Trouble comes in threes....

Not the easiest of months.... we acquired a puppy from my brother in law who had purchased it about 2 months earlier. 5 month old Millie proved to be a lot livelier than they had imagined so we took her in to add to our two collies. Millie is a lab/staffie/whippet mix, and is a very strong, happy little pup who likes to chew anything from the phone charger to slippers, the corner of the settee to an entire packet of dog biscuits. She broke our garden gate, climbed the pallet put there temporarily, and when we installed a lovely wrought iron gate she squeezed straight through the gaps! We now have the bottom of the gate covered in corrugated plastic. Not pretty, but finally effective.

For anyone who is interested, you can see one of our other dogs on youtube: put in ‘tree climbing dog’ and watch the BBC Midlands Today report.

In the gardens the leaf colours have changed and some of the acers are really beautiful. (see pic). Autumn has truly arrived. However, it is a little disheartening to clear an area of leaves only to return the next day to do it all again. I know that we will get to the end of it but this time of year can be frustrating as jobs don’t seem to stay ‘done’.

One of the more satisfying jobs has been the clearing of the next section of the South Border. All the plants have been removed and those for keeping have been potted up. We will repeat the process we undertook last year, with the first section we cleared, and hope to radically reduce, or even eliminate the bindweed etc. by the end of next year.

That short, sharp frost that occurred in the middle of the month gave us an opportunity to test out the new conservatory boiler. It certainly worked a treat and is holding heat and water as it should, finally! It was a serious cause for concern last year. We have also lifted, fleeced or frost protected the tender and susceptible plants around the gardens so hopefully we won’t see a repeat of last year when the really cold weather killed off several plants.

Of course the sharp frost meant that we were able to lift the dahlias earlier than we have done for the last few years. They are now all neatly stored away in a frost free shed. The cannas however are a different story: we lost nearly all the canna purpurea, a couple of variegated varieties and a few of the canna Robert Kemp whilst they were in storage last year, so we have stored them in a warmer room in the main house this year, hoping to avoid a repeat.

Best wishes

Kate

Topical tips for November

Check through stored apples and veg, discarding any that are damaged.
Use any spare space in heated greenhouses for quick crops of lettuce etc.
Keep an eye on the greenhouse and ventilate on warmer days.
Ensure that all tender plants have been taken into the warm, or protected by fleece or straw as we are just starting to get those nippy nights.
check guttering/drains and keep them clear.
lift and divide borders, so that perennials are regenerated for a better display. Then top dress the borders with well rotted farmyard manure, or garden compost.
Lift and store the last remaining dahlias, cannas, and gladioli bulbs.
Plant wallflowers and other winter displays, on warmer dry days
Keep an eye on ponds and ensure fish have a breathing hole by placing a pan of boiling water on the ice. Some people float a tennis ball to absorb the pressure of the ice and prevent damage to the pond.
Lift the last remaining dahlias, cannas, and gladioli bulbs.
On dry breezy days continue to cut lawns with mower blades set high, but try to avoid walking on grass when the weather is frosty.

Why are moles so good at hiding?

Last month saw the start of a new gardener to replace Richard, who had left to set up his own business. Chris started at the beginning of September and was thrown straight into the hedge cutting. And not just any old easy hedge, but the West Border crennellations...the ones that go up and down, and have a ditch to one side. It was a bit mean but Chris rose to the challenge admirably. It takes between 4 and 6 weeks to cut all the hedges at Spetchley and can be monotonous, so I have also been trying to ring the changes a little and mix up the jobs.

Last week Chris helped Debbie for a couple of days to sort out the new planting for the South Border where we had removed all the plants to try and eliminate ground elder and bindweed from the area. Well, we are now planting up and although a few small pernicious weeds are still showing, they are weak enough to be eradicated before the new planting becomes too large. A blog reader from Germany has suggested a specific control method which we are looking into. We will soon be taking the next section of border out, ready to repeat the process.

The damp, warm weather has also meant a lot of grass cutting, and the emergence of mole hills all over the gardens, in places I have never seen them before. This is particularly frustrating as I have limited sucess with mole traps. If anyone has a tried and tested method of mole control I would love to hear from you.

