Broaden your Borders (The Lazy Way)

Our autumn border needs expanding - as always - we are inclined to overplant and are always looking for somewhere to squeeze a few new plants in. Last year we made it longer - it's a snakey S shape, but this year we decided it's too narrow in places so we have expanded the lazy, no dig way.

 

You can either leave the exising turf as is, or slice off with a spade and turn over - the less you disturb the soil, the better. See here for some wonderful advice and information on no dig gardening as pioneered by Charles Dowding.

We then simply cover the ground with cardboard, then grit (our soil is heavy), then grass cuttings, then our own compost. Leave over the winter to break down and plant into in the spring, although I am inclined to not break through the card layer by only planting my own annual plugs in the first year, to prevent any grass, still trying to grow, from coming through.

 Will post an update in the spring - promise!

Winter's Closing In

The calm before the cold spell. I'm making the most of these last few days of truly autumnal weather before the forecasted artic blast sets in. Have wikipediaed Autumn leaf colour - quite fascinating.

Autumn Part 2

A busy week:

 

Monday - beautiful weather, raked the leaves that have fallen so far although there are lots more yet to fall...emptied last year's leaf mould bin into old sacks (to make room for this year's leaves) and brought into the tunnel to finish rotting down - it makes great seed compost - 3 parts sieved leaf mould, 1 part sharp sand and a dose of fish, blood and bone. Cleared the polytunnel and started to clear all the pots from this year's plants, threw some out, potted some on. Then cleared the pea and bean bed...have decided to use it as a propagation bed for hardwood cuttings as the beds are raised, well drained and sheltered.

 

 

Euonymus alatus - superb autumn colour.

 

 

Tuesday - cleared some annuals from the raised beds, weeded and potted up some self sowers (thalictrum, verbena, eryngium). Planted out sweet williams and cornflowers. Picked hydrangea heads to dry for Christmas. 

 

 

Wednesday - weather horrendous so stayed indoors and made my lavender pouches and velvet pumpkins for Autumn Craft Fair at the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday - Roads flooded, garden flooded but luckily we are on a slope so it eventually runs on down the hill - that's something I've learnt with making new beds - if you dig the turf off or use a turf removing machine and then add grit and compost, the bed still lies lower than the surrounding ground which creates a sump. My new lazy way of no digging - just put down cardboard, full layer of grit, grass cuttings and then compost - do this in the autumn and leave it to settle in and then plant up in the spring - works a treat...lovely jubbly! Tidied out the byre which we use as our garden shed but all summer long, everything just gets chucked in until you can hardly get in the door - I keep walking in and smiling now - it's amazing what a good redd out can do for you...I can find everything now!

 

Thursday evening I went to an Irish Garden Plant Society lecture by Martin Walsh on "African Plants for an Irish Garden" in Antrim Old Courthouse. What a fantastic talk - beautiful slides from the Drakensburg Mountains - so inspirational - lots of plants that suit our climate and soil - agapanthus, crocosmia, kniphofia, river lilies - I have a new plant wish list!

 

Friday - In the garden early to cut flowers for weekend orders - I will make this the last flower orders of the season as, although I still have quite alot of dahlias, scabious and snapdragons, I'm short on foliage and I can't rely on the autumn gales staying away. Had a lovely walk around a friend's garden at the old manse a few fields away - such a contrast from ours - lots of mature trees and beautiful conifers with a tropical feel - palms, gunnera, olive trees and lots more. The garden is far more sheltered than ours and I came away with armfuls of plants to propagate - boulevard, cryptomeria, garria elliptica, flowering ivy. Had a late night getting ready for the Autumn Fair tomorrow. Looking forward to a glass of wine and pjs after the fair!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Jobs in the Garden

I have been rambling as per usual without really giving any great garden advice so I thought that I would share with you some useful tasks "to be getting on with" as Monty tells us each week!

 

In the veg garden

 

If you have any squashes or pumpkins left in the garden,  these can be harvested and ideally moved to the greenhouse to finish ripening and harden their skins. Don't forget when using them that the seeds can be washed and dried to use in salads or as snacks.

