September will be one of the top 20 warmest and has been very sunny, but we did have some decent rain during the second week so the gardens are thriving.

The trees which suffered during this summers unprecedented heat wave also greened up, and many trees will retain some green leaves well into December as a reaction to that. There will also be some very bright autumn colour although it may not be as bright as expected with extra spring like re growth (particularly the Beech trees). October will likely contain plenty of warm sunny days but several wet and windy spells too, this weather is ideal for the garden and the colour and interest will extend well into November. Early frosts have become very rare which actually increases our window of autumn maintenance work, but gives us more opportunities too.

You will be able to enjoy our Dahlias, which are thriving again and fill several areas of the garden. Many of our roses are flowering and are covered in buds which will open well into October. The Jocelin border is full of soft pink Hylotelephiums (Sedum), feathery Stipa tenuissima, Geranium Rozanne and beautiful deep, rich crimson-pink Rosa ‘Darcey Bussell’. Although most of the produce in the Community Garden has been harvested it is still full of colour and interest, the squash varieties are as colourful and interesting as ever and Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’ has been a drought proof stunner planted with deep pink, magenta and red Rosa ‘Young Lycidas’ which fades to a light purple and then silvery colour!

This month we will scarify (remove the dead grass) and aerate the croquet lawn to encourage a thicker lawn.

Cut the long grass in the arboretum ready for the first snowdrops to appear at Christmas!

We will empty/plan/replant borders with more drought tolerant species ready for the next 20 years.

We also need to cut all our yew hedges before any frosts.