Ramble, bramble, bimble thoughts.

After an early start to the day thanks to a crying baby and exploding nappy I found myself out in the garden with a cuppa as the sun rose and the day started. Many words could be used to describe the wonder of a new morning at the point it breaks into light, invigorating, awe-inspiring, tranquil but I'll settle for cold.
I thought I'd been out in the gardens enough recently to have starting my hardening off for the winter but this morning really caught me unawares, I mean where did that come from? Don't get me wrong I'm all for a proper winter and cold snap, it's good for zapping pests and disease and setting the seasonal clock of the garden and okay maybe we'll lose a couple of plants we rather liked but thought we'd risk outside but there's a beauty about a proper winter.
The thing I realised as I stood shivering with my tea was it wasn't even that cold. There was no frost on the ground, the grapes are still fine and the the indoor plants I have out for summer (mainly Money plants Crassula and Bird of paradise Strelitzia) were still alive, though I am now aware I need to bring them in. The only real cold was in me and the suddenness of it the temperature drop, Thursday morning was wonderful, a little cold maybe but enjoyable to be out in all the same but by Friday morn you really felt it nipping at you first thing. The days are still being very Autumnal and a general pace of work easily keeps me warm enough so I haven't had chance to prepare but who knows how quickly Autumn will now drift into Winter.

I've never been great with accurate measurements, I honestly don't care whether it was 3C this morning or that during the day it'll be around 13C what I want to know is what level of clothing is it going to be. Chatting to a friend about cooking the other day and he remarked how he measured ingredients by rough visual size, "use two fists worth of peanuts and a big toe amount of ginger" for instance. That's what I'd like as a way of measuring the weather, "it's light fleece and boots today" or "looks as if it's going to be a loose knit hat day" of course I'm well aware that the main problem with this is the varying levels of personal hardiness out there.
You can generally go out any day and see a full spectrum of attire, just sat here now I'm able to watch people as they pass my window wearing anything from a jumper right up to fleece, hat and gloves (and trousers obviously). I have a sneaky suspicion though that when I next see the postie he'll be wearing shorts apparently oblivious to the temperature and the fact that everyone is staring in awe and disbelieve.
My dad always seemed to miss Winter off his seasonal clothing list too, generally shorts or light trousers for most the year from what I can remember and in the depths of Winter he would be in Autumn gear and then the first into Spring cloths the following year. Crazy but also something to aspire too, I'll garden though most weathers but a fair few times in bad weather I've get through with determination rather than indifference.

Saying that it was nice to feel the cold this morning, a bit like welcoming a friend you haven't seen all year or rediscovering a happy memory. There can be a real enjoyment when out at in the nip of Winter (I know it may seem early to be talking of Winter but with the cold coming it pays to think ahead), having to work to keep warm and get the blood flowing is amazingly something I miss at the other times of the year.
There are garden advantages to this early drop in temperature to, not only will it kick start the gardener into preparing for the coming time with frost protection and moving of pots but it'll also do wonders for some of the plants. My Callicarpa which I've raved about all year is looking splendid, the leaves are a vibrant pinky red and the berries seem like purple suns glowing away against the dark earth below. The Verbenas are still flowering and the vines are dropping their leaves by the armful which is not only good for the compost but also means I can see and get to the grapes much easier; plus more light now gets through. Hopefully there will be a few dead pests around too and the weeds will be slowing down their assault on the garden.

So if you find yourself unexpectedly up and out of bed hours before you need to, grab a cuppa and head out in the garden for a muse it'll set you up for the day and who knows what rambling thoughts you might have.

It's been a while.

So first blog post for a while and boy what a while. Two weeks ago today we had our baby girl arrive at 2.48 in the morning and she's now sleepily gurgling and grumbling away next to me (which is must nicer than the loud grumbling she does when awake sometimes).
As all new parents know there's a certain element of restlessness for a while after the birth especially at night and mainly with the adults. Up every three hours for a feed, getting baby to sleep then trying to get asleep oneself before they awaken once more. Sadly this week has also seen my wife get a cold so Orla and I have taken to sleeping downstairs which has actually worked really well, we all get a decent sleep and the feeds are maintained fine with expressed milk.
You may be wondering why I'm telling you this? After all this is meant to be a gardening blog and no matter how joyful a new baby is it doesn't do to ramble on about them for ever and miss the plant bit. Well, as with any change in the way you view life it can lead to how you start looking at everything, including gardening.

