I went to Green Lane today and spent an hour scooping up 4 or 5 bags of leaves. Back home, we mowed them up and bagged them up again to go down to the allotment with a bag of mown apple leaves. Really glad to have done it at last. There are millions still in the lane, but I doubt I’ll go back again before next year.

I weeded and mostly emptied Bed 7 to make room for the contents of the leaf bin. Moving the bins out of the way, I was able to get rid of the nettles, re-lay the tiles and cover the ground under the wooden bin with the plastic sheet that was originally not doing much inside the bin.

When we emptied the bin, there was no sign of the ants any more, which was great, so we just mixed up the leaves and put them back into the bin. It’s not ready for use yet really, but the remnants left on the bed can certainly stay.

I also emptied Bed 9 today and added coffee and compost. The robin landed on the heap of compost the moment I turned my back.

We covered Bed 9 and Bed 4 for winter, but Bed 7 has enough colour from the marigolds and zinnias to stay open for the moment. Bed 1 is going to be open for a long time yet – it’s still blooming beautifully.

The pond has been a little low for a while, so I filled it pretty much to the top; hopefully it won’t drop too much. Some tiny new pieces of floating weed have appeared. I’m curious to see whether it’s duckweed.  

I weeded and spread coffee on Bed 9. While I was working there was a lot of bird activity in the tree and when I looked up at the sound of some insistent peeping, I saw a couple of long-tailed tits flying in and out of the tree.

I have cleared the corn cockle and nigella from the trellis bed, along with a lot of the trellis bed. Anything big that’s not at the back needs to go. There’s a lot more weeding to be done, but the big obvious stuff has gone.

The mole may have pushed through a bit at the side of the pond. I’m not sure the pond is built for longevity, but hopefully it’ll survive a while longer.

I transplanted a clump of physostegia that I’d dug up weeks ago and used some soil that I’d kept from mole excavations  to fill it in.

There are all sorts of volunteers already coming up in the garden, including this sea of foxglove seedlings which clearly needs thinning and moving around. The nasturtium that appeared in the compost heap is also getting bigger and bigger. There’s one flower on it, but the rest is just leaves.

I took the afternoon off with pouring rain forecast for tomorrow and got some great work done. We reversed down the path to deliver two bags of compost; the ground is pretty wet now, so I think this is as far as I’ll be able to go until spring.

I covered the lupin toad hole with some pieces of bark. Come on toads, come back to the plot.

We covered Beds 2 and 10. Later I realised that the marigolds in Bed 4 were done, so I took those out and added compost. That’s now ready to be covered. The Bed 9 marigolds are done too, so that bed is next. They’re going great guns with the calendula in Bed 1 though.

Most of the apples have been picked now. There are just some high up, trying to escape over into the back plot. While clearing up the windfalls I found that the liner of the hedgehog house has deteriorated and it’s certainly not watertight at the moment. I don’t really want to unpin it all, so I shall work on giving it better protection with twigs and leaves.

I started to clear the triangle. The fuchsia looks happier now that I’ve taken out the big nettle that was sitting on it. I’m wondering if I want to mulch this area and the woodland bed with some wood chipping – not decorative bark.

I’ve made a bit of difference to the front bed too, but there’s lots more weeding to be done. I wish the callicarpa looked healthier. It doesn’t look as good as when I bought it.

I added a layer of coffee and compost to Bed 2 and moved the volunteer pink lobelia to Bed 3. I took the lobelia from Bed 9 and added them to the bed too. The fuchsias are doing very nicely and the verbena and yellow thing are still going well too. I might just be getting some longer colour established in this bed.

There was a volunteer fennel plant at the edge of the bed, which I’ve potted up and taken home for the winter. It looked a bit sad in the pot, so we’ll see if it picks up.

I weeded Bed 10 and added coffee and a thick layer of compost; 10 and 2 both had a whole bag. A verbena is left, which may be moved or just left for some colour before removal. There are a lot growing in Bed 10 which may be the ones I use for filler in the spring.

While I was at the back of the plot I saw three blue tits flying around and discovered that they’re the ones who have been eating the sunflower seeds. It’s thrilling to see this actually happen. One of them also clung onto the nest box and looked inside.

I cleared Bed 4, but for the flowers and added coffee. The compost will be done later.

I tidied up Bed 5 a bit, but nasturtiums are still going for now. Note to self: next time I do nasturtiums, make sure I cram lots in.

I’ve made a start on clearing Bed 9, taking out all the weeds and removing the rest of the dead candytuft. I also knocked over the molehill at the front of the triangle and made a small start on clearing up that section. Still lots of work to do there and I’ve realised that the lemon balm has crept too far forward and will need some digging.

I got my step count up in the light drizzle, looking for my glove, which turned out to be at the bottom of my weed bucket. I tidied up the woodland bed, removing the weeds, rediscovering the lungworts, as well as the hellebore that has just re-emerged. Larkspur and cornflowers are being left to seed down.

I saw the robin on one of the perching branches against the fence, so I’d like to find a couple more of those to encourage the bird population to hang around. Sparrows and dunnocks were all around me.

Keeping in mind that the right hand side of the allotment is last to get unnavigable, I set to work on the left hand border, clearing the grass and weeds. I’ve dug up a clump of physostegia to clear space in front of the right hand perovskia and made sure the left one was clearer too. Hopefully they’ll do better next year.

I did lots of general pulling up of dead nigella and poppies etc. I’m gradually clearing the rubbish out of the way to get down to the real mess I’ll need to clear in the soil.

A piece of couch grass had poked its way through the plastic up on the beach. Fortunately not too low and quite obvious, so it was fairly easy to mend. I knew that having one layer of PVC would mean that the pond isn’t permanent, but I hope it’s not about to be attacked by the damn grass all over. I tried to pump the glue into the hole a bit as the grass only broke off, and I’ve added a layer of glue in the area too.

There’s a real hole in the ground to the right of the pond, where a lupin has half-rotted away. It’s by my toad shelter and really needs a bit more of a roof over the hole.

In the afternoon we delivered a couple of bags of compost to the allotment and did a bit more weeding while we were there. Beds 2 and 10 will be done tomorrow.