Pyracantha
I have such mixed feelings about autumn.
The colours in the garden are superb, but I hate to see it decay.
It’s good to have new and different projects to move on to, but I so miss the warmth of those long summer days. It was almost dark by 7.15 last night, so I can deny the inevitable no longer.
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Album’
The same plant in early summer
This geranium has been a real winner.
Beautiful white flowers from May onwards, with deep pink calyces, and now in autumn the leaves have taken on rich red and orange tints. Best of all it grows anywhere, even in deep shade.
Cornus kousa “Satomi’
Rose Hips
For the past few days I’ve been back up on the bank. Ground elder shows no mercy. A single day of rain was all it took..
But it’s not quite done yet. There is one more project I want to tackle this year.
The far end of the bank, where it borders the woodland, has been like this all summer long.
Getting it cleared will give me space to relocate some of the taller perennials taking over elsewhere.
(Gulp.)
What fantastic Pyracantha berries you have, your birds will be happy this winter! Clearing an area is hard work but so rewarding when it’s done, then comes the best bit, sitting down with the books and catalogues and deciding which plants you are going to use.
There are a lot of berries around this year. Hard winter? Hope not!
We’re starting to think about clearing bits of the garden too, now that the summer is behind us. It’ll look so much better next year, but starting can be so overwhelming can’t it?
It certainly can. The meagre bit I’ve done today suggests it will take a while!
I think of this period as being a gentle winding down towards the fallow winter months. It would be impossible for me to keep up the relentless summer jobs in the garden all year round. When spring re-emerges it will be possible to once again tackle the jobs with a more energised feeling after the enforced break.
Much as I love gardening it is good to take a break from it. Plus there is the anticipation of what will emerge and the hope that work done this year will be suitably rewarded.
Several large beds have been cleared in our garden – very therapeutic!
It is, and good exercise too. I just wish my knees didn’t ache so much tonight!
Ground elder, aaargh. Its called Bishops weed up here, no idea why. I do know I cant get rid of it.
Dreadful stuff. If we keep digging it out it will give up eventually. Won’t it?
Gulp indeed – that looks like serious work.
Your Geranium looks very like one I have which was sold to me as ‘evergreen’. Hmmm. It just goes the colours you’ve shown and then limp in the frost so I cut it all back. I haven’t really got the room for it and it’s trying to take over. Lovely smell when you hack it back though!
Could it work in your shade? I was hoping to divide it and get it growing in the wood, where little else will survive.
Jobs in the garden are never finished, it’s an ongoing process, especially if you have ground elder. Your geranium is really pretty, I have a similar one in my garden but I’m unsure of its name, it just seems to flower its socks off all year.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the ground elder didn’t invade other plants. Often the only solution is to dig the whole lot out.
true, unfortunately and you have to keep digging for a while or else it will return with many friends:) I tried bio mulch fleece once and got good results.
That’s certainly true. They pop back up overnight it seems! I shall have to keep on top of it from now on.
You certainly have your work cut out Jessica! Your garden wouldn’t be one for the fainthearted!!! Lovely autumn colours. x
No, it’s an awful lot of work. Wonder if I would have taken it on had I known…
Need to shift my ample backside!
Not so ample these days!
Not so ample agree – more lazy! lol!
When it’s cold, damp and windy my motivation for gardening is zero. Laziness rules!
Dark here by 7.30 last night too 🙁
Gorgeous berries and hips- are you going to make jelly?
I don’t think there’s enough hips, sadly. I’ll just enjoy looking at them instead.
Lovely photos. So clear. Your camera is an ace, as is the camera lady.
And the camera chappy. Two of mine, rest are his! Thanks Vera.
I know what you mean about autumn. I don’t much like the decay either, but there are some nice aspects of the season too. Good luck with that border.
It’s only in recent years that I’ve appreciated the change in seasons. It’s nice to have a rest, get a chance to indulge in indoor pursuits and just get warm and cosy!
I feel the same about Autumn, it’s lovely to see the bright colours but sad that summer is over and a long time until the lighter and warmer evenings.
Sarah x
After the New Year it starts to get better for me, when you can see the evenings getting longer again and the snowdrops start to appear!
No rest for the gardener . . . autumn is lovely, such rich colours and that unmistakeable scent of damp and *shhhh* decay – but life for some is retreating underground to emerge fresh and green next year.
Bigger and better too..
Love your photos. Geranium mac. Is a mainstay for me too. Very versatile and forgiving too.
I’ve been thinking on your slope with chicken wire under it. Have you tried
A digging fork to loosen the soil through the wire mesh? I have had luck loosening hard soils and pulling weeds this way. The thought of the keyhole surgery you described before made my hands hurt just visualizing it. You have made such great progress thus far, I have faith you will persevere this last leg of the project!
I do use one on the flatter sections. The chicken wire is mainly on the steeper face of the slope, where I can’t afford to disturb the soil too much, but I did find a hand version which works well: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Garten-LU2B-Fixed-Hand-Flower/dp/B001U89YC6. It just about reaches the roots of the ground elder, but only just.
Thankfully, there is no wire at the top end of the bank, so ‘all’ I have to contend with is the slope! I have filled eight dustbin liners today and had to drag them up the hill, one step forward, two back!
That does look like a well made tool. That is a lot of hauling up hill. You’ll get it squared away by and by. Soon enough you’ll be stuck indoors. I’d rather be hauling weeds than dusting,hoovering and such.
You and me both!
I enjoyed the read. Autumn is one of my favorite times of year here because it’s cooler than our summers and some things make a lovely come back before it’s all said and done. And I can at last get outside and get some things done without risking a heat stroke. And the tidier look after summer’s reckless abandon is nice. Blessings, Natalie
Yes, I can understand that!
