September is often a bonus month in our gardens especially for our roses which have actually done surprisingly well in this summer’s heatwave. Continual deadheading by our team here has meant they continue to flower now. August was very warm and one of the driest on record following the driest July. We recorded about 0.6 inches of rain to the 26th of August. We have avoided irrigating much of the gardens focusing on those things that are most precious to us and we have also made some long lists of drought tolerant planting for future planning; helping us to be more resilient as we move into what could be a less predictable future.

September is the last month of general maintenance in the gardens but we will also finish cutting our hedges. The arboretum grass will be cut short ready for the spring bulbs as they start to show through from Christmas! Cutting the grass in September gives the orchids time to seed and our pyramid and bee orchids are spreading profusely. We will also lightly prune some of our apple and pear trees where they are getting unkempt then carry out a more thorough prune in January.

 New flower beds and borders can be dug and old ones emptied and re planted with plants that will be more drought tolerant. October and March are the best times of year to plant up those new and rejuvenated beds and borders. Both months tend to have more moisture and the soil is not too dry and the weather is not too warm. Lots of compost is key to good moisture retentive soils.

James Cross, Head Gardener

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