Isabelle Roberts, and her daughter Mary have been visiting for the last couple of weeks, as part of a month holiday in England from Alberta, Canada. They have been visiting all the friends that Isabelle made during her quarter century living in Gardeners Cottage at Spetchley. It has been lovely to have them stay and we are already planning next year’s visit. When Mary called her daughter at the weekend she was told that there was 8 inches of snow! We had had a lovely sunny day at the Avoncroft museum of buildings near Droitwich. ( A facinating place, you must go). Alberta winters can get down as low as -40º c, which I don’t fancy at all.

This month’s picture shows the ‘knees’ of the swamp cyprus, slightly altered by Clive Bagley, who ran the Tea Rooms about 4 years ago. Have a really close look....

October Tasks

Prepare the garden for winter: keep drains and ponds etc free from leaves and debris, clean and store garden tools, ensure that greenhouse glass is clean, and that any shading has been replaced by insulation.
Lift dahlias after the first frosts blacken their leaves.
Order spring bulbs for next year.
Feed roses with sulphate of potash to ripen the wood and make the plants more disease resistant.
Check tender plants for infestations of insects, and treat before returning them to their winter quarters.
Put frost protection round any plants that will be staying out for the winter.
Store undamaged apples and pears in a cool, dark well ventilated room such as a garage or garden shed.
Take hardwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs, and gather clematis seed for sowing in a cold frame.
place netting over ponds to catch leaves.
Change the plantings in hanging baskets for winter interest.
lift and divide herbaceous perennials.

I think I may starve....

September is nearly upon us and next week we are having the first wedding that Miss Berkeley can remember in the little C of E church up the drive. The daughter of the farmer over the road is getting married, so Miss Berkeley, Nigel my husband, and I are taking special care to ensure that the grounds are pristine for the event. Nigel has been volunteering to keep the church yard in order for the last 5 years.

We had a fantastic day at the M5 Living History event last month where re-enactors from all over the country displayed life from various centuries. This year there were far more displays and re-enactors than in previous years. We spent quite a time wandering around all the encampments and talking to the people. I found the barber/physician particularly gruesome!

It was a hot dry day so I needed to move an irrigation line in the copse with the help of my husband. Whilst we were doing this a small group of WW2 soldiers came creeping up the ride, checking for the enemy... (They reminded me a bit of the end credits of Dad’s Army!)

There were trade stands for the first time, which sold a fascinating array of re-enactors paraphernalia. It was possible to buy muskets and all the associated equipment, medieval outfits and cloth, swords and bows and arrows, reproduction coins, glassware and even chain mail gloves!

Every half an hour or so there was a display battle with cannons, muskets and various people falling down ‘dead’ and being dragged off the battlefield...

I had a go at the archery using a longbow (think Robin Hood), and managed to graze the back leg of a model deer, completely miss it’s hindquarters and then send a third arrow under it’s belly. I think I would starve if I had to rely on my hunting skills.

There was a wonderful display in the squash court by some RAF re-enactors showing how Bomber Command worked, with a map table and the Wrens standing round pushing airplane indicators across it (see photo). It was all explained really well, and the mock air raid demonstration was great fun.

And finally some frustrating news: the company that has collected our yew clippings for the last 10 years or so is now unable to do so, as the company they sell the material to can now get yew clippings more cheaply from China.

September Tasks

Continue to trim hedges. Putting a sheet down first to catch the clippings will make clearing up a lot quicker.
Dead heading the herbaceous borders will prolong the display, but if you want to save seed, don’t forget to leave some flowerheads uncut!
Keep cutting lawns, gradually raising the cut in preparation for winter.
Check fruit trees and remove any fruit affected by brown rot to reduce infection spread.
Be particularly careful when picking tree fruit as wasps love windfalls and can become quite drunk, presenting quite a hazard.
Continue to pick runner beans etc. in the kitchen garden. It is not too late to sow quick crops of radish and lettuce.
If your greenhouse cucumbers are suffering from an attack of red spider mite, try putting a block of wet straw by the plants to increase humidity.

Happy visitors

This is an extra entry to my usual monthly missive. Debbie has sent me the picture she took that I mentioned in the previous blog.... so here is the picture I promised of the happy visitors; a lovely couple just sitting in the copse enjoying the sunshine.