Good luck with the Ground Elder and if you succeed – let the rest of us know how you did it {grin}.
Tagetes Minuta is meant to kill ground elder by excreting something from its roots – I tried it last year and had total failure with seed germination.
(WordPress won’t let me log in, sorry if this comment doesn’t link back properly)
On the vertical sections of the bank, where nibbling from pheasants etc. is less likely, I’m going to try the stuff you paint on the leaves. Not heard of the Tagetes idea before. Intriguing.
Here you go:-
http://wellywoman.wordpress.com/tag/tagetes-minuta/
http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_1222d_tagetes_minuta_seeds
I must have another try next year.
Very interesting. I presume it can only be used in beds that need clearing completely, otherwise might it damage other ornamentals? It could certainly smother them given the height. When we removed 30 or so trees from the bank, the ground elder and bindweed came up instead. I will certainly try growing tagetes for the next area we clear. Thanks Bilbo.
I’m always sad to see the summer end; no more light evenings, the swallows have gone etc, but the autumn colours in sunlight (when there is some) are beautiful. Good luck with clearing the border – I look forward to seeing the ‘after’ photo now I’ve seen the ‘before’!
I always wish I could go too when the swallows leave.
The bank is going to be slow progress. Stupidly I thought I’d have it all done by the end of the weekend. Ha! Today I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Lovely photo of your cottage nestling under the bank.
I do love autumn; the changing colours, making soups, picking blackberries, hearty casseroles, a crispness in the air…have I sold it to you yet ? I could go on……
I feel the cold, autumn tells me winter is coming. I get round it by cocooning to some extent and keeping busy. Soups and hearty casseroles do help, but I should really live somewhere warmer!
I feel the heat ! I’m turning into my mother who says she starts to come alive in Autumn ! Seeing her today.
( Funny I coped with the heat when living abroad but here a very very hot day makes me irritable. But I did enjoy this summer – though not the very very hot days ! )
I did resort to siesta hours this summer, haven’t done that for a while! Have a good day.
Lovely photos, from both you and the camera chappy, and good to read how you are getting on. I was surprised though, that you had not finished the bank yet – come, come, you must be slacking….. 😉 … teehee…. I do know though, that if you and camera chappy’s heart and soul are here then all the hard work will be deepening the roots you have for the place.
I shall redouble my efforts accordingly 😉
It gives you a real sense of belonging, does it not?
It’s raining today, so no lying by the pool! Still, it gives me a chance to catch up on some blogs. I think we will need the heating on when we get home!
Hi Anne!
I’ve been thinking of you, and hoping you’re having a good time. Sounds like it… 🙂
I think it is the darker evenings that bother me about this time of year, I can cope with cooler weather but the shorter days I don’t like so much. You have some lovely red berries to feed the birds over the next fewweeks:)
It never takes them long to polish the lot off though does it? The blackbirds are enjoying the blackberries for sure.
My ENTIRE backyard gardens look like your last picture….and worse. (We were gone just too much this summer, and am I ever going to pay for it!!!!) I’ve called in reenforcements….and we’re slowing tackling it. You are my hero, you know??? I need to continue to see all your before and after photos. Gotta go now….and pick the zucchini that is growing up (and over!) the mock orange bush.
In two days I have done just three square yards, and generated ten dustbin liners worth of rubbish!
I have bits at our Beach cottage garden that look like this. I look forward to the winter so I can get on top of the clearing – usually the black polythene comes out then to cover the patch until I can get it planted up again with the things I want. Good luck.
It’s amazing how quickly the weedlings come back..
My pyracantha berries are still quite small and green this year, we’re way behind you. I don’t envy you the task of clearing the end of the bank… good luck with that! Julie c
It’s very hard work, but day off today – it’s raining! Thanks Julie.
That is a lot of work!!
But your garden does look pretty 🙂
Thanks Cherie. It’s hard work too, lots of docks and brambles that go down deep 🙁
Don’t talk to me about ground elder – the bain of my life. Although the garden is now in its downward spiral there is still a certain beauty in decay (at least that’s what I tell myself when I look in the mirror)!!!
I only wish I too could rejuvenate, with teenage freshness, when next Spring comes around!
Ground elder is a nightmare isn’t it, I’ve had to move every rock in my rockery to try and get shut and yet still it comes!!! Good luck with that border. Some lovely Autumn pics there.xxxx
It’s a berluddy nightmare, especially if you want to garden organically.
Hope you had a good holiday!
Bloomin ‘eck Jessica, no wonder you were feeling a little weary about battling the weeds! But what a wonderful area to reclaim for prettier things. I love that geranium too, though the smell of the leaves takes some getting used to. Mine are currently languishing in pots wondering when I am going to get round to planting them…
I know. It’s dire isn’t it. And all the while I am digging it, the weeds are catching up elsewhere.
It will look great when it’s done though, and will give me space to relocate some ‘problem’ plants from elsewhere. But for now, il pleut. Game on hold.
I have mixed feelings too when we have the rubbish wet days but then I look at the plants that grow through the rain and grey days and I think this season has a lot to offer. I love seeing the changes. It is definitely a busy time though, people think ‘that’s it, it’s all over’ but there’s soo much to do! The hardest part is the nights drawing in and not having the same amount of time to potter. It looks absolutely idyllic where you live. What a wonderful lifestyle 🙂
I think autumn is one of the busiest times in the garden! In an ideal world I’d get everything moved that needs moving, so it will come up in the right place next Spring. Whether I’ll achieve it this year is another matter.
For a number of reasons, it’s not as idyllic as I hoped it would be, but is anywhere? Thanks Anna.