When weather permits I have been getting on with some of the seasonal tasks in the garden. The wind chime has been brought in, washed and the wood given a feed of lemon oil. The fountain on the patio has been drained, the pump removed, cleaned and put away and the unit covered with plastic to give it a bit of protection from the worst of the winter weather. I have made a start on clearing out the drainage grill that runs around the garage and across the drive.

The orange chrysanth that looked so fantastic just a few weeks ago is looking sorry for itself. The flowers had finished and were beginning to rot on the plant so I cut them all off. Then the strong winds that we had on Saturday night blew the pot over smashing it. The poor thing is now temporarily propped up in a large flower pot until I can repot it properly.

In September I started to feed the birds again to help them put on weight for the winter and so that they know where to find food in bad weather. There is a robin that puts in an appearance whenever any turning over of soil is going on. Mark was doing some weeding earlier in the week and caught this picture of the little fellow. You wonder how those tiny legs can hold him up!

Autumn has arrived and although the summer is over it's a lovely time of year. In fact, I enjoy having seaons. I don't think I could live somewhere without them! On fine days the bees are very busy in the autumn sunshine visiting the scabious and sedum flowers. As ever there is much to do in the garden - mostly to do with tidying up. Mark has given the box hedge it's annual trim and tidied up the beech hedge for the winter. Although the beech leaves die the plants retain the leaves on the young growth throughout the winter so now is not the time to cut back hard. We'll do that next year where it's needed.

The runner beans have almost come to an end and I have taken down one large wigwam. The roots fix nitrogen so I have left the roots in the soil and put the above ground material in the compost bin. There are still some Kenyan beans but they too are nearly finished. The courgettes are virtually exhausted but I am still picking one or two a couple of times a week. I'll leave the plants for a little longer yet. I still have 3 tomato plants with fruit. And the tomatoes picked from the diseased plants have been ripening well on the window sills. So it hasn't been a total disaster on the tomato front this year. In fact I have been pleased with the crop considering how dire it looked earlier in the summer.

Every trace of green in one of the troughs with carrot seedlings has been chomped away by some creature. I'm waiting a few days to see if the seedlings recover if not I will sow a few more. The spinach seedlings are growing well but not yet big enough to harvest. I am thinking of putting some more in the large half barrel when the kenyan beans come out.

One of the highlights in the garden at the moment is a glorious chrysanthemum. I bought it a couple of years ago whereupon it immediately went into decline. Last year it didn't do much so this spring I replanted it together with a good dose of slow realease fertiliser. I have made sure that it didn't dry out during the summer and all that care has been rewarded with a magnificant display which cheers every time you come through the gate.