Tool up for Autumn…

 With the drop in temperature Autumn is definitely here.

We are finding ourselves slightly overwhelmed with the task in hand, with some serious cutting back and sorting out of the garden required.

But, with the right tools in hand we will conquer. Albeit slowly.

• The climbing roses need less of a cut back and more of a cull. Niwaki secateurs and the Game of Thorns gardening gloves are at the ready. To be honest, if we didn’t have these gloves this task would be bottom of the list as the David Austin roses that I choose appear to balance their beauty by having the most vicious thorns.
• Edd’s hoping he has done a final cut of the lawn (unless the weather changes drastically) so there’s the lawnmower to clean in readiness for a winter’s rest. Definitely a job for a wet weekend at some point. The Lawnmower Brush definitely makes the job easier and there’s something about owning a very specific brush which makes you remember to actually do the task too.
• Hedge trimming – with a ladder on way from Niwaki, we’ll be tackling this long over due task. The laurel has become so large we don’t quite know where to start. The idea of cloud pruning it has been dropped. It’s now more ‘crowd control’.
• Dividing perennials – neither of us are light handed and the division of perennials is a relatively quick job (things that don’t survive our style of gardening have quickly died out over the years, with our quiet acceptance). Depending on the size of the plant, I choose between the serrated Hori-Hori (for the small stuff), the Sneeboer perennial spade  or one of their full size spades (you can take your pick between two sizes depending on your size – the border spade is slightly smaller) or the Niwaki spade.
• The ‘cut back’ of perennials continues (again – with Niwaki secateurs in hand)– but I also like to leave them to seed naturally as well as giving them a helpful hand and scattering them over the garden.

I'm sure there's oodles more to do, but this will be keeping us busy this month! Enjoy the garden before it gets too cold... 

-Lou-