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GLAD that I live am I; That the sky is blue;
Glad for the country lanes
And the fall of dew.
After the sun the rain, After the rain the sun;
This is the way of life, Till the work be done.
All that we need to do,
Be we low or high, Is to see that we grow,
Nearer the sky.
A Little Song of Life, written by Lizette Woodworth Reese in 1909, is one of her poems of the country which we sang at school, set to the tune named Water End by English composer Geoffrey Shaw in 1925.
The message of it still rings true today.
The gardener’s year is almost over but never really stops - a continuous cycle of life. What is the winter to come? An English country saying says: ‘Onion skin, very thin, Mild winter coming in, Onion Skin thick and tough, Coming winter cold and rough.’
It’s autumn and there’s plenty of tidying up to be doing in the garden. Bonfire weekend is an appropriate time to burn garden waste, dahlia tops and other vegetation that may harbour pests and diseases.
Rake off fallen leaves from regularly mown lawns and compost them, aerate with a fork before brushing in sharp sand to improve drainage. Put netting over fish ponds to prevent fallen leaves sinking to the bottom, causing gases and killing fish.
Leaves can be raked up and composted. They can also be raked onto the soil in between shrubs where the worms will pull them down - thus increasing the biodiversity, providing winter food for our friends, the birds. Fertility of the soil will also be improved. The amount of seeds produced by trees after this hot summer is enormous.
Freddy Hedgehog will use leaves inside his winter nest. Please check for the hogs, before lighting your bonfire on November 5.
How many of us in the season of autumn take time to see the beauty of it? Just take a minute to see the autumn colours of our trees, you will find they’re putting on a free show of magnificent splendour. It won’t take long, and your day will feel better for it.
Spring flowering bulbs are another joy; just by planting them you will feel better, knowing they will soon be showing us that spring is coming, a herald of new life. The last two spring seasons have become very dry, following wet winters. This has resulted in having to water my spring flowering bulbs. So I am going to plant my bulbs deeper so that if the top layer of soil dries out, the bulb will be further away from the top, down where there is more moisture to be had. Instead of planting twice the depth of the bulb I am planting three, or even four times the depth.
Spring drought conditions affected the tulips more that the Narcissus, being later flowering than the latter.
Because of the continued warm autumn weather it is wise to hold back planting tulips until the temperature has dropped; tulips can easily get diseases and fail if planted whilst it is relatively warm. Narcissus however can be planted now.
Don’t let the warm autumn weather lull all of us in to false security which can change in a whisper - Jack Frost can kill our tender plants in one night. I got caught out a few years ago with a sudden temperature drop.
So bring any tender plants into a frost-proof greenhouse or even you kitchen window sill, not forgetting any clay pots which must also be give protection.
The dust has finally settled on the Bradford flower carpet. What did we learn from this wonderful experience?
Perhaps you were one of the lucky 40 who were chosen out over 150 applicants and only 40 available places to be given the opportunity of helping to install it in Centenary Square. The list of those selected was generated at random to reflect a wide spread of postcodes within the Bradford District, and ages.
I went along to see them at work, each on their knees placing the Dahlias in position, to Shiraaz Ali’s design based around the history of Bradford’s textile industry. Shiraaz certainly gets my award for his ingenuity, and well done to Molly Rigg from the Bradford Culture Company,
Not forgetting the non-profit Tapis de fleurs de Bruxelles and all involved in this event.
Around 80,000 people flocked to see the wonderful sight, and a further 10,000 attended the light and sound show which was less impressive. Not exactly Tchaikovsky’s mystical, magical Waltz of the Flowers, but noise sounding like someone rattling a paper bag with a few drumbeats with lights flashing.
What did the 80,000 plus come to see? Did they come to view the Norfolk Gardens largely green area As I stated in my last column, this is a great success.
Or did they come in thousands to see a mass of colour? Two people I met at the flower carpet were Danny and Denise Mitchell, who made the journey from Wrose. I asked what was the attraction they had come see? “Well the colours,” they replied. They also said there should be more colourful plantings in the city centre.
Danny and Denise Mitchell at the Flower Carpet in Centenary Square. Peter Fawcett
Indeed, due to the fashion of greening which is endemic amongst garden designers, the use of colourful plants is now rarely seen. The one lesson to be had from the huge success of Bradford flower carpet is that the way to bring the crowds back is the colourful way.