Discovery Garden is the perfect opportunity. To become a BDG volunteer, contact the Brevard County Extension Office at 321-633-1702, and press 2.
Become a Master Gardener. If you enjoy gardening, continually learning (including how to create a living soil), making new friends and helping others, consider becoming a UF/IFAS Extension Brevard Master Gardener. The Master Gardener Class of 2023 will be held from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on 11 consecutive Wednesdays, Jan. 11-March 22. The cost is $200.
The volunteer requirements are 30 hours volunteering at the Master Gardener desk in the UF/IFAS Extension Brevard County office in Cocoa (where the learning continues), 40 hours working in the Brevard Discovery Garden, My Brevard Yard sites visits or the Master Garden desk or a combination of those choices, plus five hours at a Master Gardener clinic, for a total of 75 hours the first year only.
The Master Gardener trainees who complete the class and volunteer hours by Nov. 1, 2023, will receive their certificate and UF/IFAS Extension Brevard County Master Gardener name tag at the December Master Gardener meeting. If this sounds exciting, email me at sasc@ufl.edu for a Master Gardener Class of 2023 application.
More by Sally Scalera:
Plant the right tree in the right place to add beauty, shade to your yard
How many invasive plants do you have growing in your Brevard yard?
Organic Fertilizers benefit Brevard's plants and ground water
Try inoculating your lawn instead of synthetic fertilizer. If you fertilize your own lawn, consider skipping the synthetic fertilizer this October and inoculate your lawn, trees (they will really benefit from this), fruit trees, vegetable garden and other plants with a liquid microbial inoculant.
Have you ever stopped to think, “How do plants grow in the Tosahatchee Wildlife Management Area and other natural areas?” After all, nobody walks through the woods broadcasting fertilizer so the plants will grow.
Plants that are growing in natural, undisturbed soil have a complete soil food web consisting of aerobic bacteria, saprophytic fungi, mycorrhizal fungi, protozoa, and nematodes (the predatory ones) in the soil around their roots. Plants share some of their carbohydrates, as root exudates, with the soil microorganisms in exchange for their help in getting the nutrients and water they need to grow.
How is that for a win-win situation? If you would like information on how to turn your dirt into living soil, email me at the email above.
Shorter days mean less mowing. The shorter day lengths will begin to slow down the growth of the lawn to the point where you may not need to mow every week. If you have weeds, be sure to keep them mowed so they cannot produce seeds. Mowing is an important weed control strategy, so even if the grass does not need to be mowed, mow the weeds at least every other week.
Replace summer flowers with cool-season flowers. If your flowers are not doing well, replace them with cool-season flowers such as alyssum (which has a wonderful fragrance), calendula, chrysanthemum, dianthus and geranium (this perennial needs full shade in the summer but can handle full sun in the winter), petunia, snapdragon, pansy, flowering tobacco, stock (also fragrant) and ornamental kale.
Stop pruning poinsettia plants. Do not prune poinsettia plants anymore and allow the colorful bracts to form in time for Christmas.
It's time to plant strawberries. If you want to grow strawberries, the time to plant them is now through Oct. 25. Chandler, Oso Grande, Sweet Charlie, Selva, Lucullus and Red Ruby are recommended varieties if you want to purchase some bare root plants now.
Vegitables to plant now. Vegetables that can be planted in October include arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bulbing onions (should only be planted in October), bunching onions (green and shallots), cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive/escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips.
Create your own seed tape for carrots and radishes using toilet paper and glue. Lay a ruler down the center of the toilet paper and at every inch, place a drop of glue. Place a carrot seed on every other glue dot and then place a radish seed between each carrot seed.
Seed tape also works for lettuce. For a sheet on how to make your own seed tape (with photos) email me at the address listed earlier.
Sow your vegetables. Vegetable seeds that can be sown in October for planting in the garden in November are arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive/escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, peas (English and snow); spinach, Swiss chard and turnips.
Find it at the farmers market. If you have not visited our Brevard County Farmers Market yet, check out facebook.com/brevardcountyfarmersmarket to find out what vendors will be there to fill your culinary needs! The farmers market is held 3-6 p.m. ever Thursday at the Wickham Park Pavilion.
Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Here's what to do in your Space Coast yard in October
