Gardening
How This Summer’s Drought Will Affect Your Autumn Planting
71% of England was in drought this summer and reservoirs are still below average. Here's what it means for autumn planting UK-wide.
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Gardening
Gardening
Villains of Variegation
Have your variegated plants started producing plain green leaves? Find out why this common garden rebellion happens and what it means for your plant’s survival. Learn from the plant experts how light, chlorophyll, and a process called reversion can quietly transform your foliage - and discover the simple trick that keeps those striking patterns from disappearing for good.
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Gardening
Rootgrow by Empathy: RHS Approved Mycorrhizae AKA “Friendly Fungi”
Mycorrhizae fungi coexist with plant root systems in a sharing relationship underground The fungi give the plant water and soil nutrients in…
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Gardening
Honey Fungus: The Tree Killer
What is Honey Fungus? Honey fungus is a spreading, parasitic fungus that live yeah s on trees, woody shrubs, and occasionally herbaceous…
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Gardening
Soft Edges in Urban Garden Design
Modern buildings and roads tend to create stark boundaries: all structure with no life Well-thought-out planting will soften these hard lines and…
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Gardening
Garden Plants for Winter Colour
Colour from bark, leaves and some flowers will light up your winter garden
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Gardening
Best Plants for A Winter Garden
Tiny marvels dispel winter gloom: the uplifting power of nature! As I filled up the bird feeders yesterday, I noticed the intense…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
Latin Names of Plants
"Latin" plant names are the scientific, botanical way of classifying species They aren't really Latin, as in the language of the Roman…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
January-February Garden Tasks: Our Favourite Online Gardeners Share Their Tips
It's almost February: time to do January garden jobs!
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Gardening
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 alkaline soil like chalk,…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
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…
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Gardening
What Are the Plants of Christmas?
Traditional is what you make it at the end of the day, but green and red is the classic theme, and in…
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Gardening
What Garden Zone Am I In?
Great Britain has one “temperate oceanic / maritime” climate and isn’t very big, but she is still varied enough that it helps…
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Gardening
How to Rake Gravel Masterclass
Being a Rake-y Master in the garden looks easy when you see a professional Irishman on the job, but it’s a gravely…
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Gardening
How to Aerate Your Lawn With A Garden Fork
Using a trusty garden fork to aerate your lawn is suitable for most gardens. It’s a nice, gentle workout that you can…
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Gardening
How To Use Horticultural Fleece on Pots
Wrap up outdoor potted plants to protect them from frost for WinterWhen Winter frosts are on their way, sensitive plants that aren’t…
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Gardening
How To Make Leaf Mould
What is Leaf Mould?Raking up leaves is part of a gardener’s life. The best way to make use of all those leaves…
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Gardening
How to Scarify Your Lawn
Scarifying Your Lawn is Easy With a Springy Garden RakeLawn scarification in the UK is done in Autumn or Spring, about every…
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Gardening
Year Round Guide To Essential Garden Jobs
JanuaryHedging Gently brush snow off evergreen hedging with an upward motion. Erect temporary windbreaks for new evergreen hedges. Wind loosens recently planted…
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Gardening
Coral Spot Fungus Disease
Coral Spot IdentificationCoral spot’s small orange-pink pustules are very distinctive. The fungus is active and producing spores almost year round, but you…
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Gardening
Powdery Mildew Disease
What is this White Fungus on my Trees and Hedges?Powdery Mildew is caused by a group of fungi that form a grey-white…
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Gardening
How to Apply Rootgrow Fungi With Gel
When you buy woody plants from us, our basket butler calculates the amount of Rootgrow granules your order needs, and offers it…
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Gardening
Preparing Clay Soil
Why Clay Soil is Special Most soils are aquiferous: water can flow through them quite freely. When you observe a puddle on…
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Gardening
Slit Planting Vs Planting In A Trench Or Hole
Compare Slit Planting VS Trench Planting Slit Planting Used for bareroot hedging & trees under 80cm Mainly for country hedges & forestry…
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Gardening
Building Wire Supports To Grow Fruit On Walls, Fences & Posts
This post concentrates on fruiting plants, but the same principles apply to an ornamental “wall shrub”.How to start training fruit trees on…
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Gardening
March Weather: Happy Bareroot Planting Days
March 2025 is looking to be an exceptionally good bareroot planting month
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Gardening
What Are Bare Root Plants?
Bareroot means delivered dormant in Winter with no soil around the roots.
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Gardening
Are My Plants Dead?
Bareroot plants can be very late coming into leaf & evergreens can drop their leaves
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Gardening
Watering Newly Planted Trees & Hedging
Most new plants that fail are killed by underwatering. Proper watering is crucial for all new plants while they are establishing, even…
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Gardening
What Is Mulch & Why It’s Important for New Plants
What Does Mulch Do?Mulch covers the soil around a plant in order to: Keep the sun off Trap moisture while allowing water…
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Gardening
Planting in Frosty Weather & Frozen Ground
You can't plant in frozen soil, and bare roots should not be moved when frozen anyway
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Gardening
Gardening
“Heeling In” Bareroot Trees & Plants
The best way to store bareroot plants is also usually too much work
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Gardening
3 Steps to Set Up an Amazon grade Polytunnel like a Pro
Polytunnels are amazing if they are yours, somewhat unattractive if they are your neighbour’s (a hedge in between might help), and most…
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Gardening
How Big is a P9 Pot & What No One Tells You!
A P9 pot is 9cm wide at the top, containing about half a litre of soilIt would be clearer if P9s were…
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Gardening
How to Hide My Fence Without Growing Plants Over It?
If you can’t use climbing plants and wall shrubs to beautify your fence, that leaves either painting / staining it, or fixing…
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Gardening
The Key Last Step When Planting Potted Plants
After you plant a potted plant like Lavender out in your garden or a larger container, the top of the potting soil…
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