For the first seven days after birth I took a much enjoyed and needed break from work and with no gardens to visit and only the occasional jaunt out into our own it meant I was on a little bit of a garden fast, or so I thought. As it is gardens pop up everywhere and with a little work you'll find you can still garden even if you never get as far as entering one.
My note book of sketches and ideas has blossomed, it's always on me with a pen to hand so any thoughts or designs I've had I've been able to jot down and then elaborate on. Normally I just mull them over for a while whilst working then the vast majority I let go, but sitting with a sleeping baby in the crook of one arm limits ones maneuverability down to the other arm.
The house plants have had a revisit and at over fifty that's been quite a job, plenty of watering and dusting of leaves, starting to repot those that need doing. (Including an emergency repot when the cat knocked a couple over last night, just before bed!) It was embarrassing the state of some, lost into corners, just part of the background, dusty and on a couple of occasions in much need of new compost and love.
The few times I've been out in the garden with Orla, though I haven't been able to do much manual work there's still the chance to view the garden from a distance and as objectively as possible review it. We did get chance to bury her placenta though, (slightly hurriedly sadly but nothing quite attracts the cat as freshly dug earth especially when it's near something bloody) and planted a selection of Allium moly and Allium Purple Sensation above. They'll be a nice reminder next year when they appear and of course the joy of bulbs is years from now when we come to move house we can no doubt lift and take some of them with us.
However one of the biggest garden jobs I've got done since Orla arrived is working my way through the mountain of garden magazines I've never quite got round to reading. The beauty of them over a book is not only do they give you a quick fix rather than you trying to follow a storyline but they also lie flat on the page you're reading, making them a god send at three in the morning when you're rocking a baby with one hand and supporting your head with the other. I've since discovered so many new names, plants and ideas, it's almost like being back at college (in a good way).

Well as I said it's two weeks now since her birthday and I'm back at work, giving lawns their final few cuts, starting the leaf clearing and piling for the year and generally catching up with the season. I do so love Autumn, it's like Spring just in reverse and there really is a heap of jobs to get done which act as a wonderful therapy to the mind.

Between the garden and the rediscovery of coffee I'm staying reasonably sane, as sane as a new parent ever can be of course!

Such weather!

After a promising start to the the day yesterday I ended up in a garden sandwiched between the backs of buildings in a rather effective wind tunnel, it's a real lesson in patience trying to garden in heavy wind. Luckily it wasn't a big garden but it took no time at all for my piles of weeds, pruning and general garden detritus to be send dancing around the yard and swirling happily about my feet.
Having in the past seen people trying to sweep up leaves in the wind (a futile task but fun to watch) I knew better than trying to maintain too much organisation to my work but it didn't half make the task of clearing up a hectic one.

After a night listening to the blind crash back and forth as the wind picks up and howls its way through every open window I'm aware of a blustery day ahead and my thoughts wonder to what sights will greet me when I get to work.
Rain has also been introduced into the days rota now, so the lawns are out and with the Liquidamber and Birch already starting to show its Autumnal colours I'm sure the garden will be full of leaves and more than the occasional discarded branch. So with the wind at crazy madness level and the rain setting into it's horizontal driving habit I'm expecting a windswept sodden squelchy day ahead.

All this you might think will make for a miserable day outside but in fact I rather enjoy it. You see over the years I've discovered a little secret to working out in all weathers; it really is very simple though at the same time rather hard to actually do. The trick is to enjoy all the different aspects of the weather regardless of what it is doing, we really are lucky to have such a varied climate though we may not always realise it, I for one still come home grumbling about it some days.
Now for most people an ideal gardening day would be lit by calm blue skies and plenty of sun, however having spent three weeks in Malaysia where that's about all they have I can tell you that that quite quickly becomes dull and tiresome. Too much of a good thing soon makes one realise it's not that good a thing and you start to long for a bit of grey sky or rain to moisten the air.

I know I'll most likely get home after work, soaked and wind blown but at the same time feeling better for it. There's nothing quite like strong wind and rain to make one feel alive and the same works for the garden, without the heavy driving rain the moisture doesn't penetrate deeply enough into the ground, the wind helps clear rotten wood from the trees and stir up bugs from the leaf litter.
The garden feels energised after such weathered days as do I, you're aware that the body has had to work harder than usual to keep warm, the skin is flushed with blood brought to the surface and you feel like you've had the cobwebs well and truly blown away.
This is where the secret comes into it's own, all weather is ultimately enjoyable and is what makes us, us and our gardens grow the way they do, after a while you come to realise that the only bad weather is repetitive weather, the same thing day after day after day.

