10 Gardening Activities for October in the Pacific Northwest

1. Prepare for Frost

The Pacific Northwest can have cold fall weather, and even colder winters. This doesn’t mean you can’t keep planting and growing crops or other plants. Prepare for frost by buying frost blankets to protect vulnerable crops as well as perennials, shrubs, and trees. You can also use wool blankets to wrap containers so they don’t freeze.

2. Winterize Irrigation Systems

Before freezing temperatures arrive, you need to blow out your irrigation systems as well as protect your valves with insulation. This will prevent water from freezing and damaging pipes, valves, and sprinkler heads. Blowing out the irrigation involves connecting an air compressor to your irrigation line and removing all water. Learn more about winterizing sprinkler systems by watching this video from Ewing.

3. Plant Sweet Peas in Starter Pots

Sweet peas are a staple of cutting gardens because the flowers are beautiful, come in a wide range of colors, and are fragrant. In moderate climates (Zone 7 and up), you can plant sweet peas in starter pots in fall. Learn more about how to start sweet peas from Floret. You’ll then plant the sweet peas in your garden come spring, just after the last frost. If you’re looking for seeds, try Johnny's Selected Seeds, Floret, or Renee's Garden. Sweet peas need support, so add a trellis or arch to your garden if you don’t already have one.

4. Harvest Apples, Pumpkins, Gourds & More

October is prime apple harvesting season, though some varieties can be harvested as early as July and as late as November. Harvest apples as they ripen and store them in a cool, dry location (between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal storage temperature). When stored properly, apples retain their flavor and you can enjoy them for one to two months after picking. Read more about storing apples from Gardener's Supply. You’ll also want to harvest pumpkins, gourds, winter squash, fall raspberries, greens, broccoli, kale, lettuce, beets, carrots, radishes, late peas, and late beans. Harvest your pumpkins, gourds, and winter squash using a clean, sharp knife or loppers. Learn more about harvesting and storing pumpkins in this video.

5. Continue Planting Bulbs

It’s still bulb planting season. Since the Pacific Northwest has cold winters, it’s possible to grow nearly any variety of bulb including those that have chilling requirements. This includes bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, crocus, muscari, some daffodils, and snowdrops to name a few. When buying and planting bulbs, planting in large masses or drifts creates a stunning effect. You can create the look right in your landscape or even in containers. Learn more about planting bulbs. Use a bulb fertilizer while planting to make sure the bulbs have the nutrients they need to look their best come spring. If you want to plant an edible bulb, plant garlic this month to harvest next summer. You can choose from a variety of flavors carried by suppliers such as Burpee, or Johnny's Selected Seeds.

6. Cut Back Blackberries

By this month, the berry patch is past its prime. Once you’ve harvested all your blackberries, cut back canes to the ground. If your blackberries have thorns, protect your forearms from scratches and pokes by wearing long gloves and a long sleeve shirt and pants. Rose cutting gloves work well for cutting thorny berry canes. Learn more about how to prune blackberries from Stark Brothers.

7. Cut Back and Cover Asparagus & Rhubarb with Compost

If you stopped harvesting asparagus back in June and allowed spears to turn into larger plants with fern-like growth, that growth has probably withered and died by now or will do so very soon. (Note that stopping harvest in June and allowing the growth is best for asparagus plant health. If you didn’t do that this year, try it next year!) All the stalks on rhubarb have typically withered and died by now as well. Cut back stalks of asparagus and rhubarb and apply a fresh layer of compost and mulch. This will provide the plant with protection from harsh weather throughout the winter, and it will also give it the nutrients it needs come spring.

8. Prepare Ponds & Put Out Your Bird Feeders

With a little preparation, you can keep the fish in your pond healthy and the birds in your garden well fed throughout fall and winter. To prepare your pond for winter, be sure to clean out filters and check your pump. If you have fish in your pond, get out the pond heater. Birds in your garden will appreciate a reliable food source in fall and winter, so break out the bird feeders or provide a natural buffet of seed heads by letting flowers go to seed on plants such as sunflowers, echinacea, aster, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, cosmos, goldenrods, and sedum. If you need a new bird feeder, check out these by J Schatz or these at Gardener's Supply Company.

9. Save Seeds

Saving seeds is an economical way to expand the number of plants in your garden and ensure that you always have access to the varieties that work best for you. Some seeds are easier to save than others. Easier plants to start with include beans, lettuce, peas, and tomatoes. You can also save seeds from many flowers. Learn more about saving seeds at Seed Savers Exchange (a non-profit dedicated to preserving America’s food crop heritage). These videos are also helpful in learning how to save seeds: Learn how to save seeds from edible crops with Charles Dowding or see how seed saving with flowers works in this video by the Royal Horticultural Society.

10. Finish Planting Trees & Shrubs

You can continue planting deciduous trees and shrubs as long as the soil is still workable. This is the last month you should plant evergreen varieties, though. Check local nurseries for inventory or turn to online suppliers such as Singing Tree Nursery out of Northern California for trees and shrubs. The great thing about this nursery is the variety of interesting and hard-to-find plants. Plus, they sell larger sizes (often in 1-, 2-, and 3-gallon sizes), which is unique for an online nursery. Additionally, they specialize in dwarf conifers and rhododendrons.