The garden is really beginning to settle and establish after last year’s rebuild. The foxglove have been amazing but they have a tendency to crowd out other establishing plants so I’ll feature them more sparingly next year. The Nepeta have been buzzing with bees all summer but they took a while to get going, which meant large patches of bare soil well into April. I’m experimenting with lavender as an alternative bee-friendly species with the added bonus of it’s evergreen habit providing essential winter structure. Other highlights have been the continued establishment of the Pyracantha ‘Saphyr Rouge’ hedges, whose plentiful red berries have been feasted on by blackbirds all autumn, along with the crab apples from the Malus ‘Wedding Bouquet’ just outside the kitchen.

We’ve been incredibly grateful for our garden this year…