 

Finish planting onion sets and stake your brussel sprouts ready for the autumn gales (which we hopefully won't get!). If you have any space in your greenhouse, you can plant some peas to use the delicious shoots in salads and stir fries - I did this last year with some "out of date" Kelvedon Wonder peas and they produced delicious shoots which I harvested about three times from each plant throughout the winter - we then had a hot, sunny spell in March and the peas suddenly shot up and flowered - we had early peas by accident! I'm trying it again as I know at least I'll have the shoots to eat - shake the plants gently or use a soft paintbrush when flowering to help pollinate - even better, encourage insects to come in by planting attractive plants such as feverfew. 

 

 

In the flower garden

 

With such lovely weather recently, it's too soon to start clearing your beds but if your perennials have become congested, some of them can be divided now such as hostas and daylilies - others are best left until spring. See here for more info.

 

There is still time to plant bulbs for lovely spring displays - bulbs are now reduced in many outlets but just check, by giving a gentle squeeze, to make sure that they are still firm before buying. Crocus and the smaller narcissus are easily planted around the front of your borders - just mark them to leave undisturbed when tidying your beds throughout late winter - no sooner if you can bare to hold off - tidy, bare beds are no use to wildlife - that's my excuse anyway!

Happy Gardening! x

We plough the fields

It's harvest time - I love the autumn colours - as the leaves turn and the sun lowers in the sky, there's a completely different atmosphere in the garden...the light changes and there's a certain sense of tranquility in the garden. We don't have to work at such a frantic pace which leaves us time to stop and stare.

 

Of course I'm a pathetic blogger as my camera needs recharging and I just don't enjoy taking photos with an iphone. I do however enjoying messing around with picasa and have recently discovered the 1960s button - haven't yet applied it to any portraits but it reminds me, I suppose, of family photos from my childhood (although i wasn't born until 1970)! 

 

Promise more pics of the garden soon - must try harder! x

Nature's Bounty

 

Am feeling rather Hugh F-Sy....gathering in the fruits of our labour despite the terrible weather this summer. Today we lifted the rested of the potatoes - we had blight for the first time this year but I think it was widespread this year - we had cut the tops off and burnt them a while ago but the whole patch was overgrown with weeds and I just couldn't face it. We seem to have lost about a third of the whole crop but the rest are fine so tonight my lovely hubby made stew with our own carrots, parsnips, potatoes and onions (don't tell the kids...we puree the onions first so they don't notice)!

 

We also tried our jerusalem artichokes for the first time (have never grown them before.....really easy!)...sliced raw - they have a taste of their own......smoky, nutty   and the texture of water chestnuts. Have been perusing recipes from River Cottage Everyday & Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook - some great ideas.

 

I also made blackberry jam this evening and, having gathered bucket loads of rosehips, mostly to preserve for floral decorations, I am going to try rosehip syrup tomorrow - will let you know how I get on!   

September Flowers

I can't believe September has slipped for another year, we are passed the Autumn equinox and are heading towards the winter solstice. I'm happy for the garden to wind down as it gives us time to reflect on what needs changing and plan new beds....always expanding....that's the thing with gardening - it's addictive and you always want more. We are planning a huge prairie border for next year but more about that in another post!

September was rather mixed weather wise - typical autumn weather....gales (from the north!), showers and sunshine but the flowers have managed to keep going. The cosmos and dahlias are still flowering their hearts out and the catmint must excel all others for stamina & endurance - no matter how much I pick, it keeps on going - I love it!

 

New blooms for September include the lovely kaffir lilies which love our heavy moist clay and the asters are also a success with "Little Carlow" my favourite - disease free, really floriferous and each stem is like a bouquet in itself. As an added bonus the wild bees and hoverflies love it...on a sunny, calm day, it is literally alive with humming and buzzing! In a vase, the little flowers open and close which I love....they have a fantastic vase life. In our rich soil, they grow rather tall so it helps to give them the "Chelsea chop" - in May, reduce their height by half - this will help them stand straight in the autumn winds and they flower slightly later which helps when there is less available to pick.