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.

What do you mean no electric?

The last month has been full of lots of sunny weather, and the gardens have been looking really lovely. (The picture shows the beautiful heads of an achillea) The watering however, is proving to be more and more of a nightmare. I have been constantly moving seep hoses around the borders in the copse where the hydrangea and rhododendrons are flagging. We can’t be the only people really wanting lots of rain.
Half way through last month I was working with Debbie on the South Border when we noticed 2 lovely people sitting in the copse, enjoying the gardens. They looked really happy together and Debbie went over to have a chat and ask if it would be ok for her to take a photo! They were suprised but delighted to oblige. When I get a copy I will post it....

After the excitement of the powercut mentioned last month, a couple of days after that I noticed that some of the sockets downstairs didn't work. It was thought that mice had possibly chewed the cable which would mean a major rewiring job. Thankfully it was just an unrelated problem in a faulty circuit breaker. We are now back up and running again.

The last month has been full of lots of sunny weather, and the gardens have been looking really lovely. (The picture shows the beautiful heads of an achillea) The watering however, is proving to be more and more of a nightmare. I have been constantly moving seep hoses around the borders in the copse where the hydrangea and rhododendrons are flagging. We can’t be the only people really wanting lots of rain.

Debbie has been working really hard on new planting plans for the South Border and Kitchen Garden central path where all the plants have been cleared out. We lifted and repotted all the plants from sections of the borders and have been trying to eradicate the bindweed, creeping thistle, ground elder etc etc but it is proving to be very difficult. Mr Berkeley has great ideas about making a traditional style perennial border on the South Border, but using a lot of new and interesting plants.

New volunteer Rob came in last week and I think I must have bored him to tears.... he was working in the same area all week... planting, weeding, pruning the espaliers, removing the peas and beans that had finished... he didn’t manage to get out of the kitchen garden all week! Anyone else like to volunteer?!?

August tasks

Make sure you arrange for someone to pop in keep an eye on the greenhouse and veg plot if you are off on holiday. They will also need to check any veg that needs picking, such as runner beans and squashes.
Keep working with the hoe when the weather is warm enough.
Watch for the fungal infection rust on hollyhocks, pelargoniums etc. Remove affected foliage and spray with a fungicide.
Keep picking those sweet peas and remove seed pods if they form.
Continue to dead-head spent flowers, especially those of summer bedding, hanging baskets and any remaining late flowering roses.
Start cutting hedges towards the end of the month
Listen to the weather forcast and water greenhouses and pots accordingly.
Start taking semi ripe cuttings of fuchsias, penstemon, pelargonium, salvia etc
Start collecting seed

Power cuts.... cows... roses... busy, busy, busy...

The sunshine has been really lovely over the last few weeks but is now beginning to outstay its welcome. Everything is really dry, the borders are starting to suffer and the irrigation system is on the the Kitchen Garden most evenings.

We are still interviewing for the replacement gardener to take Richard’s place in the team. We had a good response, and at least 2 ideal candidates so the decision will be difficult.

The martagon lilies at their best (see pic) and are really looking well, helped in part by the dry weather; it is the rain splashes that spread the lily disease infection.

We had a very important visitor last week when the ex president of the Rose Society came to the gardens to have a look at our roses. Debbie had chatted to a speaker at the local garden club and expressed an interest in someone coming to identify some of our large rose collection. Little did we realise we would be welcoming someone so important. The visit took up all the morning and only covered one of the borders. The lady was really enthusiastic and said she would write a piece on the gardens. She was staggered that we have so few visitors, as the gardens are such a beautiful place to visit.


On Saturday morning, a frantic phone call at 7am from Miss Berkeley, ended with myself, my husband, Debbie’s husband and John the gamekeeper all coming to help remove cows from the gardens again. It seems that some unhelpful person has been leaving gates open and cows do like to take any opportunity for a wander....

And finally... I had a power cut sometime on Saturday night; calls to neighbours indicated that it was just Gardeners Cottage. The electricity company came out promptly and were really efficient in finding the problem: when the electricity had been installed in the cottage it had been taken from the substation through the car park, under the cart shed, under our potting shed and down to the cottage all in a straight line. The section of cable right underneath the wall between our potting shed and the cart shed had broken. This meant it took until 10pm Sunday night to restore the power by putting an extra loop in to go round the buildings. Today they were back, digging a trench to install the cable properly. I am using this as an excuse as to why this month’s diary is a few days late... no laptop...

July Tasks

Trim back geraniums and aubretia in the borders after flowering
Cut grass where daffodils have been left to die down.
Tidy the dead tops of daffodils from borders when weeding.
continue harvesting peas, lettuce, early tomatoes etc in the kitchen garden.
Prune wisteria tendrils back to 5 buds.
Start collecting seed in paper envelopes when the weather is dry.
It will soon be time to take softwood cuttings of plants such as hebes, fuchsia, salvia and penstemon.
Thoroughly water vunerable plants, then mulch to keep moisture at the roots.
Feed roses etc with a general fertiliser such as phostrogen, and continue to deadhead spent flowers.
Top up pools as water evaporates. Keep pumps in good condition.
Work with the hot weather and hoe regularly.

Comings and Goings

It has been another interesting month. Not anything like as dramatic as last month but still facinating.

The biggest news has been that gardener Richard has decided to start up gardening self employed. He is now working for himself doing the gardens of the local Worcester populus. We wish him all the best in his new venture. We also expect him to pop in from time to time, to let us know how he is getting along.

The other news is that coincidentally, we have had several people come forward as volunteers, offering a half day a week. This has made a huge diference as we will now be rather short staffed for a few weeks until we employ Richard’s replacement.

In the gardens the plants are beginning to catch up with the season after being about 4 weeks behind. The wisteria have been stunning and the iris border is very colourful. The Fountain Beds have a stunning show of aquilegia and tulipa sprengeri and the borders are looking lovely. (The picture this month is of a seedling astrantia major). However, we are having a terrible problem with ground elder, bind weed and especially cleavers. Husband, who works at Worcester University, told me that these specific weeds are rampant there too. It must be the weather, but it is driving me to distraction.