Flower power

Enjoy the last of the summer colours with late-flowering alstroemerias, camellias, dahlias and roses in your garden.

Stay in: read the book – go out: see the gardens

Chawton House in Alton is a Grade II-listed Elizabethan manor house where writer, Jane Austen, lived when she published her novels. The grounds have been restored to the English Landscape style of ‘Capability’ Brown. Well worth a wander. Details and to book here.

Make room for mushrooms

Autumn is UK mushroom season. The Woodland Trust explains how to forage for wild varieties here. If you’d rather be on the safe side, how about buying a large Portobello variety for the BBQ? Try this great recipe. 

Something old, something new …

If you’re yearning to try something new, Surrey Wildlife Trust is running educational courses. They include learning to identify types of fungi, in the ancient Nower Wood, Leatherhead, on 17th October; and drawing wildlife – ‘Anatomy, Shape & Proportion’- on 31st October. More here.

Bushy Beverage
It’s well worth risking a few prickles on the blackthorn bush to secure a ripe crop of dark purple sloes. You’ll find them in many hedgerows and they’ll make a first-class sloe gin. Try this recipe from Countryfile.

If you’d like to get your garden all ship-shape for the winter – or want some ideas and inspiration on refreshing it for spring, chat to us! These clients did – read what they thought of the results.

Best wishes,