So go on, get outside in all climes and experience the beauty and fun of the Great British weather...

...oh and the other part to the secret is to have a hot shower and cuppa waiting for you back home.

Gardening inactively.

I've a habit. A little behavioural tick. I take forever to get ready in the mornings, needing at least an hour to simply potter before actually starting to prepare for the day. The main reason for this is I simply love standing in the garden early in the morning with a cup of tea in hand, not doing anything other than listening, watching and maybe a little pootling about. I generally don't even have breakfast till just before I leave and I love my food, it's just I'm drawn to being out there with tea and a fresh mind.
Now I could say it's because I have my best inspiration in the morning or that it helps to plan what needs doing in the garden at that time but the truth is it's just nice to be able to do nothing.
Being a self employed gardener means I get to see many different places and experience working in the variety of styles they include, whether they're rambling old cottage like or showy pristine designer gardens. However I rarely just get chance to relax in a garden without the need to feel like I'm actively doing something. Now I know that one can weed and prune while still finding it a relaxing time and many people use gardening as a means to switch off from daily stresses, but I was reminded that it's also about simply being in the garden and appreciating it's atmosphere.

At this time of year as the Summer gently folds into Autumn there's a whole list of jobs that appear, from getting your bulbs in for Spring to clearing leaves, however I'd like to add inactivity to that list. You see gardening is as much about the present state of the garden as it is about how you want it to look in the future, we garden not to get it to a finished state but because we enjoy the process. If we see it as a dance, the reason we dance is to dance not to get to the final step, in rushing about preparing for the next season or even the next week we can miss the enjoyment of the moment.
This morning when I went out it was cold and fresh, I could see my own breath for the first time this side of the year and the lawn sparkled with dew. It felt as though you were watching a moment in time as only an hour later the sun has got into it's stride again, the sky becomes a rich blue and you can feel the day busying up around you. I'm sure if I'd gone out with the thought of doing some work I'd have missed many elements of the moment and it's those elements that for me make the garden such a special place.

Autumn is a season of preparation for the coming winter, after the joys and energy of Summer it's the chance to unwind in the garden before it gets too cold for all but the hardiest garden potters. Yes there's a myriad of jobs to be done as always and the days are indeed getting shorter but a cuppa and a quiet dwell doesn't take too long and nothing quite sets you up for the day ahead as a little time out in the morning.

Just you, the garden and blissful inactivity.

How it all began.

Sat in a pub the other day with friends I found myself at a slight disadvantage. You see the topics of conversation tended to flow along what you might call stereotypical man talk i.e. drinking, woman and football, none of which I have to admit to knowing a huge amount about. When asked my view on the state of the premiership I have to admit I was rather lost for words so took the only route I felt I could and started discussing the state of the pitches.
I've only two strong viewpoints when it comes to football, one is how can you support your local team when it's full of non locals? Whilst the other is the uniformity of pitch quality. Now I'd be one of the first to admit that the job the greenkeepers do is superb and that pitches in most football grounds are of the finest quality (not including the ones you find public parks and smaller football clubs). My issue with this is that they're too good and along with the constant removal and transfer of players has made the game into an equally uniformed quality.
However I will save my rants on turf, mowing, grass and all that comes with it for a later blog, what actualy made me take notice is how plants and gardening really have permeated so fully into my life.
I do of course have other interests, currently my reading pile contains a selection of quantum theory books which I'm slowly absorbing but even there I could probably turn it round to plant life again. So this got me thinking, where did this love of gardening come from?

As far back as I can remember I'd enjoyed time out in my parents garden, there was a good sized back and tidy little front, there where always trees to climb, dens to make and a fair sized lawn to mess about on. It was the best playground I could have hope for growing up and there are photos of me all the way to when I was a toddler enjoying the delights of being in nature (this often included being caked in mud). My guess is that this is probably much the same for most children, I also remember collecting cacti but once again this seems a perfectly normal boy thing to do, so when did it change from simple child like wonder to the delight and curiosity of gardening?
My first what I would call real gardening experience would have been tending the rockery (a sadly frowned on out dated part of most gardens now). I got to weed and trim back the various plants, spread gravel over any exposed soil and water when the summers got too dry, I learnt my first plant names on that rockery (Sedums and Sempervivums mostly). Now admittedly part of this might have simply been a cunning way my parents found to distract me and keep me reasonably quiet but it also provided me with hours of enjoyment and the feeling of actually having done something to be proud of.
I soon moved from the rockery to pottering round the rest of the garden, mowing the lawn and other general jobs, though never for once consider it as a way of life, for a long time gardening was what you did in your spare time, a way of unwinding after work.

