Autumn here we come...

Seems funny to start a gardening blog just October is about to start and autumn is already casting her cloak on the northern hemisphere. But then its easy to think of this time of year as simple a passage between summer and winter although in reality its a very busy time in the garden with plants to be divided, pruning to be done, hardy annuals to be sown and next year's bulbs to get in. This is the best time to plan next years garden when you can still see the herbaceous perennials before they go completely to ground and you still have an idea of how much room they took up and indeed, where on earth in the border they are!

I began this years growing season by taking a photograph of the mixed border, partly to remind myself where the tulips are located. Like many gardeners, I have developed the habit of seeing a bit of space and digging up the bulbs as I attempt to put another plant there.

My garden in its present state is just three years old with some areas, such as the courtyard and the bed at the front gate only a year old. When I started I tried so hard to follow the advice of Alan Tichmarsh on garden design. He says to map it all out, work it out on paper before you start and I did try, but I just couldn't get it down on paper. I had to stand in the garden with an edger and mark out where I thought the beds should go. It might seem a bit haphazard and I guess it is pretty unorthodox and I can imagine a few garden designers taking a sharp intake of breath at the very thought.

Through each season the garden evolves but it is in autumn that the major re-think of the planting takes place. Now I can think about any uncomfortable gaps that were evident in the summer and also take the chance to move some of the naughty plants that have outgrown their space and been hiding the less vigorous ones beneath them. Its always a thrill re-finding plants you thought you no longer have, just to rediscover they are still there and with a little light and space quickly re-establish themselves.

This autumn I have an even more important reason to 'get the beds and borders' set up right for next year; in June the garden will be open for visitors under Scotland's Garden Scheme... so no pressure!