Autumn in the Garden

In spite of the month being October there are still areas of wonderful displays. The hedge is full of berries and hips; does that mean we are going to have a hard winter?  Some say so, but I am not sure; our winters have been rather mild in recent years. 

The hedges are magnificent, wildly overgrown and full of life. I love it that all kinds of creatures have taken up residence. I am providing them with water in large shallow trays; It's such a pleasure to watch  birds by day taking a bath and surprise hedgehogs coming for a drink at dusk. Soon the latter will take up cosy winter quarters in wood and leaf piles which I have deliberately left in various nooks and crannies. The more birds, frogs, toads, and hedgehogs I encourage to eat slugs the better pleased I am during the summer. And if the foxes come and eat that rat of the sky, the pigeon, I don't mind either. They leave the coloured doves alone, these are too fast for predators.

The next three pictures are showing part of the drive. It's a difficult area to cultivate because there  are several trees and the ground is shaded and dry. I think various kinds of conifers might be suitable, I am busy studying Pinterest ideas. Algorithms can be quite handy, Pinterest obviously knows what takes my clicking fancy. Maybe a visit to a plant nursery is in the offing during autumn when the time is right to plant plants shrubs and trees.

I don't know why I have so many cyclamen everywhere, perhaps the birds help

plant the seeds.

Last year I planted a weeping cedar along the drive,

it's doing quite well.

 There's a Mediterranean  pencil pine under the ash tree,

in a year or two it will add a few inches and become more of a picture.

For now the normally boring ash tree itself and its butter yellow autumn leaves

draw the eye. 

I am glad that I have recovered my gardening mojo, the opening in the summer was a great success; several hundred people came to visit during the last weekend of June. ( More of that some other time). The back garden was the showstopper then, the drive borders on the front of house, which are quite spectacular now, less so. You can't have everything.