The forecast was for a couple of sunny days but the fact is that even the warmest weather in October isn’t enough to dry things out. I gave the lawn a final mowing anyway, and managed to avoid creating too much of a mud bath.
For those of us who work with hard baked clay even in the wettest of summers, soggy autumn soil is a welcome change. It makes dividing and moving plants possible – offering a chance at last to rearrange beds that haven’t worked as planned.
As herbaceous plants die down and others lose their leaves, the bones of a garden become clear. Lush foliage and abundant flowers can, for a few months, disguise a garden that lacks structure, but for at least half the year it’s the bare bones that take centre stage.
The herbaceous plant nursery is closed until March, leaving me with time to assess whether the garden offers as much interest in winter as it could, whether the evergreens and pared back woody forms are sufficient to hold and articulate the emptier space. Time, if needed, to add a few of these quieter elegant forms that will, when summer returns, be the ones that hold it all together.
