Clearing leaves from shingle

 

 

Ah, this one again!

I'm often asked for advice on clearing fallen autumn leaves from shingle, often by garden owners, and often by exasperated gardeners!!

My best advice is to get a folding (ie adjustable) Spring Rake which we gardeners - brace yourself for a not-very-good joke - use mostly in Autumn. (I did warn you.)

One like this:

 

Spring rakes are brilliant for this time of year - despite the name - because they are used “lightly”. They're not like solid soil rakes: they are springy (hence the name) so they are great for getting fallen leaves off the beds and borders without ripping the plants to shreds, and they are also great for raking shingle.

The trick is....

 

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Bees, in December!

 

 Yesterday (which, by the time you read this, was actually “last week...”) I was working under a large Mahonia, and I was struck by how many bees there were, buzzing about the flowers, which were - at half past nine in the morning - just thawing out from the early frost:

 

Typically, every time I tried to get a photo with a bee actually in it, the bee would buzz off before I could get lined up properly, so you'll have to take my word for it, but there were lots of them.

It surprised me, because the sun had barely broken through the morning mist (it was just above freezing), and yet there they were, buzzing around like mad things.

Is it normal to find bees so active in December?....

 

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Bearded Iris - winter tidy-up

 

 

Technically, this is part of Autumn Slaughter, with which you are now all familiar: but I had a question specifically about Bearded Iris, asking how I pruned them in preparation for winter, and luckily I did some just last week, so here's a quick run-through of my process.

Back in May, this bed of Bearded Iris was in full flower:

 

...and yes, there is one purple one in amongst the blue ones!

By mid June, the flowers were all over:...

 

 

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On-line Seminar – Self-Employed Gardeners: How to Grow and Develop your Business: Sat 24th January, 2026

 

There are still some places left on this one!!

What's it all about? Here's the blurb:

Once you’ve been a self-employed Gardener for a couple of years or more, it’s easy to get swept up in the seasons, and to lose sight of your initial goals.

This online Workshop aims to help you take a fresh look at your business, to deal with any problems or issues that might have arisen, and to encourage you to look beyond your current situation.

With a style that has been variously described as “chatty and informal” and “appropriately bossy”, Rachel will take you through the commonest problems and pitfalls: wasting time; un-necessary paperwork; increasing your income; targets and how to use them; dissatisfaction with your Clients and how to deal with them. 

After a short break, Rachel covers specialising; how to increase and stabilise your hourly rate, and why you should do so; how to deal with late payers and low payers; when and how to ‘sack’ unsatisfactory Clients, and how to replace them with better ones; then some pointers on Expanding and Looking Forwards; with questions being asked all along the way.

All delegates can submit questions by email beforehand: and all delegates will receive a pdf version of the presentation, with some additional handouts. There will be time for questions and discussion at the end of the Zoom session.

Timings:
Start: 9:30am via Zoom (with breaks)
End: 12.30pm approx.

How to book a place: go the the WFGA (Working For Gardeners Association) website or contact me direct via email,  Inquiries@Rachel-the-gardener.co.uk

NB: I'm only at my desk first thing every morning - usually 6.15-6.45am - and again briefly after work, so don't expect an instant answer... unless it's raining!

Or, if you are still at the "thinking about a change of career, always wanted to be a gardener but not quite sure if I can do it..." stage, then check my book, available from Amazon Kindle:

It's less than a tenner, and if you have Kindle Unlimited, it's FREE!! 

Don't worry if you don't have a Kindle, you can download it to your PC, to your laptop, to your tablet, or to any other kindle-style device.

Do it now! And take the first step into a better life..... *laughs*