Last days of summer...

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It's been a while since I've posted on here, and it's not because I'm short of things to say - far from it. 

Luckily, it's been because I've been incredibly busy. This is my second summer gardening for a living, and boy has it been a full-on one! My diary has been jam packed. I've packed out borders, shifted weeds, built raised beds, prepped gardens for parties, done container displays for people selling their homes, got to know whole families, created bonds with clients, shared laughs and Wordle scores with clients, drunk a LOT of water.

When the UK heatwave hit, I took 2 days off because as much as I love my job, gardening in 40 degree heat is not wise. I worked my jobs around the high tides where I live in coastal Essex so I could cool off in the sea. I've taken my time over jobs some days, and whipped round in a flash on others depending on the heat and the humidity. 

My own garden has had successes and failures: sweet peas, alstromerias and leucanthemums have been constantly picked and put in vases around my house. My wife has had great success with cut-and-come-again spinach, lettuces, tomatoes. My radishes are excellent. The Victoria plum tree has been producing such an enormous glut that I've been able to pick an enormous carrier bag of plums DAILY. Everyone I know has been gifted plums, and I've still got so many coming that there is a box of them constantly outside my house for the neighbours to take. 

I've been saving shower and bath water to do the garden in lieu of using my hosepipe every day. There's no ban here currently, but I'm being wise. I read that we should be saving the water that runs before it turns hot - what a great idea! That's installed in jugs around my house for the houseplants. 

Now the gardens are starting to turn, though, aren't they? Things are going over, starting to set seed, starting to finish. The August melancholy is real (not least because today it's dark and rainy). Summer is not over, but the tidying needs to start now. I'm beginning to get a hell of a lot of bookings for the post-summer tidies, which will then lead me into bulb planting season nicely. 

Weirdly, the trees are already behaving like it's autumn. I'm sweeping a lot of leaves. Apples and pears are ripening too soon. The weather is off kilter and it's all gone a bit strange. I read that we need to think about more mediterranean planting in the future, because our native plants won't be able to handle the continued heat rises. This makes me sad. 

Time stretches out in front of us. We plan for next year. What worked this year? What didn't? What seeds will I be sowing come April, May? I'm already thinking about what I'd like more of (alliums, sweet peas in both the front and back gardens, and I'd like to do more beans next year), and what I want to change (different container displays next summer, and maybe removing my euonymus shrubs from the front and replacing them with something more interesting).

I'm feeling incredibly grateful to do this job that genuinely lifts people's spirits, helps them out, cheers them up, and changes their view out of the window. 

As the season turns, I will relish cooler temperatures to work in. My tan is impressive but my tolerance for heat is waning after all these months. I will work fewer hours, of course, because of the light. I will get away, and think about my winter projects (clearing gardens, prepping for spring, and planting plans). 

If you are still reading, thanks, and also why not follow me on my socials? Instagram if you're into before-and-after pics of my work, and TikTok if you'd like to see some gardening tips and videos of what I get up to. Over and out x 

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