12th March 2007

Well - a quiet time in the garden? Thus no entries?

No. Just ... gardened out, really. Generally by the end of each summer I am ready to get out the drum of kerosene, flick a match, and walk away. It has been months of watering, months of weeding, months of pushing my way through jungles, and, dammit, once again starting up the mulching round.

I've really had enough. To some extent I've just let the garden go over the late summer, keeping up the watering and that's it. But now, of course, the weeds have taken hold and I berate myself for being so slack.

So now it is back to the autumn slog of putting the garden to bed for winter. And autumn is here. Many of the meadow saffron have flowered, the trees are turning, and mornings have that chill about them. I've been grudgingly getting back into the swing of it by clearing out a patch here, a patch there, spreading out compost, and then layering well down with pea straw.

Today I cleared out the poppy and cosmos field - my lord those plants can get big! - and the weeds among them!! It is clear. Almost. And once I have recovered I will compost the patch, spread out yet more straw, and let it sleep until next spring when I'll scatter wild flower seed again -that patch really wa successful this past season (and I just know I am going to have poppies popping up everywhere over the next few years ...).

The tomatoes have been an almost complete failure - I think this is somehow connected to the fungus which has attacked the roses. Not been a good year - very humid over summer. The roses however, once I stopped spraying them, have largely outgrown the fungus. It may well attack again next year, but I hope they'll be strong enough and robust enough to outpace it completely.

The woodland is looking terrific - the trees are growing, both the robinias and the silver birches. The Japanese anemones are out and drifting in the wind. The man ferns survived the worst of the heat and wind.

The shrubberies in various parts of the garden have shrubbed nicely, and next year should look splendid.

The mop-top robinias are gorgeous, and I will get some more this winter.

I've had Mr Rat living in the front garden all summer. He's been sweet - a huge fawn and cream brown rat living off whatever the pea straw has produced. He lasted all summer, then last week decided to investigate the back of the house ... and Jack the Cat caught him and hauled him inside screaming one night about midnight.

Mr Rat didn't survive the experience, and very nearly neither did I.

Overall the garden has done very very well. I'm very happy with it.

Back to the weeding ... you may not see me again for a while ...