August 26th was National Dog Day and as my two terriers spend as much time in the garden as I do, more, I thought it appropriate to include a word about our two garden ‘helpers’, in today’s post.

I still find gardening at this time of year intense despite having given up growing the many vegetables I once did. Once again my husband is juicing away every other day. I am deadheading, cutting back and weeding out the Chickweed, Lambs Quarters and Pigweed that always appears in varying amounts.

The apple crop is enormous. We have nets under the apple trees Italian Olive Grove style to collect the fruit but many fall beyond. Hundreds of apples thud to the ground every day into the flower beds and on to the grass. These require raking and removing as they easily become wasp attractants. We were putting them into the compost but Dotty, my Yorkie hunter told us there were mice in the compost. She was not quiet about it and we knew very quickly things were not as they should be in that corner of the garden. She spent a lot of time chasing one or more from compost through the hedge, around the apple trees yipping the entire time. Mouse traps were set and the windfall apples are now being removed to the local dump which is a shame. So far so good but the Dots has turned her attention back to the squirrels and is insistent they should also be banished from the garden. No vermin of any kind allowed as far as she is concerned and she keeps a continuous watch.  

Unfortunately we like being entertained by our squirrels and their antics, especially with the new young ones. One has become very bold and will sit on the fence watching intently as I weed or harvest flowers and tomatoes. I am hoping Dots becomes as disinterested again as Glad Rags my other so called ratter, a Scottish Terrier. She looks on with distain as Dots expends a large amount of energy attempting to climb trees and completing hundreds of daily fence patrols. You could say she is a laid back kind of terrier! If you read my post a few days ago, you will have seen one of the squirrels discovered we have grapes in the greenhouse. What a kerfuffle that caused!

My dogs are great gardening companions. The Dots is small enough that she can weave her way through my forest of perennials looking for Toady or another mouse without doing damage. Glad Rags knows better and is happy to observe from the comfort of the grass. They both love pruning and will eagerly await if small branches are likely to be offered. Gladys in fact will grab a branch and run off with it, meaning there is never a tidy pile. When it comes to hand watering she would swallow the whole spray nozzle if she could. She is not the only dog I have known who loves the jet stream of water cleaning her teeth.  As I said, great companions until they eat something they should not or get covered in burrs as the Dots did this week. I don’t have many burr producing plants in the garden but Cynoglossum, Chinese Forget-Me-Not is one. The tiny seeds stick to everything. It is their well calculated means of being dispersed to different areas. Dots appeared completely tangled up in Cynoglossum stems and seeds, around her mouth, on her legs and tummy. She appeared and sat at my feet with a very woebegone look on her face knowing this might mean a reprimand but she knew to come for help. Half an hour and several treats later, she was released back into the garden.

We have a Mountain Ash that is loaded with berries this year. This means the patio, which it shades needs constant cleaning up. I find the easiest way to do this is with a leaf blower. As readers will know leaf blowers are noisy and not always popular so care must be taken as to when I do this. If you are looking for a shade tree in an area where people will be sitting, a Mountain Ash is not the best choice, neither is a crabapple or an apple tree. My trees are old and big however so parting with my poor choices is not likely. We and the dogs will continue to put up with sticky bud scales and berries that stick in their feet. Finding patio trees that do not drop berries, fruit, nuts or sticky substances is not easy. All trees drop something of course but leaves and dry seeds are easier to clean up. Maples of which there are many, make good choices.  

Many plants by this time of year look tired, straggly and untidy so I have cut some plants right back to expose other later bloomers, to remove seed heads I might not want and to remove a lot of powdery mildew which seems plentiful this year. Some seed heads I deliberately gather and shake around the garden. Columbine is such a lovely little flowering plant in spring and early summer that I like to scatter the seed in areas I think it will shine. They look after themselves. I do the same with poppies and alliums. Some would call my garden a chaos garden but that is how I like it – a jumble, jungle of semi-organized plants and flowers. Some seeds like these look after themselves brilliantly and the trick to not losing the new plants is to recognize the leaves in spring and leave well alone. The dogs too of course scatter the seeds that are designed to be transported by furry animals, the forget-Me-Nots being one. A lot of weed seeds being others.

We must not forget what excellent diggers dogs are and we wouldn’t ever be without their help!