5 Late October Landscaping Tasks to Do Now!

Late October Landscaping in Central Indiana

In late October, in Central Indiana, your landscaping should focus on winter prep and spring planning. Key tasks include cleaning up fallen leaves, mulching, and planting bulbs for spring blooms.

Here are 5 essential landscaping activities for late October.

Leaf Cleanup

First, wait until the leaves are dry. It might seem like wet leaves are easier to rake up, but they're not. One thing I do is mow the leaves with my mulching-bladed mower. It works great. My neighbor helped me last year. I live at the bottom of a wooded hill. We have lots of leaves. Anyway, my neighbor brought over a tarp, raked leaves onto it, and then pulled them into the woods. Brilliant. In the last few years, I've gone from using a rake to using a leaf blower. I highly recommend it.

I have four-by-eight flower beds against my fence all around my backyard. I cover those beds with shredded leaves from my mower. The leaves act as protective mulch, which is much easier than blowing them back up the hill.

Mulching

As I said, I blow leaves into my flower beds as mulch. However, be sure the leaves are shredded. Mulch protects plants during freeze cycles, retains some moisture, helps suppress weeds, and breaks down to help fertilize the following spring.

Clear weeds and debris before mulching, and water deeply. It's a good idea to mulch before the soil freezes. I usually do this after the first frost so it doesn't interfere with plant dormancy.

Pro Tip: Leave two to three inches of space around tree and bush trunks, as well as perennial plant stems. Too much mulch can increase the risk of trunk rot.

Planting Bulbs

Plant bulbs when the ground has cooled to 60°F or slightly less. Keep an eye on the weather forecast because you want to plant before the first hard freeze. Plant in well-drained areas that get six hours or more of summer sun. Prep by digging holes three times deeper than the size of the bulb, then loosen the bottom soil to promote root growth.

For years, I didn't pay attention to how I placed the bulbs, which can be critical. Always put the pointy side up. Next, add the soil back, water lightly, and cover with mulch.

Pruning

Late October is a good time to inspect plants for pruning needs. The right pruning time depends on the plant and when it blooms.

Purdue's fall tree-care guidance recommends assessing pruning needs after leaves have fallen, when branch structure is easier to see and selective cuts are easier to plan. For flowering shrubs, timing matters:

• Prune spring-blooming species such as lilac, forsythia, and spicebush after flowering to avoid removing next year's buds.
• Prune old-wood bloomers such as bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangea immediately after flowering, rather than cutting away their flower buds in fall.
• Remove dead, damaged, or diseased branches as needed, and assess crossing branches for selective removal. Plan other pruning according to the plant's growth and flowering cycle.

See Purdue Extension's Fall Tree Care Tips and Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs for guidance.

Soil Preparation

Fall is a great time to test and amend soil in preparation for next spring's planting. I've found it best to hire pros for this; that's why I use Berger Hargis. Berger Hargis prepares soil for a new lawn by removing old turf, tilling and amending the soil, then seeding or sodding with high-quality grass seed and fertilizer.

There you have it: 5 Late October landscaping tasks. You can tackle some yourself and use professionals for the tasks you don't do or hire the pros to do it all. If Berger Hargis can help, please let us know. Contact us.