SEPTEMBER 2025

Welcome to autumn, and what looks to be a damp and rainy week ahead. The last few weeks have seen plenty of emergency watering, just enough to keep everything growing through the summer; however, on a positive note it has also meant the sheer luxury of not having to mow for several weeks.

The warmth has brought the benefit of a rolling canvas of vibrant flowers: dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, echinacea, calendulas, gaura/oenothera, roses, salvias, pelargoniums, and more. Continual dead-heading, the removal of old flower heads, has allowed these plants to keep producing flowers for cutting and display throughout the summer and now into autumn.

It has been noticeable this year how quickly different crops have reached maturity. All the potatoes have now been harvested as well as bean crops, tomatoes and raspberries. The figs and apples have set good crops this year and have ripened much earlier along with crops such as the peaches and nectarines. Only the pears seem to be stubbornly hanging back, but they should be ripe shortly. 

This early harvest has allowed a good opportunity to clean through the greenhouse ready for bringing the tender plants in from outdoors.

The Vegetable Garden is constantly changing as crops are rotated round, many are removed/harvested, and we sow batches of crops such as salads, lettuce, beetroots, and carrots through the summer to give a more balanced spread for harvesting. It also ensures that the planting beds remain covered in crops for much of the year preventing water and nutrient loss from the soil.

At this time of year we begin the box cutting (Buxus sempervirens), which in turn kicks off the season of topiary and garden hedge cutting as we give some attention to the structural elements in the garden.

The cutting is often most easily done after/during a rain shower due to the moisture preventing the blades from sticking. Cutting should be avoided when very hot and sunny as the newly exposed leaves and stems can be scorched by the sun turning the box brown! Not a very attractive end result.

As we move through September the other areas of topiary will be cut and hopefully all the areas will be completed by the end of the month.

September also sees the start of our new year of garden courses, and we begin this year with Boo teaching the art of cut flowers, Friday 26th September.

Students will be able to use the flowers and foliage from the garden to construct their own displays and creations. It’s a wonderful time of year for a variety of flowers so there’ll be plenty of choice to pick from with Boo as your guide.