It’s October And Time To Fall In Love With Your Backyard Again
October is our favorite month for getting outside and finally enjoying our backyard after months of hot weather. Back in 2022, we replaced our grass with gardens and we have been working on creating our own little oasis in the desert ever since. Here are some of the things we will be tackling in our yard this month.
POST SUMMER CLEAN UP AND PRUNING
Like so many people, we lost several plants during the long hot summer and so the first item on the agenda is to clean up the yard and remove the dead plants. This is also the time to prune away the summer damage, just remember not to trim more than one-third of the tree or plant at any one time.
October is also the right time to clean out flowerpots and beds and top them off with fresh soil. If you are planting garden beds or container gardens, we recommend Arizona Worm Farm Compost in advance of planting. Their dirt is full of nutrients and worm castings, and we can definitely tell the difference.
ADJUST WATERING SCHEDULES
As the weather cools down, be sure to adjust your watering schedules. Too much water can cause leaves to yellow and can even drown your plants. Just watch carefully as there can still be hot stretches in October that require some hand watering in between regular watering schedules. A moisture meter is a great tool to help you guide your watering.
FERTILIZE
After the long hot summer, your plants are hungry and October is the perfect time to fertilize everything in your yard. For flowers and plants, we like to use Ferti-Lome Fish Emulsion Fertilizer which has a 5-1-1 formula (five percent nitrogen, one percent phosphorus, one percent potassium). While fish emulsion is mild, it is also fast-acting, and we have seen tremendous results from using it in our garden and around our yard.
We use fish emulsion once per month and then balance it in between with GrowMore Organic Seaweed Extract. Citrus needs extra nitrogen, so make sure you are using a fertilizer specifically for citrus. The only citrus trees that should be fertilized in October are your lemon and lime trees. Other citrus trees should be fertilized in the spring months.
PLANT
This is the fun part. October is the dream month for planting trees, shrubs, and bushes. You want to plant them early so they have three full seasons to get established before the stress of the next summer. October is also the time to plant garden beds and container gardens.
We are loading up our garden with fresh herbs, kale, sugar snap peas, celery, garlic, leeks, radishes, carrots, beets, onions, arugula, spinach, and several kinds of lettuce. We have been amazed at how much food we have produced each season.
It is also our favorite time of year to refill our flowerpots with geraniums, nasturtiums, petunias, Johnny jump-ups, calendula, and snapdragons — to name a few.
OVERSEED
October is also the time to overseed and establish your winter lawn. There is nothing prettier than fresh winter grass, but when we redid our backyard, we decided to convert our grass to raised bed gardens and artificial turf. However, we never expected that our new yard (that produced food for our family) would also use a third less water.
If you are thinking it might be time for a change in your yard, take advantage of the Mesa Residential Grass-to-Xeriscape Incentive Program. The program provides up to a $1,000 incentive for the conversion of grass to low-water-use plant coverage and up to $100 for adding an eligible tree. For more information, go to mesaaz.gov/residents/water/water-conservation/ residential-grass-to-xeriscape-rebate.
USE YOUR OUTDOOR SPACES
For years, we didn’t really use our backyard. We didn’t love the way it looked so it never drew us outside. In the past two years, we have put a lot of thought and effort into how we want to live outdoors. We have re-envisioned our outside spaces and made an effort to make sure the views out of our windows are aesthetically pleasing. Lots of Pinterest inspiration, magazine clippings, planting trial and error, and a few great Offer Up finds are giving it the character we had hoped for all along.
If you are looking to get some inspiration for your yard, definitely visit Berridge Nurseries at 4647 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix. They have amazing plants, garden seedlings, a knowledgeable staff, and beautifully styled pots and accessories. For a crazy assortment of unique pots and plants, also consider a field trip to The Plant Stand of Arizona at 6420 S. 28th St. in Phoenix and pair it with lunch at The Farm at South Mountain.
We can’t say enough great things about the advice we receive by following Angela Judd of GrowingintheGarden. com. Angela is a local Mesa urban farmer who provides daily tips on gardening in our climate. She also teaches classes at the Mesa Public Library and online. We are all lucky to have such an amazing resource at our fingertips.
According to research in the Blue Zones, gardening and yard work may very well help you live longer. Gardening is the epitome of the Blue Zones lifestyle with many people gardening well into their 90s and 100s. According to a study published in Landscape and Urban Planning, gardening was also equivalent to biking, walking, and dining out as a contributor to emotional well-being, or happiness.
So, if you are wondering if doing an outdoor refresh is worth it, we say yes. A great outside space adds to your life and contributes positively to your property value. Make your outside space a sanctuary this fall and spring and fall in love with your home all over again.
John is the Designated Broker of KOR Properties and has been a Multi-Million Dollar producing agent for over 20 years. He is an Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR) and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), and serves on the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) Rules & Policies Committee, ARMLS Appeals Committee, and the West and Southeast Realtors of the Valley Professional Standards Committee.
Natascha is a Multi-Million Dollar Producer and Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR). She is the Founder of Mesa Food Truck Fridays, a Member and Past-Chair of the City of Mesa Economic Development Advisory Board, and on the Board of Directors of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.