No two years are ever the same in gardening, and indeed this year the seasons have always been roughly a month ahead of themslves. So already in the garden you will see lots of early autumn interest that wouldn’t normally appear until 3-4 weeks dow the line.
Indeed, autumn is one of the very best times to visit Cholmondeley, and year on year with our continual planting programme we are always looking to incorporate autumn interest in the borders, to enhance this season further.
There is a great range of shrubs, and indeed small trees suitable for any garden that give great autumnal colours. Favourites of ours include Acers, deciduous Euonymus, and Stewartia. But also think about berry producing plants, and even shrubs such as Hydrangeas, whose flower heads last deep into autumn. And we are not always too picky at dead-heading herbaceous perennials as many have attrcative seed heads that last well.
Elsewhere at Cholmondeley ornamental grasses come into their own at this time of year as their waving seed heads look great in the morning light. And early this year are our drifts of autumn Crocus, Colchicum and Cyclamen, to be found on the drive beds, and in the Glade and Folly gardens.
Trees and shrubs are also starting to display colours with Persian Ironwoods and Acers across the garden already changing.
It’s also the best time to start preperations for next year, and the new Lavinia Walk borders will continue to develop over the coming months with further bed preperations and the planting of the Malus avenue.
All in all, it’s an exciting time to be at Cholmondeley!