Garden Views-10-October 2025

October began with a few grey, wet days, and the first named storm of the year, Amy, on October 3rd, which was most severe further North in the UK.

A lot of acorn sweeping in a huge mast year for oaks, was needed. A late garden visit from a Canadian couple who twisted our arms to open for them, was a delight, despite gloomy, drizzly weather on the Sunday morning they visited. However, the weather then improved a little and more sunshine in the next few days began to produce some lovely autumn leaf and fruit colours.

Our remaining 2 lambs were killed on the 8th – always a sad time, but wonderful to have our own lamb meat after a couple of years without.

The month continued with a high pressure system building and giving generally mild and cloudy conditions.

The high pressure system kept rain away for many days allowing most hedge clipping which we do manually, initial leaf clearing and final apple picking to be completed. Even if there were far more still grey skies, than sunny moments.

The still surviving Asters in the tyre garden came into their own this year with the lack of autumnal rains.

And it was a great year for meadow fungi of all sorts, with me recognising and enormous advancing ring of Honey fungus mushrooms in cae efail which had a circumference of roughly 186 yards, and a diameter of 38/47 yards. Yet no obvious dead tree in the middle!

My own record of October weather here since I have been recording such things is shown below, with maximum/minimum readings highlighted. October 2025 is fairly typical – significant rainfall (it’s typically one of our wettest months), yet still with many dry days, and no frosts yet, heading into November. Interestingly, it turned out to be our gloomiest October according to our PV output of 158.01 KWH. The Met Office monthly summary confirms this that it was the gloomiest October in almost 60 years. Which probably explains why autumn leaf colour hasn’t been as spectacular as had been forecast, despite the record breaking very sunny dry summer.