Bedtime...

As I write this we are expecting the first frost of
the year which, in the horticultural world, is a fairly significant event in that it sorts out the men from the boys in the borders. Like all keen gardeners,
I have been awaiting this event with a certain amount of trepidation; I know that from now until next spring (whenever that may be in our topsy turvy climatic scheme of things!) the borders will take on a completely different feel. 

Most of the colourful perennials and certainly all the traditional bedding plants will now be but happy memories – leaving
a brilliant but subtle display of berries, fruits and dying leaves. For most, this period of gardening abstinence, where the lawnmower, hedge cutters and weeding paraphanalia can safely hibernate
for a few months, is a blessed relief but for others including yours truly it is the best time of year to get stuck in and lay the foundations for next year.

Beds are generally so full of plants that when you try and work in them, you inevitably start to suffer “blue-on-blue” casualties. How many times have you put your spade through a clump of King Alfreds and cursed your bad luck, or speared your favourite allium with a wayward thrust of a fork? You’re not alone in this - I often do it when I’m trying to add  a few more bulbs to the border – how ironic is
that? It’s not just bulbs either; there are plenty of vulnerable (but fleeting) little spring flowering plants that are happily resting underground at this time of the year, together with some of their bigger cousins such as alstroemerias and peonies.

I know we are preached at by all good gardening books and our informed TV gardening celebs to get ourselves organised to prevent this sort of thing happening but, let’s be honest, how many of us actually have the time (or even enthusiasm dare I say?!) to go around and make a plan of where we have planted every last little thing? Most of us will use the label in the pot as a marker when we buy the plant, but when the blackbirds, or in my case one of the dogs, removes this chewstick, are you going to diligently replace it with a handwritten one? Also, what about all those bulbs which are sitting around like an unexploded minefield waiting for the steel of your spade?

The simplest way to sort out this conundrum is to keep a photo file of your borders with shots taken at various times of the year (as we all have a good quality camera on our phones these days, this is such a simple process). I’ve been taking pictures of my own plantings for years now, mainly to see how various planting combinations work, but it
also allows you to identify where you’ve planted something which has a dormant phase in its life cycle. 

My own library of images is now quite large and, whenever I have a picture I’m quite proud of, I’ll share it on Instagram – an excellent medium
for gaining inspiration and learning about anything gardening related. If you are looking for a more definitive and less technical solution for adding a warning marker for buried treasures, you could try sprinkling sand or pebbles directly over the relevant areas – or even an upturned hanging basket.

Don’t be afraid to get stuck in and make some changes whilst memories of the summer display are still fresh in your mind. You can start digging up borders and re-planting completely – put
your big shrubs and trees in first, followed by the larger herbacous plants. Make sure you take the opportunity to increase the fertility of the soil using well rotted compost and plant as many spring flowering bulbs as you can possibly manage – if nothing else it will take your mind off Brexit!