Sad continued

 The rest of the garden has now had its tidy up too and, yes, this is also sad as I have to empty perfectly good pots and baskets.  The flowering pots and baskets have done really well this year and they looked to be going to last a while yet but, as I said, I have to do my tidying up earlier than I would like.

If, like me, you are enjoying a second flush of roses (and strawberries!) remember not to deadhead them like you would do the rest of the year.  If you do this it stimulates the hormones which tell the plant to make more flowers (to produce seed) and it will not give the rose a chance to beef up for the winter.  So enjoy the rose hips until the birds get them.

This season I've done battle with the mini pasture I inherited in my garden when we bought the house and after three years TLC it is beginning to look something like a lawn.  I did two weed and feeds and some scarifying and moss kill and a couple of additional feeds.  Strictly speaking I should be doing another scarifying and spiking to let air into the roots but it is a killing job and I don't have time or energy for it but for those of you who do this is the time to crack on.  What I will definitely do tomorrow rain or shine is scatter some bonemeal over it.  Again this is a bit early; next month would be better.  It gives it a good strengthening root boost for the winter.  Don't do a general purpose feed it will make too much soft growth.

The other thing which still needs doing and is important for the next couple of months (especially if they are mild) is killing slugs.  I use organic pellets which are deemed safe and work better in the rain  than the nasty ones - I start 14 February and do it 14th of every month for as long as I am around.  The last couple of months going into winter are really important as you want to get the population as small as possible so even less survive the winter and don't come back in force next year.  Again it is a battle being slowly won.  That said I found my first snail a few weeks ago so I'm not thrilled with that newcomer.

I've also planted my Spring bulbs.  It is OK to do that for daffodils but too early for the tulips.  That said I do it each year and still get results.  The tulips possibly flower a bit earlier than they should.

So everywhere is tidy and put away and ready for the snow!