Autumn hues

September is such a lovely month, with lots of colour and a joyful sense of completion. There is still a lot to do in the garden, like planting bulbs and new trees and putting a last layer of mulch over the borders. Where I want to make new beds I lay a cover of newspapers and a thick mulch of compost or leaves to suffocate the grass. I tend not to dig downwards in the soil, but to build it up instead. No dig gardening is becoming increasingly popular, and I am a fan of trying it out and sparing my back at the same time.

When planting trees I always take measure of the size of their pots and make the hole twice as big before I plant them in a mix of compost and soil. Autumn is great for planting trees and woody shrubs, as they settle in before the frost hits the ground and get a great start early in the spring. It also frees up time next season when there is much else to do.

I love the quietness of autumn too, and enjoy just spending time outdoors. It is such a fleeting moment when the leaves turn yellow, and before you know it they start to drop of the trees and need to be collected.

This year I have heaped them in drifts at Humlegård in two places where I want to have new plantings next year. Firstly below the purple shrubs by the lawn, as here only weeds have grown previously and I now intend to plant a low shrubbery instead. Secondly by the path to the sauna, where eventually I will make a herb garden of sorts.

The kitchen garden is off to bed, and not long after the snow started to fall. I might as well pack my bags and go travelling, as there is not much to do here anymore!