Homes & Gardens has so many interesting articles, we really should steal them more often. This pair of articles about outdated back garden trends and outdated front garden trends are nice for fertilising one’s thinking about one’s garden, its compartments, and the ancient “what I want” VS “what I, or my husband, will work or… Continue reading Homes & Gardens Outdated Garden Trends
Category: Gardening Tips
Restoring Scottish Montane Flora & Bees for High Altitude Fruit Trees
Montane habitats are at the top of and above the treeline, where the last wind-blasted trees and shrubs grow, below the even colder alpine habitats above where only small grasses and lichens live. Being high on a mountain may be pleasant, but going up a hundred feet is like taking giant strides towards the North… Continue reading Restoring Scottish Montane Flora & Bees for High Altitude Fruit Trees
Mowing Your Lawn & Autumn Leaves
Autumn leaves on your lawn have to be dealt with, or they will ruin it. Likewise, your lovely stone, brick, and concrete areas will get slippery and require more frequent cleaning if leaves cover them for long. If you have a small garden with some trees around it, it’s likely that you won’t reasonably be… Continue reading Mowing Your Lawn & Autumn Leaves
Dollar Spot Fungal Disease Devastates Golf Course Turf
Playing golf has been a big part of several lives here at Ashridge, until things like hip replacements and families and enthusiasm for gambling forced us to move on with our lives. It is a tribute to golf course greenkeepers that I had never heard of Dollar Spot Disease, being blissfully unaware of the battle… Continue reading Dollar Spot Fungal Disease Devastates Golf Course Turf
Free Plants Forever: Pay With Your Lives!
The garden centre industry is a wonderful one, full of great people working in it and great customers intent on making their street that much more beautiful. But maintaining a lush border of beautiful plants, penguins, and a specimen polar bear does not come cheap according to HortWeek: I know what you all are thinking:… Continue reading Free Plants Forever: Pay With Your Lives!
Fine Dining al Fresco: Shrubbery for Two
The other day we mentioned Cornwall’s Million Pound edible hedge project, and, we assume in response, the RHS updated their list of edible flowers, along with a Country Living article adding a few more on top. We know that most garden owners are not breakfasting in the bushes, brunching off branches, or dining on their… Continue reading Fine Dining al Fresco: Shrubbery for Two
Troon Church Garden Approved by South Ayrshire Council
This post is not sponsored by the South Ayrshire tourist board, but we are willing to accept gifts of any value over fifty Scottish pounds, or ten haggis in today’s money. South Ayrshire is part of the most beautiful scenery on our island, facing out onto the Firth of Clyde and the magical Isle of… Continue reading Troon Church Garden Approved by South Ayrshire Council
Using Epsom Salts in the Garden
Don’t bother. Using Epsom Salts in the garden is a waste of time and money: may my grandparents (and renowned scientific journals like The Mirror) forgive me for contradicting them like that. Since the dawn of time, the Epsom Salt industry has had one overarching vision for mankind’s destiny: to consume even more product by… Continue reading Using Epsom Salts in the Garden
Ash Tree Dieback Disease Hits Somerset
It Doesn’t Seem Real Until it Happens to You Yes, folks, it finally happened to us. We had a good run, but the dieback got us, right in the Bridgwater Road, which will be closed for five days this October to take down infected Ash trees. Ash saplings infected by the Chalara fraxinea fungus were… Continue reading Ash Tree Dieback Disease Hits Somerset
Good Growing October Weather
October’s forecast is looking mild, with nights mostly over 7C (the temperature under which plants generally stop growing) right until the end of the month. Warm Octobers extend the growing season into Official Autumn, squeezing the best out of plants that bloom until frost stops them, such as many dahlias, repeating roses, and late flowering… Continue reading Good Growing October Weather
When Should You Cut Back Your Spent Bulbs?
Is there anything more restorative than the first flowers of spring? Apart from spring flowers plus kittens wearing watermelon helmets, obviously? March is the time to enjoy the full array of spring bulbs – a rich reward for the aching back and sore knees from our efforts in Autumn. After such a wet winter, it… Continue reading When Should You Cut Back Your Spent Bulbs?
Tidying Up Your Borders at the End of Winter
At some point between Autumn and the end of Winter, when the flowers and foliage have died down, it’s commonly held best practice to give your ornamental borders and beds a thorough cleaning. Of course, if you love the wild look and want to encourage wildlife (including slugs, or “homing frog lunches”, as I think… Continue reading Tidying Up Your Borders at the End of Winter
Do Woodchips Make Soil Acidic, or Take Nitrogen from the Soil?
The short answer is no, woodchip mulch does not make soil acidic. However, if you are gardening on chalk, woodchip mulch will tend to reduce the pH closer to neutral. Questions about mulch in general and in particular the effect of woodchips on soil arise with every generation of new gardeners. People know that woodchips… Continue reading Do Woodchips Make Soil Acidic, or Take Nitrogen from the Soil?