It wasn't until the fateful year of 1998 when I was failing at business school in spectacular fashion, I was lucky enough to meet up with my uncle for a quick bite to eat some days. He'd always had a fantastic garden and was a joy to be around, a true gardener who'd learnt from simple trial and error and years of pottering, at the time he had a normal day job and the garden was simply somewhere he went after work and at the weekends. I could see how much he enjoyed it and how wonderful a place it was (I still aspire to be as good as him one day), it was during one of these lunchs that he mentioned the possibility of gardening for a living and to do what I wanted to do rather than what I thought I should do.
So in the end of my final year at the business school I enrolled in a horticultural college, began a two year apprenticeship at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and entered the world of the professional gardener. Twelve years later I'm still loving it and other than a few detours on the way have lived and breathed plants ever since, the years since 98 have had a huge impact not only on what I do but also on who I am; but that's another story for another time.

Garden changes

I've always been told that the best gardens are never finished, where would the fun be in that? However they certainly have different stages of finishedness and subsequent moments of change whether that's due to complete redesigning or simply thinking that you might try Lobelia's instead of Pelagoniums next year.

Having only been in our present house since Christmas 2008 I still see the garden as on the new side, it was a large patio when we arrived with a pergola, raised beds and two sheds. We quickly set about pulling up a few of the slabs to put in a compost heap or two (now four) and a narrow bed, before we knew it we'd removed around half the patio and had three beds and a new lawn beginning to grow.
Now some people I know like to meticulously plan, scale drawings and a list of plants they want and where they'll be going; we're not like that. We're of the school that sees a new plant, buys it and then works out where it'll fit, the garden has grown around us as we've settled in and I like to feel has a natural vibe to it. What plans we have had generally consist of "it'd be nice to have a climber around here" or "it'd be nice to have a wildflower lawn" and other than that we tend to just see what happens.
What has happened is that in just 37 days we're expecting a baby girl and with any big news I like to sit in the garden with a cuppa and try to get my head round it. I can't wait to meet her and do all the stuff dads do (whatever that may be) but it's something I have no real knowledge of, a leap into the wonderful unknown, so to speak.
The house is pretty much ready, nursery finished and other than a couple of things to get for her we're set, however the garden is another matter. As a child I spent many happy days digging holes, rolling in mud, eating soil and generally just making a glorious mess. With the garden we currently have I can see how unsuitable it is for play, fine for relaxing in with wine on a hot day but not for rolling around in and crashing through beds searching for creatures.

We're going to have to plan the garden. The lawn will need enlarging, a gate put to the compost area at the back, certain plants moving out of prying hands way and many other jobs I'll see as the time approaches. You may think that for such a bimbling, pottering gardener as myself the thought of a bit of structured organisation to the garden would be abhorrent but in truth I'm rather looking forward to it. The chance to really get stuck in and give the garden an overhaul, pull up more slabs and increase the lawn space.
You see nothing quite invigorates a space as looking at it with new eyes, when I get down and imagine what it'll be like for a baby I can see all sorts of fascinating ideas. It's also all too easy to stick with what you know, the comfort of the familiar and leaving areas whether inside or out how they've always been. It can certainly be daunting to start grand projects but then sometimes we need that push and are all the more thankful for it after.
Too many times do we throw ourselves into a Spring clean of the house but how often do we do an Autumn clean of the garden? Plants that have become too large can be lifted and split, shrubs that now appear too big for a space pruned back or transplanted, lawns redefined, woodwork treated, sheds cleared out, the list is endless but thanks to our little girl at least I'm being made to start the list. I'll just have one more cup of tea first...

A hint of things to come.

Woke early this morning, the sound of seagulls fighting outside as the dustbin men crashed their way up the street. An early rise called for tea and a mooch around the garden.
I love the garden at the start of the day, before anyone else is out in theirs, the heat of the day still a while away even nature is caught between the transition of night and day activity. One can feel as though you're the only one about and the garden is truly yours to experience. Just standing on the lawn, the dew soaking into your feet and clouds still drifting by with a pinkish hue from the suns arrival a little earlier, can make you really feel part of all that's growing and breathing around you.

