The seasonal windmill indicates a definite change as the orange arm turns and autumn is fully declared. Cold winds blow through, colours change, leaves start falling …

 

The main occupation this month is the wrapping and bringing into storage of artworks, before the weather turns against us too much. This marked change in the appearance of the garden always seems surprising, a combination of disappearance and disguise.

 

The greenhouses are rearranged – all overwintering plants are put into one, some fragile artworks and terracotta containers into the other. All off the mixed lottery of autumn sown seedlings are potted on, hopefully getting a head start on next year if they make it through until then.

 

There is cutting back in of some of the perennial flower beds in the front garden and splitting and moving clumps around through other formal sections of the garden. The last of the spring flowering bulbs have been put in place, mostly to naturalise around the edges of the Woodland and Wild gardens. 

 

Anything which was left has been harvested from the Kailyard and the beds dug over. The globe artichokes which did not prosper this season are cut down and covered over with a leaf mulch.

 

Hedges are given a last clip to keep their defining structural shape through the winter.

 

More juvenile trees are planted out: oak, hawthorn, horse chestnut, field maple, blackthorn. Fillers for the woodland, all brought on from tiny saplings. These will of course still take some time to establish and mature, so this also goes alongside quite a bit of winter pruning and thinning out to even things up. All part of long term planning ahead.

 

All old branches from previous cuttings which had been piled up in situ are now being tidied away into a larger log pile out of sight behind the Grotto where they can be left to break down and create useful habitats.

 

Acanthus is planted out in the upper part of wild garden near to the fallen Corinthian capital, by See Poussin, Hear Lorrain, and the GD (Gaspard Dughet) stone. It has been an inexplicable struggle to get this to settle in place, but persistence will hopefully bring rewards.

 

A regular round of leaf clearing from the paths and lawned areas keeps the place looking tidy – even if it does feel like a futile task as the winds pick up and more and more fall.

 

Elsewhere the bees have been very disappointing this season – no honey of any volume has been produced, but this seems to be a consequence of erratic weather and conditions more than anything. If they make it through the winter then the hope is always that sweetness will return again next year.

 

The days are marked by misty frosty starts and after a brief flush of warm weather and bright skies we are back to the more usual dank and gloomy grey conditions.