The seasonal gardening wheel turns and we prepare to go again.

Today I bring thoughts on summer’s residue and discuss how we can move gardens forward. I’ll also share the latest twists in my own horticultural journey, and speak as to why September may just be the best month of the gardening year.

Welcome to my garden journal, a place where I pause and reflect on my recent gardening ways, and look to the days ahead. Thanks for stopping by.

Firstly

Whilst late September’s gardening pages await their fate, my diary’s inky squiggles from those long hot summer days are fixed and dry. What a paradigm-shifting summer that was.

Every now and then a weather pattern comes along to push and test our limits, often leaving a mark on people and the land itself; summer 2026 was one of those, and will certainly be one to remember. In character, summer was undeniably a wolf in wolf’s clothing, who from the get-go made no attempt to suppress its roar. From a gardening perspective the sun’s aggression seemed relentless, and the forecasters promise for it to return next year is anything but a veiled threat.

If, I consider, you were able to kick back with an iced drink or maybe look out from the shade of an air-conditioned room or a breezy beach, then summer might have delivered some wonderful memories. If your working days were designed to place you out in the heat, however, I trust that you made it through okay, your breaks were long and often, and that your garden fared well. May God bless the trees and their shade!

In all seriousness, whilst temperatures do begin to slide, rain once again seems not far away and all feels well in the garden again, I’d urge us not to forget the summer challenges quite so quickly.

Lawns may be greening, but scars in the earth still run deep, and drought status in some areas will continue through to next year. Be mindful therefore of the opportunity this autumn and winter presents to repair our gardens and to help them become more resilient for the seasons ahead: think trees for shade, water harvesting, drought tolerant ground cover planting and so on. The time is nigh to make a difference!

Note: If you should hear me grumble about said rain in the weeks ahead, do please remind me to shut up!

On a secondary note and from a personal perspective, I do really love September – it’s such a special month for gardens and gardeners alike.

Whiteboards in bothies up and down the land will be full of seasonal tasks, most often packaged as if gardens needed putting to bed. This in many respects is true, but nudging conventional descriptions aside, gardens rarely do fall completely silent, more often they grow a little slower in their own particular way. It may be more fitting then whilst enjoying the fulness and flowers that remain, to think of these coming weeks as the beginning of a gardening year, a time where good foundations can be laid for next year’s garden brilliance.

Let’s not think of this month as the time to sweep away autumn and close the garden down, let’s bask in the glorious colours that are coming our way and enjoy the season we’re in. Importantly, and with another growing year still clear in our rear-view mirrors, let’s prepare well for the year ahead.

How’s that for a dose of autumnal positivity?!

On the work front…

Work for me these days continues, naturally, to be centred on gardening. Whilst it’s good to share, I will however spare you some of the tedious details. Suffice to say that whilst I enjoyed a foray down into the Cotswolds for a month of horticultural happenings, I now continue my gardening ways in Stratford upon Avon with the team across Shakespeare’s gardens.

For sure, whilst my horticultural journey has navigated some twists and turns of late, it’s not been a bad year at all; and the changes could not have come at a better moment. In fact I’ve learned more about myself and my motivations in the past twelve months than in the previous twelve years, and that can’t be a bad thing at all.

I may not have all the answers just yet but my current position suits me just fine, leaving scope and opportunity to explore new avenues, or to discover my true calling you could say.

I’ll keep you posted…

In the Garden

Aside from some light weeding, lawn cutting and a few trips to the allotment, my gardening activity over recent weeks has largely been in my professional capacity.

The Cotswolds venture I mentioned above included some gloriously sunny hours working amongst rare trees with seriously impressive views beyond. Aside from a little summer fruit pruning, the first two weeks were spent establishing annual plans for both production and ornamental gardens, reviewing equipment, sourcing suppliers, building an order for new items, and establishing a priority list of garden projects for the years ahead.

Along with some obligatory gardening, I delivered much of the above list by the end of week two, thanks in no short measure to the in-house team and some contractor help. By the end of week four however I was happy to move on from the venue, leaving the garden much closer to where it should be for the time of year.

Across each of the gardening ways that I’ve followed whether down in Gloucestershire or back here in leafy Warwickshire, I’ve enjoyed diving into deep borders and running up and down ladders in pursuit of perfection. I’ve not touched a drop of chemical, have lightly trimmed back and tied in some unruly and vicious climbing roses, shaped a good few metres of handsome topiary, and made record offerings to the compost gods; it’s been a busy one you could say.

Naturally I spent much time enjoying the sounds of nature whilst working away, but must admit to having caught up with a few podcasts, which is a great way to feel connected to the gardening world when you’re at work alone. A new podcast to me is Outsiding, with Caitlin Moran and Adam Frost, which has made me chuckle more than once when busy in the garden – I enthusiastically recommend the episode from Aug 20 with Miquita Oliver.

Looking Ahead

Eagle-eyed readers will have realised that I do have a few gaps in my weekly calendar to fill…

Pardon me for the plug, but whilst being ‘comfortable’ with my current days and well rooted here in south Warwickshire, I am somewhat coiled and ready for a new adventure.

In lieu of a CV, I’m into craft-based gardening and take it very seriously. I’m trained in horticulture, garden design and management, and have worked for a few years in a garden and parks consultant capacity, where sustainability and nature friendly gardening is hugely important to me.

Without doubt I’m as creatively motivated behind a desk as with my Niwaki’s in hand, and as demonstrated both through my gardening and writing, being engaged in my work is important. If you’re aware of an opportunity in the south Warwickshire or north Cotswolds area, therefore, I’d appreciate the nod.

Aside from all that busy-busy work-work stuff, I really must get out in the garden, so do accept my thanks and appreciation for reading thus far and supporting my writing and gardening journey. 

Gary Webb. Gardening Ways 🌿

Link to Outsiding Podcast

p.s. No, I wouldn’t be a good fit for Gardeners’ World – I do know that much. Any advances on Frances Tophill, Adam Frost or Arit Anderson, with Chris Beardshaw or Toby Buckland as wild cards?!