Stephanie's Garden Blog

Whilst over half of the country was being hit by gale force winds and rain, here on the East coast we have seen temperatures reaching 17c, with wasps and bluebottles still flying around and even a Red Admiral butterfly flew past me on Tuesday, what strange weather we are having!

This week in Kitchen Garden we will be pruning our blackcurrant bushes; the plants are now beginning to shed their leaves and showing signs of dormancy so it is an ideal time to give them their annual haircut.

The runner beans and the French beans have been cut down and the foliage sent to the compost heap. Both the pea and bean frames have been taken down and completely cleared of any plant debris and put away for another next year.

Finding that perfect gift can be tricky, but if you are looking for a gardening gift for a greenfingered family member or friend, our range of gifts for gardeners will give you some great inspiration and ideas for the perfect present.

This week we have given the greenhouse a good clean and tidy so it's ready for the less hardy plants to be overwintered and for some autumn seed sowing.

There's no escaping the fact that in the garden, a large part of the autumn is spent clearing up fallen leaves, but there's an upside to all your hard work - leaf mould.

Well the week started with the clean up from last weeks gales and heavy rain, there were pine needles, branches and leaves everywhere. Armed with my wheelbarrow, spring tine rake and garden vac the gardens have now started to look much tidier. I never realised how deadly an unopened pine cone could be until I stood on one and found myself sliding to where I didn?t want to be.

The start of this week was still unseasonably warm and dry so regular watering continued in the Kitchen Garden and the greenhouse, but the end of the week saw the arrival of gale force winds that have wreaked havoc! The garden is full of leaves but they will remain until next week as another possible storm is coming on Sunday with some more much needed rain, even now the ground is still very dry when you dig down just a few inches.

My husband and I have used black aluminium poles and slot and lock fittings to make a bespoke raised curved pond cover to protect from herons. We would love these photos to be on the website to show the versatility of the fittings.