October!!!!.. Autumn colours in the garden...

Agree re being a mucky gardener. I've never managed to be a clean one yet... I do like the mix of plants in your garden- informal and tidy at the same time. Its weird but only this afternoon I was saying to OH that we see lots of cats on Goy but not many dogs these days, and I wondered where Harriet had got to! Good to see both dogs again. have you decided where to overwinter your 'acers yet?

Love your 'misty' photos, Lincs. You have such a pretty garden with lots to enjoy. Your garden helpers have obviously put in lots of effort!! You have blackbirds, we have moles! Unless you have a team of under-gardeners to help I think all of us are 'mucky gardeners' to some extent...

your garden is looking lovely as are the dogs. We also have blackbirds that do that too. But I wouldn't be without them.

I don't think I can be anything but a mucky gardener, I am just not that devoted. Wish I was but I have more things that I want to do and there seems to be less time available.

A sign of age apparently!

Hi Stera, I like informal, that sounds a much better description than I call it.
I'm going to stand the acers as close as I can under the remaining conifer, even if it means killing off a patch of lawn to give them protection, I think they will be okay if I can keep the wind at bay, if we get any big freeze warnings I can cover them with a net .
Harriet is a proper little madam Stera, very stubborn, won't take no for an answer, try and tell her off and everybody ends up laughing, she can make you feel guilty just by a look, honestly its like having a toddler in the house, lol.
Pepper is my little shadow, never far away from me, the only problem is Toffee (cat ) he never comes into the back garden, kitchen or sitting room, its been two years now since Pepper moved in, she no longer barks at him when he is within her sight, (we have child safety gates, they are either side) so a wee bit of progress, have thought of forcing the issue and shutting them both in the room, under supervision of course , then I think it would be cruel and might make him even more scared, would hate to lose him....

Anget my helpers were actually very helpful, I throw fallen apples onto the raised bed under the hedge for the birds, Harriet and Pepper were fetching them back, took me a while to realise, I'll stick with the blackbirds, I've seen molehills in lawns, not only that Pepper would go mental trying to dig them out.

Seaburn I am a mucky gardener but happy with it, that is the best, healthiest way to be in my opinion, time passes too quickly so we must enjoy doing what we love.
I wouldn't be without my birds really, they are part of the garden even when mucking up my footpath, just wish it wasn't every day, its my own fault really, when I extended that bed I used all my homemade compost to enrich the soil, it worked and blackie and all the family are loving it, LOL....

Lovely garden Linclass but I feel very sorry for Toffee, ousted out from the garden & having to be kept away from Pepper indoors, very unfair. He was there first & should have been treated accordingly, Pepper should have been found another home when it wasn't working out. Cats rule ok. Of course you could perhaps find another home for Toffee, where he will be the only pet, & he would be so much happier. Cats don't like sharing very much.

Feverfew I could never do that, Toffee is our boy and is happy and loved very much, he has free reign in our home, even sleeps upstairs, if he had been a fighter I would have forced the issue long before now but he is not, had cats and dogs all my life and they have always shared, been quite capable of sorting the pecking order out amongst themselves, its me that has gone soft now, hence not forcing the issue.
As regards Pepper, she was my sisters pet, I promised Cathy when we knew she was dying that she would always have a home with me, a promise I will keep ...

Very nice to see so many plants still flowering abundantly in your garden, Lincslass!

On the allotment I used to find mulched beds with the mulch scattered over the paths I tried to create between the beds. It took me some time to discover what was causing the mess! It wasn't until I saw them, while working on another bed further away but with a view of the bed in question!

I'm probably a messy gardener, too. But I do like to clear up after myself.

Hello Balcony exactly my point, shame Blackie and his family don't see it like that...

Sue I'm a mucky gardener too. I also have a tendency to start doing the odd job while in totally unsuitable clothes and footwear...even in my PJ's and slippers!
As for Blackbirds and their excavation antics... we've got a a digger too! Don't they make a devil of a mess?!
Btw, I have the same plant you have in your third picture, but I've lost the label. Could you remind me what it is please?

Sue, you’ve such an abundance of colour throughout!
I have been known to climb up the bund in flip flops!!! When I see a job that needs doing, it’s a case of there and then!
Your little “helpers” look more like gaffers to me! 😂
Making sure you’ve got the tasks in hand!

Your garden is lovely Sue and your companions are lovelier :) There's still a lot of colour and interest there. I hope it lasts a while longer.
Your pond is pretty :)

Hiya Julia, its Rudbekia, I've always been a mucky pup when gardening, often get sidetracked even when visiting relatives, I've been known to borrow clean tops just to walk home in, lol...

Lol...

Ha,ha,! I've not got quite that bad!

Sorry, Linclass, I understand now about your promise to always to keep Pepper. I too have lost a sister ( to MND)
Pets usually do sort themselves out. Glad this is the case with yours. My neighbour got a 2nd cat & his original cat moved out & is now entirely an outside cat. It goes in only for food & when the weather is extremely cold. It seems happy enough though, & often sleeps under the catmint in my garden.

Thankyou Hywel, I'm constantly deadheading to keep them going as long as possible.

Thankyou Paul, the pond garden has suffered in the last few months due to lack of rain but now its sprouting again, its always at its best late winter/early spring, I don't feed the plants growing near to the pond in case of runoff into the water..
The Cosmos are now coming into their own, I was beginning to wonder if they were all going to be blind this year, I also love the foliage but must remember next year NOT to plant any in the Photina bed, I cannot see my rose garden from my window, lol...would you believe they were labelled as dwarf variety, somebody forgot to tell them though.
I've lectured my blackbird families but they don't listen, at least I'm not losing my sempervivums now, before I extended that border I use to have them scattered on the lawns so know what you mean, was forever popping them back into the border...

F' few, no need to apologise bless you.!!!.. I admit when Pepper first moved in we were all worried that we would lose Toffee at first, when it turned cold at night he soon learnt it was safe to come in via the front door...

I love your garden Sue! Very informal and homely! I like what you did to the border where the green house was too! And..just love your pond! We usually have black birds but haven't seen them lately! I used to love watching them in the bird bath! It's strange that they have disappeared!
Sending you a p.m.

Really lovely photos of your garden and pets I love cosmos and your white ones are gorgeous.

Sue, I love your Autumnal garden, so much going on with plenty of colour too. I emptied two growbags as the Toms aren't going to ripen now . . . spread the contents over a border . . . there was loads of it on the garden path this morning . . . Blackbirds grubbing around methinks!