HIGHER MORWELL GARDEN DIARY
27th September 2018
The cucumbers are over in the polytunnel but
the tomatoes are still very productive in there,
as are the runner beans outside. Peas are
finished, all the potatoes have been dug up
and put in storage sacks as have the onions.
The autumn leaf fall is late this year and we
haven’t started using the garden vacuum
cleaner yet. Grass is still growing as we have
had some welcome warm days.
The wildflower patch
has been cleared using
two strimmers and the
big mower to sweep up
the cuttings. The
knapweed was far too
dominant this year so
many of their big root
clumps have been dug
out and added to the
bonfire pile.
A little more clearing to
do then the seeds for
next year will be sown.
No knapweed seeds.
Beechmast. A new phenomenon for us, every few years beech trees make and drop a massive amount of
beech nuts, believed to increase the chances of some surviving the ravages of the wildlife to make new
beech trees. Well, we don’t want a lot more beech trees so we’ve collected as much as we can and put it
through the shredder to find it makes very useable mulch to spread on the beds, naturally mixed with
some leaves which help too.
It seems that all the beech trees in one area will do this in the same year, quite intriguing to think that
they communicate with each other to coordinate this. There are still a lot of beech nuts to come down!
We took the opportunity earlier in September to use the services of Mike Cann and his large CAT digger to
uproot the big stump in the pond area. There was a bit of expected damage to the ground but three
weeks later it has all but disappeared. I have managed to tip the stump on its side and am slowly chewing
pieces off with the chainsaw. The wood is very wet and fibrous in the middle making cutting difficult and
sadly it is full of resin so no use for the house woodburner. Good bonfire material though.
Finally a stroke of luck
emerges in the siting
of the garden gazebo.
On autumn equinox
day, 23rd September, it
attracted the very last
of the sun as it went
down behind the trees
to the west. Should be
just the same on 21st
March for the spring
equinox.