My Autumn garden resolutions!
Hello friends!
Two weeks away has rather messed with my gardening head and I'm wondering where on earth to start...but first I want to welcome all those who are new here - a load of you signed up while I was away and I apologise if you were expecting a newsletter - THANK you for hanging in there!
When I last wrote, most of this country was parched from next to no rain over the summer, and I was watering my garden pretty much every day (not something I like doing) but now that the cooler, wetter weather has returned we are back to our normal routine (sort of; the children are still on holiday).
Here though, for what they're worth, are my very cursory five minute forays for this week:
Monday:
We returned home from Greece last night and I didn't even peep into the garden for fear of not getting the un-packing done. If I don't unpack the moment I get home then my suitcase just seems to sit there, un-touched for a couple of weeks...anyone else? Anyway, this morning I go out and breathe in the gorgeous damp air and know that I am HOME! The grass is seriously long, weeds are completely out of control and things need proper deadheading. I know from experience that if I mow, then all of it will suddenly feel much more manageable, so I yank out the lawn mower and do a quick whip-round. For new friends, I changed my lawn at the beginning of the season, letting the centre grow and only mowing around the outsides. Not only has this cut my mowing time in half, but it also provides a good habitat for insects, and therefore helps my garden birds. I harvested all the alpine strawberries as I went, and got a good bowl-full (which I intend not to share) and I also edged the lawn, which I don't always get around to doing, but which is deeply satisfying and makes me feel smugly good about myself.
I don't know what came over me today - perhaps it's something to do with September being the new January, but I make some resolutions as I mow, realising that despite being out in the garden every day (if only for a few minutes) I still seem to spend time moving things around because they've been left there and are in the way. If the following bores or appalls you, then please skim over it - it IS rather dry I admit!
Resolutions for my Autumn garden: Because September is the new January!
I decide to try and make a habit of putting everything away properly, leaving behind a tidy garden (of sorts) to enjoy the following day. We do it in the kitchen, so why not the garden? Here's what that means in a practical sense for me:
1. Put tools away (which I very rarely do)
2. Put furniture back and cushions away (which I often don't do)
3. Sweep or blow terraces and paths (which I hardly ever do)
4. Bag up or compost garden waste (which I always leave for the next day)
I'll be sharing a picture of my #tidygarden on my Instagram each day (either on my main feed or in stories).
Tuesday: I realise that if cushions aren't out, then I won't sit down in the garden, so now I look at the forecast and put them out in the morning. I sit on the bench and look at the nearest bed. It has a mass of couch-grass almost obliterating everything else.
The grass was introduced when I planted my standard Hydrangea paniculata in this bed last year, and as it has slowly spread, I have been studiously ignoring it. Not any more. I grab my kneeler and some gloves and I yank away at it for five minutes, clearing the entire bed and giving my poor echinacea and aster some breathing room.
I am thrilled. Then a baby robin arrives and starts pecking away at the bare soil. I go all gooey inside and my throat aches a little bit. This is why I love gardening.
Wednesday:
There is a small table next to the wall of my shed. And like all surfaces in my life, it seems to have attracted all manner of useless detritus because of my inability to put stuff away properly (see above). Right now this table holds the following:
1. A large pot that used to be filled with calendula. It was beautiful when they were all flowering but now there is only one left, holding out.
2. A small pot of argyranthemum in its second year. Flowering but neglected, because I have two enormous containers full of this plant nearer the house.
3. A small pot of Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' (left over from the plugs I bought to plant up a large container.
4. About twenty small plastic pots that used to hold seedlings which have now been long since planted.
5. A half-dead blueberry bush which I don't want but haven't had the heart to throw out. Instead, I keep it, but don't look after it. It sits there resentfully, looking ugly...where's the sense in THAT?
6. a random watering can
7. A bright yellow pick-up truck Lego piece
Anyway, you get the picture. In five minutes it's all gone, except for the Euphorbia which looks beautiful. I add some dahlias and replace the calendula with a verbena bonariensis plant that I haven't put in the the ground yet. This is basically a long-winded way of saying that it takes roughly three hundred times longer to think about dealing with stuff than it does to do the actual deed. Just saying.
Thursday:
The sycamore tree under which my garden sits has started its annual strip-tease. It's thoroughly boring and extremely annoying as these leaves don't really make good leaf-mould, so the only way to tackle the problem is to do a daily clear-up. I begin to sweep and then I suddenly remember that I have a leaf-blower. This was gifted to me last year by a company called G-Tech but it took so long to arrive that all the leaf-drop was over by the time it landed on my doorstep and I never had the opportunity to use it properly. I pull it out and instantly fall in love with the light work it makes of sweeping away not only leaves, but dirt in general. A bit of skill is needed to get them all into a pile in order to be composted, but other than this, I'm so happy to have re-found this piece of kit. The only hateful thing about it is the noise (argh!) and the weight of it (achy wrists) but otherwise, anything which makes light work of dealing with those pesky leaves every day is very welcome indeed in my life. The battery runs out and I consequently spend an entire day, on and off, searching for the damn charger, ringing the Rotter in a rage asking him where it is, getting cross about the state of the basement etc, until I finally locate it in my shed (of course).
Friday:
It's' nearly the end of the holidays (I'm not gonna lie, I don't have a tear in my eye...I need a break)... I take the children to Port Lympne Zoo, (which was a bit silly really, as I dislike both zoos and driving) and get back in the late afternoon after nearly three hours in traffic. I had planned to unearth a clump of mint from my herb container and put it in a pot indoors. This will provide me with mint for my winter cocktails (and who doesn't need that?), but it'll have to wait until next week as the only thing I'm up for right now is Netflix. I'm also going to listen again to the brilliant Heather Godard-Key before I bring my pelargoniums in for the winter, as I'm sure she had some rather good tips on trimming them before they come in, but obviously I've forgotten!
That's it for this week - Do let me know what you've been up to, and ping over any questions or comments by hitting reply to this message. I'll get back to each one as soon as I can.
All the good things, as always
x Laetitia
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