Hairy Autumn planning

Hi

No Indian summer here as I stare out the window. I know a few of you will have seen some quite high temperatures over the last couple of days, but here it currently feels like we are about to dissolve. Light levels have crashed and I walked home in virtual darkness last night.

Sales have curtailed slightly this week and I expect more of the same over the next few weeks, as everyone battens down for the long haul to the spring. I know quite a few will be looking to get Christmas underway in the next couple of weeks, which for some can be the busiest time of the year, but this is definitely coming up to our quiet time. Just need a bit more warm weather to allow us to get the last few weeks of potting completed and then it's heads down on cutting back the older stock and dressing the pots with mulch to hold back the winter liverwort growth. Don't forget our spring starts in January, weather permitting, with a few evergreens and the spring bulbs all leaping into action so we won't be away for long.

The damp and cooler weather has timed itself quite nicely for the end of this week as we have arranged for a team to come and install a replacement liner in our main irrigation tank. We sprang a small leak a few weeks ago and hoped to limp through until the end of September, but this week it suddenly worsened and we had to ask the team to come in fairly urgently. It should only take a day to whip the old one out, replace it and fit a new cover at the same time, but we will need to have the tank empty at the appropriate moment.

The swallows are gathering now for their long haul migration to warmer parts. We had a small flock parked up on the overhead cable this morning looking very sorry for themselves. It was cold and very wet, certainly not a good day for feeding and building up their reserves for the trip ahead. Over the past week when the weather was a bit kinder, we had a couple of really big flocks swooping over the nursery which is exciting to see but also a bit sad that we will have to wait many months before their return and their delightful summer chattering.

We are starting to line up a series of winter projects, setting ourselves up for an even more efficient 2025 season. I'm am ever hopeful that the solar panels will be in before too long, although I suspect a few more hiccups before they actually get sorted. I can't quite believe how long it is taking to complete the planning process and then we have to clear the connection with SSE, tidy the site again, install the tilting frames, fix and wire up the panels and invertors, battery storage and control equipment, all of which is bound to go smoothly. At least it is long term positive progress on the carbon front.

We have a new module tray filler and seed sowing machine on the way, in order to increase our in-house peat-free propagation, which might save a few pennies, but more urgently will increase the number of varieties we can say are 100% peat free. Currently the average peat content in our pots (caused by some of our propagator suppliers not being totally peat- free) is 99.25% but apparently this isn't enough for everyone, so we are spending about £40,000 to improve the position. It's a good job we are so young and still stand a chance to get a return on that investment!

We have the tree surgeons booked in again to regain control of some more of our rampant hedging. It worked a treat last winter with lots more light getting into some of our previously over shadowed tunnels. We also have some work to do installing the new pressurised sand filter by the rainwater sump, tidying up the rainwater collection drains and installing more channels so that we maximise the amount of rainfall reaching our sumps. There are some buildings where the gutters empty to waste rather than being diverted into the collection drains, so a bit of thought and engineering needed there. All fun and positive improvements, just hoping the autumn/winter lull in sales is long enough to get it all done. It isn't usually.

End of season wooden Box returns

We have already started collecting a lot of our wooden boxes back from many sites and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. If you have empty boxes ready to go please do drop us a line and we will pop in when next in the area. 

Availability list.

Summer is rushing by and the Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are well ready with the bud and flower. Premium variety Tiarella Pink Skyrocket are ready with attractive foliage and now also in bud and flower.

Fresh batches of the summer and autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are coming into bud and colour. Lovely foliage plants on show with Ajuga and Euphorbia displaying nicely. The more classic Aster varieties are coming on strong now, after all the new early Alpha range has sold out. Most are now coming into bud ready for their late summer and autumn display.

Summer colour is still there with Gaura Rosy Jane and its bicolour flowers plus the lovely delicate white Whirling Butterflies.New range for this year is the Helenium Hayday series, Strong and compact and still showing good colour and bud.

Armeria Dreameria series of long season flowering Armerias are still showing plenty of colour with still more to come. The Balloon Flower Platycodon Twinkle Blue and Twinkle White are now well into bud with the odd flash of colour.

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.