September’s Garden Update

As John Keats put it in his poem To Autumn we are now in the “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” and our harvesting continues apace in the gardens with the onions, leeks, garlic, cabbages, potatoes and courgettes all being stored, preserved, sold or eaten in varying quantities.  We have had a glut of beans this year and several visitors have enquired as to why there are so many left on the frames – rest assured we are trying to harvest as many as possible every day and the chef is thinking up every more creative ways to cook and preserve them.  

There is still colour in the garden to see with Rudbeckia, Asters, Dahlias, Japanese Anemones and the Shade Garden all still looking lovely.  As we are continuing to make the garden more wildlife friendly, we are mindful that although there is tidying to do, we also need to hold back on our secateurs as some plants do “die well” and we prefer to leave these alongside our grasses until the spring as the seedheads not only provide shelter and food for wildlife they also look good in the winter garden. 

We have a variety of fruit and vegetables from the garden on sale outside the Garden Ticket Kiosk and at the Apple Shed, you can be sure to find runner beans there over the next few weeks alongside the last of the plums, and if you are lucky some peaches!  Our apple harvest has been particularly good this year and, as always, we are happy for visitors to pick up any windfalls and take them home (or eat them here) as part of an Autumn picnic in the Grounds.  

This is the time when the Garden Team start to make changes to the garden so you can enjoy it even more.  We have received some great feedback this season and want to ensure that we continue to improve and inspire even more gardeners over the coming years.   

Tasks for us include getting our veg beds mulched and “put to bed” ready for next year and to ensure that the soil is protected over winter.  Our spring bulbs will be planted in the borders and later in the season, we will be planting our tulip bulbs into their border and into pots.  Our poor Groundsman, Mark, will start the task of leaf collecting to keep the lawns healthy and the leaf mould that is created gets added to our own compost mixes.  

Autumn is a lovely time in the garden – the changing light makes everything look so beautiful and there is still much to appreciate so please do visit us and if you want to take a piece of the Autumn garden home with you there are still a few spaces available on our Autumn Wreath or Vase Arrangement Workshop, that takes place on Saturday the 12th of October.  

Hope to see you soon, thank you from all the Garden Team for the lovely comments.