After a record-breaking hot summer in the South East, we’re entering September and the onset of Autumn’s cooler temperatures. This time of year is wonderful outside in the garden, especially when you’re armed with a few plans to make the most of it.
In this edition of ‘Fun In The Garden’ here is my harvest of ideas for the season …
Harvest some herbs for winter
Herbs like marjoram, mint, parsley, sage, basil, coriander, thyme and oregano are easy to grow so, if you have some, why not harvest and dry them for use over the winter? Store them in airtight containers, then you’ll always have herbs handy to add flavour to your favourite dishes, including chutneys, sauces, soups, pesto, herb butters and tapenades and teas, or you can dry the flowers to make pot pourri. Store seeds in paper bags or envelopes and freeze delicate herbs like tarragon, chives and dill in water or oil in ice cube trays.
Image: Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Give your guests a warm welcome
Us Brits like our BBQs so much there’s even a National BBQ Week. As evenings start to cool down a bit, make use of firepits and chimneas too, which generate heat and light to keep you in your garden longer. La Hacienda do a good range, including the Africa Oxidised Fireglobe, the Wildfire Firebowl and Malmo Chimnea, or Weber’s Fireplace makes a great firepit.
Wine and dine with a flourish
Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking have several interesting events this Autumn, including a pre-harvest flower-arranging demo on using your late summer flowers to cheer up your home, hosted by Chelsea Flower Show florist Sue Flight – and Vine and Dine grape-picking sessions.
Bushy beverage of the month!
While we’re on the subject of Denbies, it seems an opportune time to try some of their wines – The Brokes Botrytis Ortega 2016, the Noble Harvest 2016 and Pinot Noir 2016 were amongst award winners in this year’s Wine GB Awards, so you could start there. If you’re not sure, pop along to one of their tasting sessions.
We’re men for all seasons!
We’ve covered a few turn-of-season topics here and Bushy Business provides garden services to match. Take a look at what we do.
That’s all for now so, until next time, have a great month!
Chris Stone
Head of Beautiful Gardens
