As the weather turns to crisp mornings and golden lit afternoons, the garden starts to yawn and it is time to put it to bed.
Helen has brought in and cleaned all the soft furnishings from the terrace and stored away the blue terracotta pots from the tables, ready for next year. It is important they overwinter somewhere sheltered to protect them from the upcoming frosts.
Eagle House Vegetable Garden
The vegetable beds have been tidied up now. Only the hardy carrots, beetroot and chard remain, which can stay in the ground over winter, to be dug up when needed. Fresh homemade compost has been added, giving them a winter blanket and the aim will be to compost all the flower beds too over the next few months.
Every day the wind brings down more leaves from the copper beach tree as they slowly turn a deep red colour. Some leaves are kept to turn into leaf mold (a valuable material used as a soil conditioner) but as this takes at least a year we don’t have the space to do this for all of them and it is important they are kept off the lawn to help it breathe, most are sent to be composted by the council.
Bed and Breakfast Decorations
Helen has made a wreath for the front door from elements of the autumn garden and the surrounding countryside. Pine cones, leaves, twigs and seed heads were incorporated into a wicker basket purchased from Katherine House, the local charity shop in Eccleshall and orange ribbon was added. This is something she did last year and hopes to continue on this seasonal tradition.
Eagle House’s Grand Hall fireplace has been swept ready for the cooler seasons and Helen has decorated it with a seasonal wreath and pumpkins bought in Eccleshall. Hopefully next year, the veg beds will produce our very own Eagle House pumpkins!
Garden Maintenance
The roses have been lightly pruned (a hard prune to be done in the depths of winter) in order to tidy them up and so have the buddleia and other shrubs.
The conifers will all be trimmed soon. They provide a rich evergreen colour which is most welcome in winter when most other plants have gone to sleep.
It is important to also look forward at this time of year and so Helen has planted more spring bulbs around the garden and hotel car park, having noted last spring where they were needed.
It is lovely to walk in the surrounding Staffordshire countryside at this time of year, watching all the colours change, breathing in the sweet smell of autumn leaves and crunching them underfoot. We feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful and peaceful part of the world.
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