Christmas time, Mistletoe....... (Cliff Richard comes to mind, I'll stop there)

Many people talk to me about this time of year and tell me how they can't bear the short dark days, they long for Spring and focus on how it always seems to be constantly raining and/or windy/muddy/cold/generally pants. Now, I am not going to suggest I don't agree with some of this BUT I also LOVE the wind and being blown about. I LOVE the sun setting and rising whist I am most definitely awake and I rather like dashing in from the rain (sometimes).

Being out and about this time of year is actually quite a treat in the fresh air and when you wake up in the morning feeling like a sack of potatoes, a bit of gardening outdoors can really sort you out.

These last few weeks have of course been focussed on the build up to Christmas. Lots of jobs involving tidying, leaf blowing, cutting back, pruning, dead heading, clearing old leaves and replacing straw for the Strawberries. Getting ready to start again. In addition, we get involved in the lovely build up stuff, the collection of Ivy and Holly and putting the Christmas tree up.

Despite the bare bones of the garden being on show, there are lots of plants giving fragrance right now, Daphne (Jacqueline Postill/Acutiloba), Chimonanthus. Structure and beauty can be found like the huge beautiful yellowy orange hips on Rosa Meg, which is as big as a soft fruit like an Apricot, truly gorgeous. 

There is much to do in the coming weeks, digging in the veg garden, planting more bulbs, more pruning, weeding, edging, transplanting, not to mention preparing for Snowdrops. 

Lots of wildlife to be seen too, even though the garden is entering dormancy, the weather has been so mild. We have seen Herons, Kingfishers (not me - never seen one!- but HG assures me), Mice, Moles, Bees on the Daphne and of course our regular friends in the garden at Heale, Papadum the Peacock, chickens, Dogs and our Kittens, Fennel and Bo. Never a dull day to be had.

Darker days

My gardening day has been noticeably shorter this week in terms of light. The light starts to go around 3 ish and gently potters off to full darkness around 4pm or so, the Tawny owl hooting to remind us that it is almost night time.

I have been cutting back a big border for a client and transplanting big Salvias from borders to pots for over wintering.

At Heale I spent my days doing lots of jobs. Transplanting Hornbeam hedging and re-planting to a new location. Not finishing the job until the ground had been re turfed and squished down. Tools of the trade include HG's home made (and very useful) Tamper, to flatten the turfs into their new home.

We also spent a morning planting more bulbs, around a 1,000 more, Camassia 'Cusickii' and 'Semiplena', Scilla peruviana and Allium 'Purple Sensation'. Some with a planter, some with a trowel. Should be good.

 Still a bit of cropping of veggies to do. A real pleasure to be handling crops after what seems like an age since we were in full veg flow. The veg garden is bare bones now we have reached December and pretty soon I will be itching to get back in there and get things going.

 The Wisteria in the garden all require their Winter prune and we had a bit of time left to work on the biggest one in the garden this week. Always slowly and methodically. Great job.

This Wisteria is by the most beautiful tall, orangey/brown Miscanthus which stand guard over the river at this time of year and the light was just stunning as it disappeared for another day.

Ground work

Work at this time of year involves 'hidden' gardening, the stuff you need to do in order for everyone to see the results next year. The stuff people don't see. I am often asked at this time of year "Do you work all year round?" and I find myself reeling off the endless tasks we do and thinking to myself "How on earth are we going to fit all THAT in?" !

At Heale we have been planting more bulbs, scattering them upon the ground and squirreling them away, forgetting where they went and looking forward to seeing them pop up in the Spring. We planted Nectaroscordum bulgaricum, Dutch Iris, Allium and Ornithogalum nutans. I had never heard of these. Also known as 'Drooping star of Bethlehem', I am looking forward to seeing the little white flowers ; https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11944/Ornithogalum-nutans/Details

We have also been pruning shrub Roses - Duchess de Montebello - taking it slowly, methodically pruning each stem. A tangled mess soon becomes a neat and tidy structure. I love this work. Pruning can be really satisfying when you have a good sharp pair of secateurs as your best buddy.

I vaguely remember this rose - it sits in a private area of the garden - but judging by this image I cannot wait to see it again next year!

https://www.agel-rosen.de/fotos/Gallica-Rose-Duchesse-de-Montebello-83566.jpg?size=mgr&nr=0

The artist that is HG showed me how to use Hazel as a support for Paperwhites (which are shooting up to the sky in their pots). What a fab job, twisting and tying Hazel to create a pretty support, complete with catkins.

