This is the second weekend that I’ve selected six images based on my working week, and posted on social media with the SixonSaturday hashtag; a thriving hashtag community initiated by @cavershamjj

After posting I received a comment on twitter from @Jobasha who linked his six on Saturday tweet to his blog 30daysofwildparenting – its title alone is fascinating!

Well, I was inspired, and with credit for this initial spark of an idea to Joshua, I’m going to attempt something similar, in the form of a weekly (hopefully) update on all things horticultural. OK, so I may miss the odd week going forward – but like us all – there’s so much to do and so little time!

Above therefore is my SixonSaturday for this week, (w/c 25th Nov) as featured earlier today on twitter and instagram. I shall pass on explaining the top right image, which generally picks up on the weather pattern this week in the north Cotswolds garden where I work in Broadwell.

Dahlias, and lots of them! These tubers had been grown in containers this year, and had all died back from earlier frosts. My task was to release the tubers from their pots, to clean off the compost, and set out for drying. They’re now all clean and tidy, and indoors drying upside down, and will soon be planted right-side-up in a dry compost mix in boxes, until next spring. The spent compost has been recycled as a mulch on a border.

The above image of an empty compost bin shows one of four bins that have been excellently constructed and used at the garden. Thankfully, the last bin wasn’t completely full, so the work as started here entailed moving and mixing the decaying materials into the last bin on the right. There was ample cardboard that, after so much rain, was easy to tear and mix with the other green waste materials.

There’s a good deal of work left in these bins yet, but there’s some excellent composted material to be harvested too – which literally will go down very well on the borders throughout the garden.

This was the first section of a border that needed renovating before bulb planting can take place. Simply through time and commitments, the border had grown over with grass from the adjacent lawn, and whilst it was very heavy going, it was really rewarding to see this border return to something near its previous appearance. Next week will see some of the saved plants cleaned and returned, followed by extensive planting of bulbs.

Talking of bulbs, the above image is of more! I can’t take credit for planting these, but have netted with wire and stored in their winter quarters as shown. Hopefully, this secluded area will afford the bulbs the period of winter cold they need, and the wire will keep the squirrel and mice eyes off the prize!

This, the final image from this week’s post is to honour the beautiful late November sunshine that arrived on Friday. It was a long time coming, and in this image was gradually slipping behind the hillside as I finished digging the border that had strained me for much of the week.

A challenging week all things considered, but refreshing to finish with such a wonderful flourish. Key tasks were ticked off the list, and the scene is set for next week’s main task of bulb planting – and much more. You can keep an eye on progress, if you wish on Twitter and Instagram.

Until next time…

Regards, Gary