Storm Caroline has stripped the last of the leaves from the trees surrounding the Kitchen Garden and they now litter the ground and raised beds beneath them. Now that there are no more leaves left to fall, it is time to clear the garden of every leaf. As a self-confessed tidy gardener, this will mean a thorough rake of the paths and beds followed by a hands-and-knees leaf pick. A good kneeler and warm pair of gloves are a must for this job. My tool of choice will be a claw which is excellent for hooking leaves from around the base of hedges and plants. It will be a real labour of love and is the price I pay for loving the tidy winter garden that it will result in. Elsewhere around the ornamental gardens, the oak trees are still holding on to their leaves, so there will be raking to do for a few weeks yet.
All is quiet in the kitchen garden at the moment and we are making the most of the good weather days to mulch the bare soil with well-rotted manure or home-made compost. Over the coming months this will be broken down by the worms and the cold weather ready for digging over in the Spring.
As Christmas approaches, we will be entering into the festive spirit in the coming days by making our wreath to decorate the potting shed door. It has become an annual tradition to spend a couple of hours selecting material from around the gardens before creating the wreath and is one which we all really enjoy.