On a practical note it helps to see the garden at different points of the day, where shadows fall, what parts get the first rays of sun, how planting looks in a gentler light. In our garden the sun slowly creeps back and forth over the year, by winter it will never quite reach us, stopping teasingly at the fence at the bottom. Now though it happily if a little lazily pools under the grapevine in the morning, creeps around the fruit bushes at the back and peers blearily in through the kitchen window.

It's been a full year, time off on honeymoon at the start and the news of a new addition to our family to keep me occupied, new garden clients to meet and gardens to get to now, house DIY (nursery and making it a little more child friendly) and all my regular gardens to maintain has meant that time has sped away from me a little. Already nearly a week into August and I still feel like it's early Summer, in fact I'm not even sure I remembered Summer appearing, seems like only last week that we were in Spring.
So as I stood outside this morning with cup in hand imagine my surprise as I could already feel the first wisps of Autumn in the garden, the dew had a sharpness to it rather than it's usual cool refreshing nature, there was a nip in the air and I needed more than a tshirt to be outside. The day's already warming up and no doubt it'll be another beautiful summers day but I can't escape that feeling of seasonal progress. Already the columbines and poppies are waving their seed heads about, rattling as our cat pushing past them, the foxgloves are done and the grapevine is full with ripening fruit. Even though there's still plenty of warmth and energy in the days the light is slowly starting to fade, with evenings creeping in and the mornings becoming cool and crisp.

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons, it's definitely in the top four as long as it's a proper Autumn that is, so I always look forward to it as I time of harvest and activity. It's like Spring only in a different colour, while early in the year we wax lyrical over the vibrancy of the emerging green, how quickly plants sprout and grow. In Autumn it's the reds, oranges and browns that stop us in our tracks, sunlight through a Liquidambar or Boston Ivy is a sight that never fails to bring an admiring smile to my lips.
Tis the season where evergreens and leave fall comes into it's own, shrubs which for the rest of the year have been overshadowed by their more showy Summer neighbours now begin to state their piece.
Back in May I bought six Callicarpa and have since spread them amongst clients gardens and my own, having only ever seen them occasionally I've looked forward to the chance to tend them and watch how they grow.
My wife has been a little less fussed by my constant admiration of what to be fair looks like a lot of other shrubs, green leaves and little flowers, maybe not the most inspiring plant to look at through the summer whilst some hairy gardener coos over it promising rewards of jewel like berries to come. This morning I gave them a check and there are indeed bunches of green berries perched along the stems, joyfully I rub my hands together and think of the show they'll be giving in a few months time when the leaves have dropped and their vibrant purpleness shines out. Okay that may be a little over the top but it's always fun to grow something you haven't before and to be honest it can be a little hard to promise rewards of a plant you haven't actually got real first hand experience of.

So Autumn is approaching and though we may want to hang onto Summer as long as we can it's important to always be thinking of what's to come in the garden so as not to be left with a blank canvas when the season passes. Have a look around the garden and you can always see areas where you can tweak things a little, we're heading into a good time for shrub planting so while we sit and relax in the garden it's useful to have a bit of a evaluating eye on you.
Late Summer and early Autumn are superb for constructive and sometimes destructive pottering, shrubs that haven't quite pulled their weight can be moved as they head into dormancy without the fear of disturbing them too much or them dehydrating in the strong Summer heat.
Get into the beds and borders with the secateurs and have a good old tidy up of seed heads and old foliage. I like to clear a little under all my shrubs so as to allow air to flow smoothly, this can help reduce the threat of rot or fungal diseases settling in, especially under annuals that are still flowering and areas that may have become a little congested. It's important not to be too tidy obviously, leave some leaf litter for grubs and seed heads for birds but chop back those you don't want self seeding everywhere especially Lady's Mantle and Buddliea chop back or else you'll be digging them out the cracks in walls for years to come.

I'll be heading out more in the mornings from now on I think, that quiet, cool, crisp morning state sets me up nicely for the day ahead and makes for perfect pottering with tea in hand and cat pouncing on any leaf that dares move in a mildly exciting way. Tis a beautiful time to be out and I plan on enjoying it for many weeks to come.