Brockhole's new head gardener has impressive pedigree...

I'M pleased to report that Brockhole finally has a new head gardener! She is Sue Fryer, and she took over the job last month, nearly six months after I departed.

The regular gardens team had done a great job of holding the fort, and the gardens have been looking well cared for throughout the summer, but it's good to know that the team is now back up to full strength.

Sue grew up in Bradford, studying horticulture at Askham Bryan College, near York, and at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Following a student placement at Sutton Place in Surrey, she worked her way up the ranks of Leeds Leisure Services, from gardener to landscape officer and landscape architect, and then took a job as Heritage Lottery Fund project co-ordinator for the National Trust at Stowe in Buckinghamshire.

More recently, Sue has been lecturing in horticulture and garden design back at Askham Bryan. I'm sure her wide experience will be invaluable at Brockhole, and I hope that she will enjoy her time there as much as I did mine.

She's very approachable, so be sure to say hello to her if you are visiting!

Over the years, quite a number of people have spent time working with the gardening team at Brockhole.

Permanent members of staff have changed less often than you might think but there has been a steady stream of trainees, students, volunteers and contractors.

One such erstwhile volunteer, David Ward, has moved from horticulture to photography.

This is not such a leap as it sounds, since many of his photographs are of plants and flowers.

He has a great eye for colour and form, making you look at familiar objects more closely and with better appreciation.

Don't take my word for it, you can visit Dave's on-line gallery at www.photographybyward.co.uk or you can see his work in the green at his latest exhibition, which is a Brantwood at Coniston. The exhibition is open from September 11-24, from 11am to 5.30pm daily.

Back in the peaceful world of the retired gardener, I have been giving our lean-to veranda its annual clean and paint.

This is an ideal time of year, while it's relatively empty, to have a good spring' clean (the peppers, tomatoes and chillies have all been safely relegated to the greenhouse and August's cuttings are still in the propagator).

I have brushed away all the cobwebs (why do we have so many spiders?), painted the window frames and wooden shelving with Sadolin wood stain and given the concrete bench two thick coats of terracotta masonry paint.

Cleaning and painting a greenhouse is doubly satisfying; it not only looks good, it also prevents the build-up of pests and diseases that might harm next year's seedlings and rooted cuttings.

Jobs for the gardener

Pick apples and pears as they ripen. Hold the fruit carefully in your hand and gently twist - if it comes away from the tree easily then it's ready to pick.

Sow grass seed between now and the end of October, giving it a chance to germinate and establish before the winter sets in.

Prune Hydrangeas after the flowers have gone over. Lightly remove the old flowers, then cut about one third of the oldest stems to ground level to encourage new growth from the base.