The Autumn clean up

This is the week when it really started to feel like winter. Its been damp and dark all week with very little sunshine. It has not been particularly cold, in fact at 14 degrees centigrade it is warm for the time of year. All the herbaceous foliage is dying and continually wet. Cutting it out is one of the least enjoyable jobs in the garden.

However, looking back to June to achieve rose displays like this work is needed now. This is Rosa Alchemist a vigorous climbing rose, perfect for covering a garden wall. It produces old-style rosettes of fully double golden yellow flowers that are flushed with orange and get paler with age. Unfortunately it rarely repeats but the flower scent is heady and intoxicating. Also, as this photo shows, there is a large Buddleja alternifolia next to the rose. The soft mauve flower are a perfect foil to Rosa alchemist. But it flowers on last years wood so ideally needs one third pruned out each year to keep its to size with plenty of new wood and hence flowers. Unfortunately this is one of the jobs that often seems to get overlooked!  Not this year.The space by the corner of the wall was where the Buddleja was. It needed a chain saw to cut through the trunk! Short term it also gives us other planting opportunities in the foreground. But the Buddleja will be back with many new shoots from the bottom.The Rose has also grown and needs the old wood removing and the new shoots tying in horizontally to maximise the flowers. Several hours later and we have:We only do it once a year but it is worth it for the eight weeks of flowers.

With a walled garden there are lots more climbing roses to tame so we are going to be busy. However, this week has been sorting out the dahlias which are being lifted now the frost has taken their tops off.

Gardening Hours
This week	Total since June 19th	Average per week
20	456	21