Photo credit: Baltimore Sun

Margaret Roach, the gardener behind the blog, A Way to Garden, offers this list of October garden chores.

(Thanks, Margaret. It's not like I don't have enough to do before the snow flies!!)

Continue to water trees until the hard frost so that they enter dormancy well hydrated. Don't panic if evergreens continue to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost ones typically shed after a few years on the tree.

Be on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out. This is important before winter arrives with its harsher weather, where weaknesses left in place invite tearing and extra damage.

Prepare a seedbed now for peas and spinach for next spring, to get a head start on such early crops. Spinach can even be sown now through Thanksgiving, for super-early spring harvest.

Parsley and chives can be potted up and brought indoors for offseason use.

During cleanup, pay special attention to areas around peonies, roses and other flowers that are prone to fungal diseases. Don't leave any debris.

Start a first pot of paperwhites and stagger forcing more every couple of weeks for a winterlong indoor display.

If houseplants need repotting, do it before they come inside. Less messy.

Keep mowing till the grass stops growing, and make the last cut a short one. Let clippings lie on the lawn to return nitrogen to the soil.

Consider cutting the bed edges again and topping off the mulch as you clean each bed.

It's a long list! Get cracking....