End of Month Review - September 2013

September has been an interesting month.  It has had a real chilly bit, a bit of rain and lots of sun.  As I write this I am hoping for some rain as the garden really is quite dry.  It is also the month of the autumn equinox, the month that the earth tips a little further leaving summer behind it and welcoming autumn.
The front garden has been looking good all year, it is quite a change for me to think this but I now have a much improved relationship with my front garden.  I still regard it as having some problems, but in general it works ok.
When I talk of problems I now largely mean things like this border by the front door.  I hear you say it looks ok, well yes, at the moment it does from this angle, but its not right, it has no focus and it is full to bursting with couch grass.  It needs work!
The gravel garden has been ok this year.  Not spectacular, but ok.
Now this pleases me much more, this is what I see when I walk into the back garden.  The amaranthus adds some great red and the perennial sunflower 'Lemon Queen' is in full swing.
The Bird Feeder border is looking reasonable, it also needs work as it also lacks focus.  I have never really considered it properly I have just stuffed plants into it, this is quite obvious.
This is the view from the back of the Coal Bunker Border, the pink aster is rather wonderful at the moment.  The dead grass marks out where the border re-shaping is due, I will dig this over after it rains.
Moving along this is the back of the Conservatory Border, the Anemones have been wonderful this year and the Rosa Portmeirion is having a good second flush of flowers.
Right in the corner is Rose Sir Clough, one of my favourite roses.  I just wish it had a touch more scent.
Looking across the border, over the Formal Lawn to the Pond Border, I am relatively happy with this view at the moment.  It is looking a bit autumnal but I don't mind that.
This is the Conservatory Border from the front.  The Rudbeckia add some welcome colour at the front.
The Coal Bunker Border is full of asters, perennial sunflowers, californian poppies and some cosmos.  It is quite large and blousy and I am pleased with it.
The Long Shoot divides the Coal Bunker Border and the Pond Border.  Again the dead grass where re-shaping is due is apparent.  It is not a lot of shaping, but I want a more rounded effect at the end and a slightly narrower route in.  I just want less lawn in general really, it is slowly becoming mainly paths though the Formal Lawn will remain as I see the green relief of it as important.
The Pond Border still has a lot of colour too.  The perennial sunflower is a huge thug, but it gives such a brilliant splodge of colour and needs no staking that I am happy to accommodate it.  It runs really easily but these can be pulled up with relatively little fuss.
The vegetable beds are becoming empty.  I am still harvesting some cobra beans and courgettes.  I need to do something with the yacon, if only I knew what....... The other beds are either empty or have wallflowers in them ready for transplanting to the borders.
The Four Sisters are coming on well this year.  The worry is whether the Edgeworthia will get through the winter.  Time will tell.
Up past the Four Sisters leads to the Dancing Lawn and the Tree Lupin Border.
Bits of the Tree Lupin Border have done quite well, lots of colour which is what I want.
This view of the same border is not so good, but the peonies were wonderful at their peak.
The Wild Garden has been mowed, suddenly the garden seems much bigger.  It takes about an hour to do a full lawn mow this time of year, but then this time of year I always keep hoping its had its last cut.
The Bog Garden looks dry, that's not a good look for a Bog Garden is it?
The Sorbus Cashmeriana planted last year has provided some beautiful white berries on red stalks, this makes me very happy.  The berries are coming on well in the hedgerow in general, lots of rosehips and haws shining away.
The teasel patch is tall and providing seeds for the birds.  It is also providing seeds for many seedlets next year, I spend a lot of time editing out teasels but I do love to have a nice big patch of them in the Wild Garden.
The Prairie Borders are looking rather blonde at the moment.  I am pleased with them this year, I have planted lots of Verbena Bonariensis in them for next year and I am hopeful this will be a good addition.  The weeds have not been too bad and they have not flopped too badly either.
In the eating apple tree the Clematis cirrhosa Freckles is starting to flower, this feels rather early but it welcome all the same.
The greenhouse is full of cuttings, autumn sowings and stuff waiting to overwinter.  I am so pleased that I am getting a full year of use from it.  It was a bit empty over main summer but it has been in use in some form or other all year.
I end with a look at the pond as is traditional.  It is full of parrot weed that I will have to remove again.  The water level is a little low but it has never been that low this year.  Usually I consider it to be properly low if  Ellis Island appears, a rock in a fairly deep part of the pond, but I have not seen it at all this year.

Thanks as ever to Helen for hosting this meme. 

Comments

  1. September has been such a mixed bag hasn't it? Mostly on the cool and damp side but with episodes of relative warmth too. Love your flower borders!

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    1. I think we've had nearly every weather in September except snow (thankfully!) thanks for the kind comments.

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  2. Gosh, your garden is beautiful Alison. I love the different areas, it would be a lovely to wander around and enjoy. #greenenvy

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  3. Stunning what you've acheived this summer! It still looks gorgeous...

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    1. Thanks for the kind comments, very much appreciated.

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  4. Love the blonde prairie, the garden is maturing. Looking forward to seeing how the re- shaping looks. What a treat having this virtual tour.

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    1. Thanks Paul, a bit of blondeness in the garden is no bad thing :)

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  5. Your garden seems so large to me, I don't know how you manage and work full time. All still looking flowery despite our strange September weather so I would be pleased. Thanks for joining in again this month

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  6. Your garden does look huge.. how big is it? I love the way you have names for all the different areas!
    I like the prairie borders and the verbena will look good I think.

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    1. It total the plot is about 1/3 of an acre. It looks bigger when the Wild Garden is cut it opens up the space a lot. I think the names are getting dafter but they amuse me :) Fingerscrossed for the verbena!

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  7. Lovely garden Alison. Goodness knows how you manage that, a job and still find time to tweet & blog. Do you sleep?! Nice borders, made me think.... perhaps I need more height in mine..

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