Head Gardener's Diary - September
 The
Garden is starting to look a little bit Autumnal, there has
been a gusty wind today cooling things down and blowing leaves
out of the trees. The nights have been slightly chillier and
autumn colour is appearing here and there, especially on some
of the trees. The plants in the meadows are going to seed (including
the weeds) and will be flailed down shortly then all the flailing
will be finished.
We’ve made a start on the hedge-trimming (Hurrah!); I
have tackled a small section of the huge hedge at the back of
the Gertrude Jekyll border, around the formal garden, but if
anybody has been keeping an eye on this, the reason work has
ground to a halt again is because I have just had a weeks’
holiday (on a narrowboat - and possibly the most stressful holiday
I’ve ever had in my life!!!). However we have nearly finished
the low demonstration hedge around the area fenced off in the
middle of the Harris Garden so progress is being made.
With autumn approaching we will soon be continuing with the
wooded areas in the middle of the Garden on colder days. I first
mentioned them back in January when we initially got permission
to fell the bigger trees; the plan is to create oak/ash copses
with an undergrowth of hazel and margins of coppiced hawthorn
and maple. Starting earlier than last year, we hope to make
a bigger impression on these areas this autumn and Winter.
The last main task this time of year is to lift the plants
we wish to over-winter under glass. Most of these will come
out of the jungle Garden, such as the colourful- leaved Iresines
and Cannas, less hardy Fuchsias, ground-covering Helichrysums
and the large-flowering Abutilons. We will be clearing the bedding
and replacing the formal garden bedding after the last Open
Day on 14th October in aid of the Duchess of Kent Hospice. The
Geraniums in particular are still showing plenty of colour and
will probably look more of a feature than newly planted winter
bedding. Also, with the milder winters we have been having recently,
the bedding is growing more in October so will have plenty of
time to catch up and be ready for Spring flowering. I’m
going to go and “touch wood” now….
Julia Wesley
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