Tips for November

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.

Top dress borders with leafmold, well rotted manure, or compost from the local recycliing centre.

The Tree Climbing Dog

October has been a busy, yet interesting month: The trees have shown their colour both with leaves and with berries (see pic: callicarpa Profusion), and we have been open during October weekends so that people could enjoy it with us.

One very exciting thing that has occured is a decision to redesign the Kitchen Garden, to grow small quantities of a larger variety of vegetables, in a redesigned layout. If all goes to plan some of the work will be acheived over the winter and the improvements can be viewed when we open again next year.

We were repairing a section of staging in one of the greenhouses last week, and discovered something that caused a bit of interest. The old staging had been removed, and underneath was a long cast iron heating pipe which had a cast iron open-topped box constructed round part of it. We have yet to discover what it was for, but think that it may have been some sort of propagation box. We have left it intact, under some new staging.

This November we are digging up the eastern half of the South Border, dividing the perennials and giving a top dressing of well rotted manure. We are lucky to have a farm on the estate that provides all the manure we can use!

After all the excitement of being on TV with the Taxol article, a friend connected to the BBC came for a walk with us and our dogs, and saw one of them, Holly, climb up a tree. She thought it would make a good 'end of the news' story and again we had a cameraman in the gardens.
This one has certainly created a talking point as people have come to the gardens to see where the 'tree climbing dog' lives!