Seeds and Stuff - October 2019

We've had such a mild year that the seasons seem all out of sync to me.

The passiflora has been flowering for months and has given a lovely wall of colour against the green of the hedge.   

And until this year, I had no idea how much value cyclamen give to the garden - these have been flowering from the end of September and still going strong as I type this (end of December).   I know that they spread, so am hoping for more next year, but even if these ones don't spread, I think I may have to buy even more - such good value.

Odds and Sods - October 2019

It's shameful how behind I am with these posts - especially given that I genuinely cannot remember what happened two months ago!  I vaguely remember a holiday, but everything seems to be about Christmas and hunkering down since then.

And, to help me, the only two photos I can find to upload are these .....

Hopeless!!

Other People's Gardens - September 2019

The gardening work has taken off amazingly - I now have seven regular gardens to work in and a potential six new gardens starting in the new year - it's all a bit bonkers, but I'm so grateful.

Because the weather has been very strange this year - as evidenced by primroses flowering in September! - the gardening work hasn't really packed up and, in fact, as I type this, I have jobs booked right up until 20 December.   

I think this photo is just to show how knackered I am after a gardening job!  (Today, I've done two and could quite easily have a little sofa snooze!)

Stupidly, I didn't get any "before" photos in this garden - I filled up the brown bin and then filled up the compost area too with everything I cut down.   

This wild flower bed is basically just filled with fat hen - it took me two visits to get rid of it all and about five hours in total.   So rewarding and satisfying though when it's done and you see some real progress.   Unfortunately, I did disturb a lot of seed though as I was pulling it all up so my customer has already said I'll be pulling it all out again next year!  (That sounds to me like she's not sacking me any time soon!)

Now, this garden is actually Mum and Dad's and I wasn't doing any work this trip - Dad was building a three tier raised bed - he's 86!  I was only needed when anything needed to be lifted up.   Mostly, I was just trying to control Finn.

I love sedum.   This photo was obviously taken at the height of its flowering, but, since then, it's died right back but all the new growth is showing at ground level.  So I've cut it all back, dug it up and divided it and planted one clump back in the original place and three other clumps around the garden. Division and propagation is one of my most favourite garden jobs.

This injury isn't the worst one I've sustained while gardening, but the others have all been impossible to photograph, due to their location.   I'll say no more .....

And this is Mum and Dad's garden again - we moved some acers from pots in the back garden into the front garden and Mum and Dad have mulched it with bark chippings.   I can't wait to see the trees bloom in their new position.

Seeds and Stuff - September 2019

My garden has been rather neglected this year what with one thing and another.   The Alnwick Rose tends to look after itself though although it's been very leggy this year - I can't remember if I gave it the Christmas chop last year?  I have put it in my diary to do so this year and fingers crossed it's a bit more bushy next year!