Getting the garden ready for Autumn ....

The long Summer always lulls me into a false sense of time then suddenly I realise that the nights are drawing in, mornings are darker, mists are rolling in over the hills & my garden is not ready for the colder weather.

I was out early this morning to feed the birds & take a photo of the dew on the flowers



We have not had our first frosts yet but the I do need to get the garden ready for wrapping up soon.

My winter hyacinths are always tucked under a large bush for the summer to recover & I notice that our resident squirrel has been into them - they will need attention before the colder weather.

But ... they will have to wait for today I have my sights set on the side of the house.  There is a raised side bed that is home to all the herb planters. I cannot plant directly onto that side because there are service covers there that need access in an emergency so I get around it by putting silver planters up on the ledge.  Unfortunately, it had become way too messy ....

Some of it is quite shady but this is home to my herbs because I love using fresh herbs in my cooking so it is very handy to have these close to the kitchen door.

These are some current ones:

 

 

Unfortunately the side alley is also home to the my potting soil, spare tubs & large bins with firewood for our chimnea so it is not all pretty ... Ideally, a very pretty green house would be so welcome but in the absence of that, I use this area for potting things up.

This box topiary suffered from frost & box blight but it is showing signs of recovery so I am loathe to just bin it so it is in a pot down the side while I decide what to do with it ....

It was one of several large box plants that the in-laws grew from cuttings for us some 12 -15 years ago so they are rather special so I will hopefully nurse it back to some leaves.

My potting tray has my old hanging baskets which I am thinking about potting up for Winter. 

 

The bottom part by the gate has the firewood bins & the potting soil bags - not the most glamourous things but they are hopefully tucked away ....










So after moving all the containers off the ledge & cleaning up, getting rid of some stray  slugs, then putting it all back again, I am rather pleased that it will be ready for the colder weather which is on the way!

Some of the tubs have solar insects popping up - they twinkle at night which is rather pretty.

So pleased it was bright & sunny today which made the cleaning much easier.


What do you think?

 

All done - ready now  - just the rest of the garden to do but - the chimnea is ready for some firewood so we can huddle around it if the weather is bright but cold ....









Most definitely tea-time now. What herbs do you grow & what could I add to my small selection? What Autumn jobs do you do now?

Your comments & feedback is always appreciated - pleased leave your link so I can return the visit.
Dee ~♥~