Right it is Autumn and that means… lots of superb colour, long walks, wet grass and knowing that as nature starts to shut up shop for the year, there are still so many joys to find and that the wonders of winter are just around the corner before that new year starts again.
With a week off we decided to visit West Dean Gardens near Chichester in West Sussex and it was well worth the trek the Sat Nav took us on. The walled garden with its glass houses and multitude of fruit trees is magnificent as is the 100m Edwardian pergola which is host to many varieties of magnolia, clematis, rose and honeysuckle.
September is one of my favourite months – the summer still lingers but clearly Autumn is on its way. The leaves are starting to fall and the sun rises later but after your month off in August now is a good time plan any Autumn work (paths, edges, new borders). In other words… plenty to be doing and plenty to be enjoying.
A type of geranium, Herb robert, has pretty small pink flowers however it will spread quickly – fortunately it is an easy weed to deal with and in this short post I explain a bit more about this fascinating little plant.
With the heat of mid-summer hopefully behind us, August is a time to enjoy those longer warmer evenings in your garden or at the allotment. Whether it is a session tackling those pesky weeds or just sitting down with a glass of wine and watching nature go by whilst the sun goes down, the only thing you really need to do is enjoy this time.
The first time you ever see a Tree fern I guarantee you will stop in your tracks and be utterly captivated as you try to comprehend what is in front of you. Tree ferns are a pre-historic plant but put them in a modern contemporary garden and they always look superb. So a recent and wonderful RHS podcast was enthusing about ferns of all kinds and when it came to Tree ferns this I what I learned.
Rousham is… just a wonderful place to be – it is food for the soul. If you haven’t been go, if you haven’t been for a while go. This is a place that always gives you the space to decide which of the many inviting paths to take and rewards you whichever way you go. It is one of my favourites, it never disappoints and always delights.
That sharp sour crunch of the first gooseberries of the year from the allotment is now a distant memory (ah, a shame) however as the gooseberry season starts to draw to a close there is still time to do something just a bit different, thanks to Delia Smith, with the last of the fruits and you won’t be disappointed.
In the blink of an eye, June has given way to July which means summer is in full swing. Whilst it is important to take the time to enjoy your garden, there are plenty of small things to do to keep it looking great over the next few months.
Summer has arrived at last and with it comes the prospect (in theory of course) of warmer drier weather which gives you the chance to get out there and do a bit of work but also take a moment or two (but no more!) to enjoy the fruits of your labours from earlier in the year. Keep an eye on the watering and the weeds both of which will need plenty of attention at this month.
Looking for a particular plant or just fancy a bit of wander? There are plenty of great garden centres and plant nurseries on your doorstep and here is my list of those I know – hope you find a new one to visit and enjoy.
You can’t keep a good garden club down and even though they can’t hold their wonderful monthly talks it doesn’t mean everything has to stop and so from the 18th May until 1st June, The Hagbourne Garden Club will be offering plants for sale at various locations around the village (socially distanced of course!).
The Garden, the monthly RHS Magazine is a veritable goldmine of gardening and horticultural information. Browsing through the April edition, I have picked out a few nuggets of useful information to share.
At last May is here which is one of my favourite months for gardening – flowers starting to burst and there is the lush green of new leaves everywhere. Oh and two bank holidays of course! There is plenty to do around the garden and a little work now will pay dividends in spadefuls when summer arrives.
If you are looking to move to a new house it can be a challenge to understand how the shade will play across an unfamiliar garden and so in this second article dealing with shade I am going to explain why south facing gardens are not always the best but also give you a quick and simple way to work which parts of a garden are always going to be in the shade.
Turn over a plant label and amongst other things it will tell you what kind of light the plant needs to do best however what does that really mean? In the first of two articles looking at shade in the garden, I start off by explaining the different kinds of shade.
Yey it is April again and you now need to be shifting yourself up a gear as spring starts to find its stride. The frosts are few and far between, the temperatures are slowly rising and the ground is nice and soft – perfect for weeds so time to get ahead of the little rascals and set out your stall for the season.
Spring has sprung – well sort of. March is the early spring month and whilst there is still more cold and wet weather to come, the daffodils are up and about and telling everyone else to wake up and that includes you – there is plenty to do!
There are few things that taste quite as good as vegetables harvested from your own garden but getting started can seem a bit of a challenge especially if you only have a small patch. Robert Longstaff will be talking about this very topic at the Hagbourne Garden Club on Thursday 27 February from 7pm.
Every garden needs roses because they are, well, so wonderful but unfortunately they have a reputation as being “difficult”. The reality is they are really easy to look after. I enjoyed a day at David Austin Roses along with other gardeners (including those from the National Trust, English Heritage and Sandringham) learning from the rose experts and here are 10 things I think you need to know.
