The recent frosts, light winds and dry sunny weather have joined forces to create a most memorable autumn leaf display. Garden writers across the land stumble with clumsy words to describe this golden magnificence in all its glory.
Copper beech leaves gather in tree-lined avenues for children and young lovers to scamper through. Gleefully they kick them in the air and laugh as they fall upon their noses. A gentle breeze catches a handful of leaves and sends them spinning, dancing gaily across the terrace, to the joy of the Duchess who stands at the study window, clapping her hands in childish delight.
The ash trees have cast their leaves now to reveal their unmistakeable branches that curl up delightfully at the ends. The old oak tree has thrown down enough acorns to grow a forest but will shed its leaves in its own time and nobody else’s.
The first job of the day is to give the hybrid teas their autumn prune. This is not as extreme as the spring pruning but mostly a way of reducing their height and bulk so that the gales that will surely come do not cause any damage. The height is reduced by about one-third and any dead or crossing branches growing into the middle are taken out so that the winds can blow through more easily. This inevitably involves cutting out fresh buds and flowers but they will never amount to much with the rain and frosts that await us and it is always far better in my opinion to allow the rose a full dormant season rather than being greedy and insisting on flowers in every season.
The theory holds that the wind can shake a rose that causes the roots to rock and create gaps in the soil around the roots. These gaps then fill with rain water which will expand if it freezes which in turn will damage the fine hairs of the roots which in turn damages the rose itself. The theory of roses changes all the time but never-the-less any gardener worth his salt will reduce his roses to prevent any damage from wind rock. It’s a matter of instinct.
The buddleja davidii that grow in exposed parts of the garden are also cut down by one-third. I am always in two minds about this because the blackened flower-heads have a certain dark beauty but these are shallow-rooted top-heavy shrubs and our soil is light and they can easily blow over in a gale. The hard pruning will come in February but a one-third pruning will do for now.
hamamalis
It seems that everyone is revelling in the autumn glory. Everyone that is, except for Grumpy George, who passes by on his way to the allotment.
‘Look’, he says, pointing in all directions with his pipe. ‘Have you seen the berries on the pyracantha and the holly? You know what that means don’t you?’
‘It will be a hard winter?’ I venture.
‘A very hard winter’ he replies, shaking his head and glancing up into the skies as if expecting it to snow at any moment. And with that he gets on his bicycle and rides off down the lane whistling a merry tune for George is never so happy as when he is being the prophet of doom.
stourhead gothic cottage
The leaves of the pond lilies are turning brown with earnest and it’s time to take them out. Mercifully there are no over-hanging trees and not many leaves tend to fall in so there is no need to net the pond which is always a chore. The leaves are slimy and falling apart so I gather them with a small net on the end of a bamboo pole, the sort that children love to use to catch sea-creatures in rock-pools.
The squirmy leaves detach themselves quite easily. The smell is simply quite gorgeous in a boggy sort of way and childhood memories come flooding back of chasing newts in green ponds. I’ve developed the art of gathering a net of leaves and then flipping the net upside down so that they fall neatly into a bucket ready to be taken to the compost bin. I am rather proud of my accomplished dexterity. Ah well, simple things please simple gardeners, as my wife is always telling me!
Oh my! I have never seen such red leaves.
Thank you Autumn Belle, for your kind comments
Mike, I’m so glad you stopped by my blog as it led me here to yours. Your writing is quite clever and made me smile several times! Also, I am relatively new to rose gardening -I just planted my first one in the spring. Good to know about the fall pruning and why.
We all have a George in our lives, don’t we? Best just to smile and let them on their doom filled way!
hello again, so glad you have ventured into the wonderful world of roses…you must let me know if you post photos of the flowers…
Yes, ‘gorgeous in a boggy sort of way’ indeed.
I am fascinated to see (and read about) so many plants that live here with me, too, despite our geographic disparity.
Thanks for “inviting” me here with your “visit” to my place.
Hi there Margaret, and thank you for passing by this small corner of Dorset…
I hope George has got it wrong! though we’ve got plenty of Georges up here too lol
Mike as I read this I’ve now got a “to do” list in my head. I had forgotten about the waterlilies needed tidied up before the winter and I can see some leaves floating on the pond just now aswell.
Thanks for giving the details about the wind rock and roses – I knew about the autumn pruning to prevent wind rock but I never knew the finer details. My acomplished dexterity today has been in the form of major housework duties and clothes shopping with teenagers. I’m now resting alongside the laptop and a cuppa 🙂
Hi Rosie, hope you are enjoying your cuppa!
I have just spent 15 mins scooping leaves out of my pond which is near a tree and very badly placed. Its also awkward to net – I tried two years on the trot but the net just sagged in the middle which kind of defeated the object so now I scoop the leaves out with a net. However, this is quite theraputic!!!
Hello Helen ah yes the therapeutic fun to be found with a net and wet gungy leaves…enjoy hearing about your allotment… communal wheelbarrow eh…quite upmarket!
(Our pond is in the throes of another major overhaul. A little water has been added by the last rain. Eventually we will be back to A Pond, With Water!) The roses keep going all year, and rest a little in the worst of the summer heat. I do appreciate when you explain why you must …
Hi there hope all goes well with your pond overhaul. Of course the difficulty of writing to an international readership is that my gardening tips are confined to a very small part of the world and not always relevant to others, your way of growing roses can be different than ours….peace be with you….
Thoroughly enjoyed your writing. The first par of it is a pure poetry… Those writers will be jealous… You found such a lovely way to describe autumn…
Thank you for the rose tips.
thank you Tatyana for your warm words…but i am afraid we are all clumsy stumblers together….
Dear Mike – a gorgeous resumee of Autumn and appreciate the tip on Buddleia as I usually leave mine full standing. Took me back to childhood too as an expert newtcatcher. Presumably the waterlilies themselves are left in the pond to overwinter?
Laura
p.s. Love the hideaway cottage
Hi Laura, ah yes those newt-catching days! yes the lilies are left in situ unless they need dividing which i do in the spring, apparently the roots are quite tasty but never got round to trying them…
Such a feeling of peace and joy for your “work” prevails in your post. I sense that your work is really not work at all rather a delightful journey you are fortunate to travel. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, yes my work is good at times but do not forget that when it rains or is bitterly cold it is another story!
Autumn probably my favourite season the colours of the leaves at this time of year have always delighted me but unfortunately they are there for such a short time.
I too was a childhood newt catcher, although in Huntingdonshire they were not in abundant supply, less so now, the ponds I used to catch them in have been filled in and built over.
Hi Philip, yes the leaves can be down so quickly but this year they have stayed and put on such a long display, we have been blessed…
Dear Michael, Oh, yes, the joy of simple pleasures. This is such a wonderful time of year when one does notice so many small details which are often overlooked in the excesses of summer. The scents in the garden do, as you say, so often evoke long forgotten memories which make the whole gardening process so pleasurable.
Dear Edith, thank you so much for your comments…