Decatober

 

October 2025

Pickaway to Garden

 

Decatober

By Paul Hang

 

October used to be the eighth month of the year in the old Roman calendar. Octo means eight, as in octopus, octagon and octomom. The Julian calendar inserted January and February thus making October the tenth month of the year. The month retained its name in the changes to the Julian calendar and later to our Gregorian calendar. No one seems to know why. Shouldn’t it be called Decatober? The prefix deca means ten (10) as in decade but not decadent.

 

The name is just one of the strange things about the month. It is a month of transitions, as is the month of April. The weather often goes from warm to cold. The first frost usually occurs in October. That might change in the future. Chlorophyll all but disappears causing the leaves to change color. Tender plants shrivel. Their leaves dry to a crisp or become a dark green mush. Annual plants die. Perennial plants, most of them, lose their leaves. With the dimming light and colder temperatures the plants’ leaves no longer have a function so the plants discard them. The sugar they have been supplying all summer has gone underground to the roots.

 

As Edwin Way Teal writes in his “A Walk Through the year,” the warm days of October are a time before “The Great Reversal.” The world, in the Northern Hemisphere, is going to seed. Nature seems to be on its last legs. The year has ripened. By the end of the month most trees are showing their bare limbs. Naked, their true form is revealed. Oaks and Beeches retain just enough leaves to claim some degree of modesty in the woods. Bare trees on a chilly moonlit night can seem a little spooky. Just in time for Halloween.

 

Dry leaves can be noisy when chased by the wind. Burned, the aroma will take those of us on our last legs, back to our youth. Back to when, in this time of year, on some evenings, you could hardly breathe for the smoke which hung in the air like a heavy wool blanket. Those leaves that escape the fire may be collected by plants.  They gather them around like pulling up the covers to escape the coming cold. Perhaps we should do the same.

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

Fall presents ideal conditions for planting perennials, woody and not. The soil is still warm. The cooler temperatures slow evaporation. These give time for plants to establish strong root systems before winter arrives. Weed growth slows down. The weaker competition for water, sun and nutrients allows newly planted perennials and woody plants to get a head start come spring.

 

Hot caps and covers should be made handy in case a frost or freeze is forecast. Remember that the coldest temperature usually comes a little after sunrise. The earth radiates heat away and the sun hasn’t climbed high enough to begin heating us. If you can protect your plants now, a couple more weeks of warmth is likely to follow, with more vegetables and flowers to harvest. Average first frost for south central Ohio is now October 23.

 

Bring in the houseplants. Make sure you don’t bring in any bugs with them; a good blast of water from your hose can wash most of them off. Bring the pots into a sheltered spot for a week or so to help the plants acclimate before shocking them with the warmer temperatures of your home. Look up how to overwinter geraniums, begonias, coleus and other summer bloomers.

 

In October, and even into early November, you can plant garlic and shallots. Cloves from store-bought garlic may not work as some are treated to delay sprouting. You can also order favorite varieties from seed catalogs. Separate the cloves and plant 4 inches apart. Mulch with leaves or straw. They will sprout a few inches and take off in spring.

 

Dahlias, glads, tuberous begonias and cannas should be dug and stored in a cool dry place. Most basements are too warm. Caladiums, on the other hand, should be stored at 65 - 70 degrees. Go to ohioline.osu.edu and bring up Factsheet HYG-1244-92 to get specific information on storing Summer Flowering Bulbs.

 

You can still divide day hostas, lilies and iris. Cut back the iris leaves to four-inch fans. Stop feeding your roses but don’t stop giving them water. Consider cutting back your roses halfway if they stop blooming. If you have dormant roses you can still plant them. Spring bulbs can be planted as soon as you get them. Plant them at a depth three times their length; place some bulb food in the hole with them. For a better display plant them in odd numbered groups, not single file. For more impact, plant them in a triangular shaped group with a point facing the spot from where they will be viewed. If deer are a problem stick with daffodils.

 

If you planted trees this year (it is still a good time, until the ground freezes) protect the trunks from gnawing rabbits and other varmints with hardware cloth or the plastic wrap made for this purpose. Even older trees can benefit from this if you’ve experienced this damage in the past. Research the variety you want to plant. Some trees including evergreens are best planted in the spring.

 

This is the best time to fertilize your lawn. Use a high nitrogen soluble product. You can still sow grass seed. Leave seed heads of native coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans for the birds. Also leave stems for overwintering insects. You can put off most cleanups (but not in the vegetable garden) until next spring! Add mulch around perennials after the ground freezes, assuming it will. Leave the leaves under trees and planting beds. Rake them off the lawn for mulch or the compost heap.

 

You can have the soil tested and apply the recommended amendments. This gives time for working their way into the soil before spring. Contact the OSU Extension office for instructions and bags for samples. The office can also be contacted with your gardening questions at 740-474-7534.