Autumn Gardening Classes recommence on September 10 and 12th. 10 - 1 pm .

What to do Now in September mid Autumn

 

  1. Choose the flowers you would like to collect seed from .Take a photo to remind yourself of what it looked like and where it was in the garden. Seeds only germinate when harvested ripe. 
  2. Harvest the last of your rhubarb. If you don’t have time to use it simply wash it, chop and freeze for a later date.Very handy for a quick crumble and also when you are ready to make jam — don’t forget the ginger.Tomatoes also freeze really well for sauce making later.
  3. Tip prune fruit trees for shape, fruit is usually borne on older growth. 
  4. Repair damaged lawns, also prepare ground for both new lawn sowing and wild flower meadows.
  5. Start dividing clumps of perennials, if they need division. Soil nice and warm to allow for root growth helping divisions get going again.Could be a bit on the late side for grasses.Grasses are best divided in late spring, when the soil is warming up.Also cuttings, now for overwintering.
  6. Start planting you're early spring bulbs, it is much easier now as the garden is warm, you can see the gaps for planting among the perennials. Summer  / autumn bulbs, which have flowered, or still flowering, if you are not happy where they are, move them and remember to allow the foliage to die naturally feeding the bulbs, tubers for next year. Plant tulip bulbs in colder weather. 
  7. Autumn containers  — be adventurous, bulbs, annuals perennials small shrubs , etc. Happily it is still nice and warm, wind is drying plants  in containers cut down on feeding, or simple plant up for winter.Summer containers are wonderful, and we also need winter interest. Think of a mini garden and what plants would give colour and texture. During the short days we often spend a great deal of time looking out through our windows, activity in the garden, birds even foxes playing(not with or chickens) can be joyful and really beneficial to our environment.
  8. Turn your compost, make room for all the new clippings you will have in the next couple of months. Think about how to store your leafs so as to have the use of such a valuable soil additive. Leafs breaks down quicker when  shredded, this applies to all composted material.
  9. Cleared vegetable beds, which you are not going to use until spring, either cover or grow a green manure.
  10. Take notes of your favourite autumn colour, the plants, the shrubs and the trees and see if you can imitate in your space.

Lots to do.Get as much done now as the evenings are drawing in quickly and it is still warm. Don't strip everything backs as it provides cover for not only the soil but the creatures that live there.Water, drinking water also crucial for visiting creatures. Focus on tidying your edging, preparing your compost heaps if you need help having your hedges cut book your help now.As autumn continues into winter, we will be coming into bare root planting  season.Lots of opportunities.

In our Autumn classes we will be covering all of this and more.

 

Osslating Hoes back In Stock

Osslating Hoe

Mornington Garden No dig

Botanical Mono Printing and Sketching in the Garden June 2108

Ants in the Garden

Are ants in the garden bad? The good and bad news about ants and plants. Just as a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place, insects in the wrong place are pests. Ants play a very important role in the ecology of your garden for good and for not so good. ... Ants are predator and prey since they eat the eggs of many insects and serve as food for birds, lizards, and other beneficials. Their tunnels aerate the soil and allow water and nutrients to flow directly to the plant roots. They also distribute seeds by storing them in their tunnels. The caterpillars of some butter­fly groups - read more on Blog page

Mornington May 17 2018

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"Potting On" at Dalkey Garden School,Dalkey

Gardening and Growing Herbs and how to use them as Medicine

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General Gardening Class

April 21,22 and 28,   2018,  2 Saturday, 1 Sunday morning

10am – 1pm

Annmarie Bowring

An introduction to how to take good care of your garden. What plants to plant and how.

Including lawn care, pruning, plant supports, good bugs, feeds, soil testing, composting and tools. All materials are supplied.As the classes are small (max 6) we will have an opportunity to focus on your garden challenges.

Growing Herbs and using them as Medicine.

Saturday 19 May 2018

10am – 4pm

Joan Hanrahan and Annmarie Bowring

Growing Herbs and How to Use Them as Medicine

Morning and afternoon workshop

Growing herbs and seed sowing

Joan runs a busy practice in nutritional therapy and herbal medicine in Dalkey, where she combines nutritional support with medicinal herbs to optimise healing. Her teaching emphasises nutritional and naturopathic approaches to chronic diseases, and her clinical experience is a valuable resource for students. She is an expert on the digestive system and its relation to immunity, and the interconnectedness of body systems.

Joan trained initially at the Institute of Optimum Nutrition and then went on to gain a BSc. honours degree in Nutritional Therapy at the University of Westminster. She followed this with a two-year post graduate diploma in Herbal Medicine and is now practising in Dalkey, Dublin as a Medical Herbalist and Nutritional Therapist.

She is a member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy, Nutritional Therapists of Ireland, National Institute of Medical Herbalists and Irish Medical Herbalists Organisation.

Joan has a particular interest in the areas of stress, anxiety, adrenal fatigue and other chronic health and digestive problems and regularly attends medical and nutritional seminars. Her interest in environmental medicine has led to involvement with the anti-fluoride movement in Ireland. Joan, a keen gardener, is interested in growing her own food and using foods from the wild.

 

Lunch and notes included.