A varied few days as usual, never two days the same. We have even taken delivery of two little Kittens for our veg garden. Hopefully they will help keep little rodents away from our veg! Salad is still going in mid November, plenty of Rocket and still some Carrots to pull.

November, November

I have been a bit slack on the old blog of late. There have been changes in the weather, the clocks have changed and it can all become a bit of a trudge. November has arrived and with it comes changeable weather, sun, wind, rain, cold, warmth, sludge and today at Heale: a rainbow!

I do love the wind though. Leaves are dancing maniacally, falling behind me as I clear them away. The bare bones of the garden are once more showing their shape.

I have been in two of my gardens this week, a lot of clearing has been done, pruning, dead heading, raking, cutting back, weeding. Still things continue to grow and flower, I even planted some Onions out this week.

At Heale we spent some time in the veg garden clearing Asparagus and Tithonia. We planted more than 4,000 bulbs in the grass (my knees were talking to me by the end of the day), including Tulips, Scilla, Crocus, Muscari.

So much continues to shine; Salvia in big pots in the veg garden has been at it for months, Globe Artichokes are showing off new foliage, Leeks are huge and dark green, Wisteria leaves glow a golden yellow, even Magnolia grandiflora on the house is STILL flowering and producing buds at least the length of my entire hand. Oh the scent!

Always something to be getting on within the garden so still, much time to plan and prepare for the season ahead.

Time off

My last week at Heale we were tidying up the riverbank, cutting back Irises and cleaning Bamboo. We stored the Cucamelon roots in the hope of revitalizing them next season. The colours of the leaves in the garden are stunning at this time of year and we are lucky to be in such a peaceful place to work.

But this week, I have had a break from gardening and time to play with my boys who are on half term. I have enjoyed being warm and not rushing! I have been lucky enough to be getting out and about so I haven't missed the great outdoors too much.

A different type of great outdoors though. This weekend I re-visited the Olympic Park, my second visit since 2012. What a change to that area of London, 2 or 3 stops on the train from where I used to live is Stratford station and Westfield, a huge buzzing shopping centre. Not only is it commercialism though, it leads you through to the Olympic sized space of trees, planting, playgrounds, cycle tracks and giant sculptures of crayons in the river. Even in the shopping centre (which in part is open to the elements) are trees with birds singing at dusk, flitting from tree to tree.

Once you enter the Olympic park, the space is immense as is the sky (which, as my friend pointed out, is rare in London to see so much uninterrupted sky). The planting is superb, mature pine trees making playgrounds seem like they have been established for years, grass borders which conjure up seaside boardwalks not city pavements. Not just lawns and verges but slopes to climb, short grass, wild grass, clovers, seating nestled in borders, Vinca and Ivy clinging as ground cover. The space allows you to breathe and be inspired. We made it into the Velodrome and viewed the Aquatic centre, two buildings which are beautiful and fluid in their design.

I was with a family of 5 city dwellers and really noticed how much they appreciated this space and planting. They all said they felt the space safe for their kids and relaxing for them and I think the planting has a lot to do with that. Not formal beds which are untouchable but plants to feel, to walk through, to hide in. Walkways with textures, activities, mirrors on bridges, reflections, water and sky. All a stones throw from town. A real treat.

Autumnal planning

Now is the time we all get to take a breather for a moment, just a moment and think about what the year has just done for us and what we want to do next year. Not too much time though - plenty to do.

I have been with my client transplanting and potting up, sowing some hardy Annuals (Ammi, Orlaya, Cornflower) and dodging incredibly heavy rain. I planted a beautiful Eleagnus for her too, x ebbingei, with silvery leaves.

At Heale we got up to all sorts, removing an Apple tree with a winch, ride on mowing, lifting tree canopies, weeding and edging veg plots, potting up, feeding.... we also managed our one experimental 'no dig' bed. Last year we used the newly made bed for Brassicas and failed but not because of the no dig system (must I mention the darn Bank Voles again!). This time we are covering the soil with a 3 inch compost mulch and covering it to let the worms and weather do their thing.

If you want to have a go then read the enthusiastic  Charles Dowding here:

http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/why-no-dig/

The owners at Heale would like us to move on further and create more no dig beds. I am all for it (less double digging) but also quite like the rituals of preparing the beds in the traditional way. A bit of both and we shall see which system reigns supreme.

