AS I prepare this week’s garden page we are experiencing all weathers.

I was in short sleeves on Tuesday, appropriately dressed for finally ‘summer’ pruning the wisteria and definitely had to devise greenhouse jobs on Wednesday!

I say summer pruning, which would be to cut each lateral back to five growing points or leaf nodes. I prune again in winter which is back to two leaf nodes. As it is now autumn I am compromising and cutting back to three - which is standard practice for pragmatic gardeners with so much to do.

Ours is such a large wisteria and the work involves standing on a ladder on sloping ground. Being realistic about all the other jobs in the park that we hope to get done this winter, if I know I was thorough on this prune, I will be able to forgive myself if we don’t do it again in a few months time.

Summer pruning is intended to divert the plant’s energy from producing over-exuberant leafy growth into flower bud formation, without completely denuding the plant and preventing it from photosynthesising. The leaves are just starting to turn, thus my compromise of leaving three leaves on each lateral. We’ll see how it does next year.

Being up a ladder, I had Chris "footing" the base. This is a luxury not afforded to every gardener but in a place of employment we do adhere to such health and safety policies. Another real luxury was having Chris and other volunteers Anette, Paul and Dave help me to sweep up the "arisings" and take them to the compost bay.

If gardening alone, particularly pruning, you have to timetable in at least as much time to tidy up as you do for the job itself, and you so often get carried away on the job that time runs out. Again this is not something that can be permitted in a public garden, where we aim to leave everything safe and attractive for the many users of the park.

Working as a team is one of the many joys of Ford Park. We all have so much and varied experience to share with each other. I don’t think you could possibly work with a more diverse group. Those of you who regularly read this article will know that I strive for diversity in a garden - at least in the wildlife population - so why not in the people who work in the garden too?

We all have so much to offer. Among us are a number of people who have worked as teachers, so the sharing of skills happens automatically. As well as benefiting from there being a group willing to work as a team (for example erecting all those gazebos for our wonderful "market street" on Apple Day), we also depend on people who can work alone, persevering on a job that might be best done quietly, without too much tread on the soil for example, or disturbance of wildlife.

It is at such times working alone in the garden, or before everyone else has arrived or after they have gone that a quiet gardener is rewarded by close-up views of the birds that visit us. On a quiet day at Ford Park at the moment, you will see the great tits and blackbirds almost as close as those robins which so often appear to want to join in with the gardening. The red admiral butterflies still come and the bees aren’t at all shy either.

This year’s Apple Day really was a great success. It was wonderful to see so many of you there. I for one am already looking forward to next year’s event! It is testament to the team effort again - rather than the day leaving us exhausted, jobs were shared out and we all managed to enjoy it. Vital funds for the park were raised too, as well as it being such a fun day.

Whether you will be working with others in your garden or enjoying the peace in it by yourself this weekend, remember the wildlife as the days become more challenging. Don’t cut back too hard and leave any last blooms providing nectar and pollen, and protect the soil.