Through the Garden Gate--October 2020

 

We have enjoyed watching the garden change colour in the last few weeks. I do love October with all the changes in the garden and the countryside. There is still a lot of colour and interest to be had in the garden, even though the leaves are falling. We can see a lot of trees beyond our garden so we are still able to enjoy the changes in nature even after our own trees have dropped their leaves.

In the garden we have yellow from the silver birch and red from the liquid amber and rowan. 

The grasses are now more visible in the borders as the other plants die down, some of them having lovely autumn tints. The Rowan has yellow berries which contrast well with the red leaves and look like little fairy lights.  The crab apple seems to have even more fruit this year, those are red. last year the Rowan berries stayed on the tree well into the new year, but I don't think they will this year as I saw some blackbirds having a feast on them this morning.

In the borders, the pink sedums are a welcome late flowerer along with the rudbekia.  I haven't done any cutting back yet as I like to see the seedheads of some of the dead flowers and how the foliage changes colour. You can miss so much if you cut back too early. I have seen blue tits and sparrows balancing on tall stems trying to eat the seeds from the dead flower heads. This is all the more reason for not cutting back too early.

I have been busy in October making up patio pots with autumn and winter displays.  There were so many lovely colours of mini cyclamen at the local garden centre, I couldn't resist buying some and then going back for more!

The antirrhinums I potted up in the summer are still looking good so I have left them in their containers, they look as good as the cyclamen.

We have had a lot of rain recently so I haven't been out to do any gardening.  I am hoping for some fine days soon so that we can go out to visit one of the large gardens in our area to take in the autumn colours.

I am linking this blog post to Sarah's at 'Down By The Sea' for her monthly 'Through The Garden Gate' post.

Slowing down on the allotment

Autumn on the allotment is a time when I start tidying up, slowing down and preparing for the next growing year. Every year is different and all gardeners know that there are good years and bad years for crops.  It can be a result of the weather, pests and diseases, time and energy.

We are not spending as much time down on the plot now--about once a week we go down.  Although I have a long list of jobs to be done, they are not as urgent and can be tackled through the autumn and winter when the weather allows.  As I walk around the plot and see the empty spaces where the summer veg were, I am pleased to see that there are plenty more veg to see us through the winter. The brassica bed is looking good with lots of cabbages. I thought I might have overdone the planting as I always plant extra in case any get attacked by slugs or caterpillars. 

At the moment there are some really healthy looking cabbages and the kale bed looks really colourful with three types--'dwarf green curled', 'cavalo nero' and red kale.  It looks a shame to cut at them, but I do of course. 

Other veg still growing are leeks, brussels sprouts, parsnips, beetroot and purple sprouting broccolli. 

The last couple of weeks I have been weeding the fruit beds which were in a mess.  There are two cages, one with blueberries and raspberries, the other with blackcurrants and redcurrants. In addition, not in a cage are gooseberries and rhubarb. I have been working my way through these beds doing a different one each week and pruning as I go along. The raspberries are still producing fruit and every week I am always surprised and delighted to see there are still more to pick. 

The sycamore tree at the top of the plot has been dropping its leaves for a few weeks now.  They were all over the place on the paths and the beds, so sweeping them up  was another job which got done. They are now all in the leaf bin composting down.

The weather has been really rainy this week so we haven't been able to get any more done, but its good to see jobs gradually being crossed off the list.