We’re starting to see some Autumn vegetables come in. Like bedding plants, the longer you give them to grow before the colder months start the better they seem to cope and I have a few gaps appearing where lettuce and spinach have got past it now and my carrots are about ready to start to pick. I was pleased with my leeks last year so I’ll try those again in the little ready-started seedling packs. Chard and hardier varieties of lettuce are always good doers and I’m going to leave some space to choose something on impulse when I pop into one of the centres to buy the other plants.

My sweet peas have got mildew and are really past their best so I now have a big hole to fill with something to flower through the winter. Luckily we have just started to get our homegrown Autumn bedding in, Pansies, violas and cyclamen - all perfect for filling gaps. I’ve found that if you get Autumn bedding started off early enough it has chance to grow that bit bigger before it gets too cold meaning it will have plenty of strength to flower well throughout the Autumn and Winter months. I also feed it with tomato food to encourage flower and it also keeps the growth ‘hard’ which helps them toughen up for the winter months.

I’m starting to turn my thoughts to the end of the summer and Autumn now, some of my summer plants are looking tired so its time to roll up my sleeves and spend a week-end clearing and replacing anything that’s looking a bit shabby. We’re just starting to get some Autumn stock in to the Garden centres now so there’s plenty of yummy new plants to choose from to get the gaps filled.

My Lavender and Santonlina border has looked fantastic for a couple of months now but the flowers are just going over and they are looking a bit straggly. They’re in for a good hard chop but only as far as the start of this current years growth to encourage them to thicken up without going all leggy. The aromatic foliage has definitely discouraged the local cats from using that border as a litter box which was becoming a problem. A great success all in all!