January-February Garden Tasks: Our Favourite Online Gardeners Share Their Tips
It’s almost February: time to do January garden jobs!
Garden Plants for Winter Colour
Colour from bark, leaves and some flowers will light up your winter garden
How to Propagate Hardwood Hedge Cuttings in Late Winter
Right now is an ideal time to try, when the soil is nice and damp and not-frozen.
Why John Lord’s Gardening Films Are The Best
More people have taken the plunge into gardening with a floral shirt and a medium pickaxe thanks to John Lord than any other famous plantsman in Ireland’s Ratoath Gardens There is at least an introductory paragraph of reasons why John Lord’s YouTube films are the best before I get to my reason, so let’s ask… Continue reading Why John Lord’s Gardening Films Are The Best
Best Gardening & Garden Design Apps to Green Up Your Space
Gardening can be so last century with its stuffy old shovels and buckets. Garden apps on your phone gardening more Dan Dare® and Cyberpunk® than ever, giving you a reason to get outside and use your phone there. We’ve listed the best gardening and garden design apps for every level, from experienced gardeners to beginners.… Continue reading Best Gardening & Garden Design Apps to Green Up Your Space
Pruning Jobs to do now: Coppicing
Requiring only a sharp saw or secateurs and the courage of your convictions, coppicing is a straightforward and satisfying winter job. This short burst of activity will both warm the body and enhance the garden, with the added benefit of perhaps providing a fresh crop of bean poles or even some of next year’s firewood.… Continue reading Pruning Jobs to do now: Coppicing
How and When to Deadhead Daffodils
Daffodils and Narcissi are undoubtedly among our most cherished and adored spring flowers, and they form a large part of our collection of flowering bulbs. The cheery flashes of bright canary yellow along our roadsides and verges heralds the start of spring and tempts us with summery thoughts of the sunshine to come. Deadheading is… Continue reading How and When to Deadhead Daffodils
Honey Fungus: The Tree Killer
What is Honey Fungus? Honey fungus is a spreading, parasitic fungus that lives on trees, woody shrubs, and occasionally herbaceous perennials. It plays a crucial role in the regeneration of forests: at the destruction end! It is capable of killing complete woodlands, which is wonderful for the churning gyre of biodiversity and evolution, but no… Continue reading Honey Fungus: The Tree Killer
Freezing weather & bareroot plants
Most of the damage caused to bareroot plants in cold, freezing conditions is to the delicate roots themselves. The roots are fine, fibrous structures with a high water content: moving them, or even the slightest touch whilst frozen, can cause damage. Almost all of a shrub or a tree’s energy reserves are stored in the… Continue reading Freezing weather & bareroot plants
A Yew Supplier’s Thoughts for Yew
We say 3 things about Yew – quick growing when young, likes clay on the dry side & is very durable.
Growing Fruit Trees at High Altitude
We get lots of enquiries about growing fruit trees in the UK at altitude, often from people who have seen Sepp Holzer at over 3600ft in Austria. We would love to sell as many orchards as we can, but for most honest gardeners in the UK, it will be very difficult to copy high altitude… Continue reading Growing Fruit Trees at High Altitude
Photinia Leaf Spot – Don’t Panic!
Photinia Red Robin makes a really photogenic hedge plant, with blazing red young leaves that can be persuaded to reappear all summer with regular trimming and simple but lovely white flowers. However, just as the most handsome face can be marred by acne, the prettiest Photinia bush can be disfigured by an unpleasant looking dose… Continue reading Photinia Leaf Spot – Don’t Panic!
How Not to Plant a Beech Hedge… But Did It Matter?
My friend Rachel is a passionate if impatient gardener. Vegetables are really her thing, probably because they germinate and grow before she gets bored Rachel planted a beech hedge five years ago with great enthusiasm, so much so that she put a lot of effort into doing the wrong things, leaving her too knackered to do… Continue reading How Not to Plant a Beech Hedge… But Did It Matter?
How to prune Cordon Fruit Trees
This is just about pruning cordons – there is a much longer piece on growing cordon fruit trees if you would like to know more. Cordons should be pruned every year around mid-August (i.e. about now). Your cordon is ready for pruning when the new side shoots from the main stem(s) become woody at their… Continue reading How to prune Cordon Fruit Trees
Saving a Tree that is Falling Over
It crossed my mind this morning that we are in August. September is the other month of the equinox (exactly half a year away from Shakespeare’s “Beware the Ides of March”). March and September are the months when the Earth tilts just more than halfway to or from the Sun. So September and March are… Continue reading Saving a Tree that is Falling Over
Dying Yew Hedges and Trees
Yew has a reputation for being indestructible, and given fair treatment, it almost is! At the same time, Taxus baccata, like any living organism and can die prematurely. Because it is so tough, you may be able to save your tree or hedge with swift action. Here are a few reasons why yew dies when… Continue reading Dying Yew Hedges and Trees