Time to look after the lawn - and a touch of midnight weeding

In the Garden
Any level of denial about summer being over is well and truly in the rear view mirror. Familiar indicators such as wearing jumpers, considering putting the heating on, the naming of storms and negotiating Christmas are well and truly part of our daily routines now. A rainy day often means flicking through seed catalogues or if you’re as tedious as me, listening out for the dull thud of the perry pear tree jettisoning its ripe bounty.
It might appear to the uninitiated that gardening after August is counter-intuitive. Whilst nature takes care of most things it doesn't always consult us so year round working together is essential.
A little attention to the lawn now pays dividends next year. You can easily turn a patch of weeds into a well tended lawn with just a few hours donkey work. Even if you just rake over mossy patches and nothing else things will improve, but if you follow that up with forking robustly all over then its even better. Adding sharp sand is like adding magic glitter . All this serves to create the perfect conditions for most grasses to thrive above the weeds. It’s a job that really needs doing only twice a year, now and in spring. If you were thinking of not cutting the lawn until March then hope for temperatures below 9C degrees. Anything above that and grass is in business.
Like any other herbaceous plant grass needs feeding so think about adding fertiliser, preferably one that works alongside the natural habitat. If you’re on a budget then lawn sand might be your only outlay at this point. I tend to reseed more in spring although you can do it now but you need a constant spell of temperature in double figures. Interestingly enough the amount of work we need to do on the lawn all year round might be anecdotal evidence of global warming affecting our everyday lives.
On the Plot
Some veg loves the wet weather and alliums are in that group. It’s time to plant garlic and onions. As both are from the same ancient family (alliums) they can be grown as companions even though they are only distant relatives.
As I've found to my cost you can’t just plonk them in the ground and come back in six months to plump bulbs. They need some tender love, sunshine and plenty of food. Dig in well rotted manure before planting the sets or garlic cloves. They dislike acid soil so sprinkle lime or wood ash (not coal) over the site. Then you can pop them in a shallow trench as this confuses the inquisitive blackbirds (it’s always blackbirds) as they can’t reach the bulbs without toppling over. Feed the plants with a high potash feed now and again and they will start to put on weight around spring and be ready to harvest in summer. Garlic needs a period of cold, say two months below 10C degrees to make a complete bulb. This is also good to know when it’s freezing. At least someone benefits.
Divide mammoth rhubarb crowns now, transplanting nearby as the conditions will be ideal given the health of the parent plant. You can never have enough rhubarb, it’s a perennial plant that just keeps on giving even though it only seems to need manure placing over it at this time of year.
I never seem to be looking for tasks to do in the garden in any given week as they appear like a sacred vision. The sudden overnight appearance of leaves for example. Even when supervising the dogs at night when they only have hedgehogs on their mind, the torchlight picks out established weeds and jobs in hidden corners. I've become quite partial to a bit of midnight weeding in my pyjamas proving there’s always a job out there.