The October weather has really blessed us in the gardens this month. The autumn colour is improving, although the acers suffered from the drought, which caused their leaves to go brown and dry before they had a chance to change colour. Other trees, such as the nyssa, have produced beautiful bonfire tones, whilst the bees are enjoying early mahonia flowers (see pic.) The mild weather has also allowed us to complete many more jobs; border work, grass cutting, pruning etc are so much easier when the weather is favourable.
For the first part of October I spent over a week cutting the box hedging. It is a very back breaking task, so I have tended to cut hedges for half a day, and then change jobs to give my back a rest.
We have also been lifting and dividing borders, both in the Kitchen Garden and on the South Border. We have had such a problem with bind weed, ground elder and mercury that we are hoping to leave the areas cleared for a whole season and beat the weeds. It will look a bit strange for a while but I hope you will understand. This task has also ensured that we have plenty of spare plants, potted up and ready for sale next season.
It was a relief when I was then off on holiday for a week at the end of October, travelling across France with the aim of seeing the French home of Mr Berkeley’s Great Aunt, Miss Willmott. Her second home, near the border with Switzerland and Geneva, is now the town hall for the area of Tresserve, east of Lyon. We met the deputy mayor, and the two ladies who had visited Spetchley about 3 months ago to do research for a book about Tresserve and Miss Willmott. We then had a fabulous time travelling back across the country, even managing to get into Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny on the cheap as the frosts had caught the dahlias. And all the while Debbie was holding the fort back at Spetchley.
The autumn leaf collecting is also looming large, with small inroads being made here and there, although all the leaves have yet to fall. We have been greatly encouraged by the addition of a hardstanding path installed through the middle of our leaf collection area. The area has been a leaf heap for longer than I care to think about and consequently, the ground is very soft. This caused considerable difficulty last year, so I am understandably excited about the new path!!
The gardens are now closed for the winter. We open again on 21st March 2010
Best wishes
Kate
2 comments:
Was hoping to find info on this year's illuminated trail but you say now closed for winter so I guess no trail? Shame if so - though in the current weather I can understand it!
I'm very sorry but you are right, there is no Illuminated Trail this year.
Thank you for your comments, it's great to know that people read the blog.
Best wishes
Kate
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