Having really loved our first try at Cucamelons, we are going to try and store the dahlia-like tubers over winter and hope for bigger stronger plants next season. Considering we grew the little mouse melons from seed this February, they have grown a really big tuber!

Leaves are turning everywhere but particularly noticeable are the trees in the Japanese garden, Liquidamber being one of the ones that seems to turn it's colour in the blink of an eye.

The Cercidiphyllum japonicum is mighty fine this time of year and it's little cousin Cercidiphyllum japonicum f. 'Pendulum' is a small plant near the Japanese bridge but I could smell the delicate and faint smell of sugar and butter and caramel from the only 10 leaves that were clinging on for dear life. Amazing!

All about the veg

My gardening week has been heavily focused on the veg.

I have planted out Kale at my own allotment and snuffled out the last of my Cukes and Courgettes. I have spent time in three of my gardens, clearing away old crops and planting out some late sowings of Salad and Spinach.

At Heale, although I only work two days, I get an input into the veg garden, glorious potager style plots and have been discussing next years veg plans with HG. Our veg plots combine cut flowers with veg and herbs alongside ornamental Gourds and Climbing Ipomoea. On the whole, Heale remains traditional in its veg choices with the odd Cucamelon thrown in. We are hoping to persuade the owners to head for some different varieties next year, based on our successes and failures from this year.

We struggled to produce Brasscias this year mainly due to a huge influx of Bank Voles who consumed everything with gusto. Our Beans were amazing but we weren't too impressed by our Broad Beans so would like to try some new varieties such as Karmazyn - a heritage Bean, pink in colour.

We have been given some seeds, sent in by some lovely visitors whom we chatted to this Summer. They have forwarded seed collected from their own veg garden, a real treat; Pea Beans and Black Runners ('Churchfield').

I love this planning stage, so much to choose from, always difficult to stop marking the little veg catalogues with an asterisk and not buy too much!

Working in the plots this week, we cleared all of our Beans away for the compost and found the most bright pink Beans, think Firestorm or Stardust. Amazing colour.

We are still cropping Carrot, Beet, Salad, Pak Choi, Rocket and of course fruit, mainly Apples and Pears.

The light and warmth this week have been gorgeous and have allowed for a late sowing or two and some planting out. The soil is perfectly warm.

 Lots to see in the gardens before we close. Autumnal colours everywhere, we spotted these amazing black tree peony seeds bursting from their pod and a Euonymus which looks just delightful in late afternoon dappled light.

 I also love the brash Gunnera manicata, in your face, no hiding from it, it towers above everything else and gives such structure. I caught these leaves looking mottled with yellow, hanging out in the Japanese garden.

Nature : the right choice

A year ago I completed my WRAGS training and began my new life working as a Gardener, that is continuing to garden but being paid for it! Imagine that, being paid to do something I enjoy. I have since been a member of the garden team at Heale gardens and have found other gardens to tend to as well.

This week was a reminder of why I never returned to a desk, post children, and the enormous peace that comes from being outside (except when the machines are going full tilt).

I spent time with a client weeding, cutting back and chatting about her need to make the garden smaller, easier and less maintenance as she grows older and finds the size of the garden too much.

I volunteered at Horatio's garden at the Hospital here and spent time seeing how the garden is evolving and the charity are expanding with even more gardens in more Hospitals, giving patients space to breathe.

At Heale, I was lucky enough to break free of the veg garden for a bit (not that the veg garden is a chore to be in) and cut Willow in the Japanese garden. You have to get in the river for some of the work, pruning Wisteria and cutting Watercress and sending it downstream. Getting in the river and mucking about on a fine Autumn day. Stuff of stories. Of course not all days in the garden are as glorious, cold wet days can be never ending, muddy days even worse so, but a day or two now and again where the sun shines ain't half bad.

We received a rather large bulb order, checked and stored ready for the time we need to plant.

I did do some cropping, our first Leeks 'Little Nipper' and the last of the Courgettes and Beans. Some Salad and Pak Choi. 

The Pak Choi has been great, a purple leafed variety, romping away under fleece. Plus our Aubergines are almost there, a first time growing for me so very pleased with some of them.

The rest of the gardens continues to flourish in the late Autumn sun.

Glorious metallic heads of the Miscanthus coming through and the late flowering Lavandula x intermedia 'Vera' contrasting with Stipa gigantea (my morning view from our bothy).