September already

I cannot believe we are already into September!

It seems like only a couple of months ago I was writing my Blog for May.

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but we have had quite a hot and dry year to date. This has truly accelerated the growth rates and therefore the ‘going to seed’ of lots of our plants.

We have managed to remain relatively colourful due to our amazing waterways of the River Lark and the Culford stream.

Now don’t get me wrong, we have had to water occasionally but only when really necessary. We do our utmost to conserve water whilst freely admitting we are not yet a dry garden. So, ensure your water butts are well maintained and ready to receive what little rain we do hopefully get in the near future.

On the subject of water, but without getting into a debate, I personally use grey water in my own garden at home and have done for 10 years now. My soil is still healthy and so are my plants. I am conscious of course about which soaps I use and the ratios within the water too.

So please, before you are mad enough to take my advice, have a read up on the pros and cons of what, when and how to use grey water.

I have played and experimented myself to a point I am happy to do so. But I would hate to be to blame if somebody tried to water a pot plant with a bottle of washing up liquid. (Disclaimer: I am not responsible!)

Now is the time of year that things begin to slow down a little; of course we are still on the constant hunt for weeds, but we are now dead heading and collecting seed as we go.

But most importantly, we are now prepping for the arrival of our autumn bulbs, with our main contender being colchicums.

In fact, we have just seen the arrival of our first: Colchicum speciosum ‘Paul Furse Early’, spotted by our good friends Steve and Val Keeble.

Publicity time… On 10 September, we will be hosting our other good friends in the shape of Kit Grey-Wilson and Rod and Jane Leeds as they hold a Colchicum Day here at Fullers Mill Garden, where they will be selling their wares and all too happy to talk about all things ‘colchicum’ (they will love me for that last part).

Please do come along and see our colchicums for yourself in the upcoming weeks, as I suspect that with this year’s weather and our ever-worsening climate (I so dislike the heat), these too will succumb to the temperature and dry soils, so get here quick!

If you have been to the gardens recently, thank you. You may have seen small green lantern-looking devices suspended in some areas of the garden. These are box tree moth pheromone traps for (you guessed it) the trapping of box tree moths!

We are currently trialling this method, supplemented with the application of nematodes to hopefully slow or even more hopefully stop the effects of these little blighters from further decimating our Buxus Balls!

Only time will tell, and hopefully next year we will have some positive results.

So, to summarise the eclectic ramblings of a ‘once upon a time gardener’:

• Time is cruel
• Summer is hot
• Don’t waste water (but don’t kill plants)
• Weeding is constant
• Collect seeds
• Colchicums are pretty – come and see for yourself
• Box tree moths are bad (but also pretty).