Tidying up

I don't believe in too much tidying up for winter; the wildlife prefers things left as they are.  Realistically, though, some work has to be done otherwise it all gets out of hand and there isn't time in spring to catch up.  There are plenty of rough areas, both in the garden and in the fields beyond, to keep the wildlife happy. 

The greenhouse has had a bit of a clean (it still smells of Jeyes Fluid, which probably isn't great for the plants inside but I'm hoping it might fumigate out any greenfly that survived my washing of all the cinerarias).  I wasn't as thorough as recommended, because there's still a lot of stuff stashed in the greenhouse for want of anywhere better to put it, but all the working area had a scrub.  The tomato and aubergine plants have been turfed out (the aubergines had succumbed to grey mould anyway); I was about to do the same with my three-year-old chilli plants, but they're looking a lot better after I cut off the brown bits, so they can stay.  I'm now gradually clearing the summer pots, planting up the frost-tender plants (argyranthemums, phormiums - 'Tricolor' has bulked up well and I've divided it - and phygelius) for overwintering in the greenhouse.  I'm also going to try to keep one of the Ricinus communis going, to see how big it will get next year.  The bulbs (mostly tulips, but some belated crocus, daffs and alliums) are going in the pots with some winter/spring interest on top (mostly violas, forget-me-nots, wallflowers).

The remains of this year's veg plants (beans and courgettes) have gone to the compost heap, and garlic and 'Aquadulce Claudia' broad beans have gone in (better late than never).  There are still some lettuces near the back door, despite some frosty nights.  The dahlias are still outside; the frosts haven't blackened them yet, although 'Ambition', which failed to live up to its name, is looking particularly ropy.  Next year's colour is already on the way, however; the 'Atkinsii' snowdrops are nosing up through the ground.

The damp weather is giving way to cold, windy days and slightly frosty nights, which is preferable on the whole.  The blackbirds and redwings are working their way through the berries on the holly tree, so some branches have been cut for Christmas and are in a bucket in the greenhouse.  Other birds continue to come looking for food; there are still plenty of windfall apples, and the digging in the vegetable plot has attracted the partridges (11 of them today).  A greenfinch appeared one day, which is encouraging after all the disease locally; we've also had a tawny owl in the ash trees, calling after dark.  The mild autumn has obviously benefited the wildlife; there was a butterfly (tortoiseshell or red admiral, I couldn't see the detail) in the village hall garden on Saturday.