Although at times it seems reluctant to do so, summer is losing its grip as autumn nudges its way forward. The autumn paintbrush is now out.
Temperatures on the whole were fairly mild, although early Sunday morning the temperature dropped, giving us a taste of what is to come.
Darkness seems to be galloping in faster than we would like, shutting us indoors earlier.
We have stayed local this week, so there are no more stamps for Ruby.
Home Garden
I finished the top dressing of the new perennial borders. These have filled out more than I was expecting in a relatively short time. Now I just hope that the plants will make it through the winter.
Thoughts will now turn to the area at the side of the house, which has now been cleared.
Behind the greenhouse, the brassicas in tubs and the raised bed are growing well and the garlic that I planted in troughs is shooting.
One bonus last week was a small harvest of tomatoes from a weed. Some tomato seedlings had popped up in the garden borders. I left one that wouldn’t cause a problem and let it grow, and it has gone on to produce clusters of small tomatoes.
Spent compost from the greenhouse had been tipped onto the beds, which obviously contained seeds from tomatoes that had fallen from the plants.
At the Allotment
The clear-up continues.
Although the ground is still extremely dry, the little rain that we have had has triggered weed growth. Weeds are starting to pop up on beds that have been cleared.
Where possible, once the earth has been turned over, the beds are being covered with weed control fabric to keep any new growth under control.
We are still managing to collect a modest harvest from the allotment and the garden greenhouse.
Out and About
Temple Newsam
We have been avoiding the walled garden at Temple Newsam as a large area had been treated with weedkiller, which we didn’t want Ruby being anywhere near.
Last week we decided to check out what was happening. A large area of grass has been killed off and two gardeners were busy sowing grass seed. It was quite a huge job to hand-sow such a large area.
Chatting to one of the gardeners, she told us that they were planning to restore the area to its original design and create beds once the grass had grown.
There were plenty of large pumpkins in the new pumpkin patch. I wonder what their plans are for them.
More work was also being carried out on the banks of the lake. This involved some serious digging.
Elsewhere, some trees are definitely starting to show their autumn tints.
Nostell
The colour palette was also subtly changing through the parkland at Nostell.
You may remember that one of the large trees had to suffer some serious ‘pruning’. I was pleased to see that it was sprouting new growth.
Another sign that autumn is getting the upper hand is the impressive clumps of fungi growing on dead tree stumps.
Finally
Autum is definitely beginning to make its presence felt now. The garden and allotment are changing, the trees are starting to put on their autumn colours and the days are getting shorter. There is still plenty to do before winter arrives, although I suspect the list of gardening jobs will never really come to an end.
Don’t forget to check out Martyn’s diary page
Here you can see what has been happening on our trail camera
As always until next time stay safe and stay well
