No Rest in November

I always find that November catches me out. It goes by way too fast and suddenly I’m looking at advent calendars and Christmas trees and wondering where it went. We have had a fabulous autumn this year though, and the arboretums are still holding on to a little of their colour. This will soon pass though as the seasonal storms do their best to whip those remaining leaves away.
We are now playing catch up with the bulb planting and winter bedding, as I was waiting for the temperatures to drop a little before we got too many bulbs in the ground. It’s very satisfying to get the bulbs in. I see them as a promise of the coming spring. Each little bulb contains that potential beauty locked up inside of it, ready to come back to life when the conditions are right. Bulbs and seeds fascinate me!
I wanted to take time to thank our two volunteer groups who have done sterling work for us over the year, not only planting bulbs, but throughout the gardens. They have been a huge help. On top of that, they are a wonderful bunch of people, and we really look forward to seeing them every week.
Work in the gardens has become very typical for the season, with emphasis on tidying, cutting back and mulching. A big job for us this time of the year is leaf collection. We compost a lot of our leaf litter, as it’s a free source of extremely good mulch for plants. Let’s face it the natural ways are usually the best! We do not however collect up the leaves from our main Lime tree avenue. These are pushed back under the trees to provide a protective mulch and feed for the snowdrop and bluebell bulbs that live there.
December is always a month where we aim to finish up projects etc, but I have learnt to be realistic. Life goes on in January! Other work for the month includes wind lopping roses to prevent wind rock, roughly digging over vegetable beds, tidying up and disinfecting glasshouses, planting, or moving bare root trees and shrubs, sorting out compost bins and spreading on the surface of vegetable beds, tree surgery and general housekeeping.
I want to thank all our season ticket holders and general visitors to the estate for so many positive comments of support and encouragement that have really meant a lot to us. We are delighted to be involved in the maintenance and development of this estate and to have the opportunity to bring so many people out into nature and to share its beauty is a pleasure.
All of us here in Blarney Castle Estate would like to wish everybody a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year. We hope to see more of you in the gardens next year. Do make use of the season passes, as they represent excellent value for money. I look forward to seeing you in the gardens in 2026. Adam

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