ORCHARD : Before 07h10 (UTC), the descending moon still favours leaf-type work — a good window to finish tidying up around fruit trees before the day shifts. Rake fallen leaves from beneath apple (Malus domestica), pear (Pyrus communis) and quince (Cydonia oblonga) trees and compost them separately from any showing scab or rust; this breaks the disease cycle before spores overwinter in the soil / Apply a thick layer of well-rotted manure (8–10 cm) around the drip line of established fig (Ficus carica) and medlar (Mespilus germanica) trees, keeping it 15 cm clear of the trunk to prevent collar rot / If you have a sheltered spot, now is a fine time to heel in bare-root gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa) and redcurrant (Ribes rubrum) cuttings taken last week, spacing them 10 cm apart in a nursery trench.
VEGETABLE PATCH : After 07h10 (UTC), the descending moon moves into a fruit-type day — lean into crops grown for their fruit or seed. Direct-sow broad beans (Vicia faba ‘Aquadulce Claudia’) 5 cm deep, 20 cm apart in rows 30 cm wide; autumn-sown plants develop a stronger root system and typically outperform spring sowings by two to three weeks / Under glass or polytunnel, sow a short row of pea ‘Meteor’ (Pisum sativum) in root trainers filled with a gritty compost mix — they handle low temperatures well and germinate reliably at 8–12 °C / Check stored tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and chilli peppers (Capsicum annuum) laid out on newspaper: remove any showing soft spots immediately to prevent grey mould spreading to neighbours. In Mediterranean climates, outdoor broad bean sowing can continue without cover until mid-November.
LANDSCAPING : Damp autumn soil clings to the fork in a way that tells you it’s ready to work. Lift and pot up the last tender perennials before a frost catches them: pelargoniums (Pelargonium × hortorum), fuchsias (Fuchsia magellanica) and osteospermum (Osteospermum ecklonis) all benefit from being cut back by one-third and brought into a frost-free greenhouse or cool conservatory at 5–8 °C / Plant spring-flowering shrubs such as witch hazel (Hamamelis × intermedia) and wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) in well-drained, humus-rich soil now — the descending moon supports root establishment, and both shrubs will reward you with scented winter blooms / Mulch the crowns of tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) and gunnera (Gunnera manicata) with their own dried fronds or straw packed loosely around the growing point, securing with twine.