Feeding wild birds in your garden is important year round. But many bird feeders, particularly the plastic ones, can look a little ugly, especially in the winter when they are hanging off bare branches without leaves to disguise them.
So why not have a go at making a more natural looking feeder, which will help the [...]
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Winter peanut feeder
Posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Shed storage solutions - for free!
Posted on Friday, December 30th, 2011
As the Christmas festivities recede and the poor weather and dark evenings deter all but the keenest gardener, many of us will turn our attentions to the shed. In particularly to sort out the debris left over from last year’s activities.
If you’re anything like me, the autumnal ‘big push’ to sort out the garden has [...]
Christmas presents for gardeners
Posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
With the festive season looming I thought it might be useful to have a shop around to find some good gift suggestions for the gardener in your life (or, more to the point, for you gardeners to ask your nearest and dearest to buy you!). So here are a few ideas, from some great quality [...]
Ban the potato?
Posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
I recently attended a talk at our local horticultural society about growing vegetables and was intrigued by a suggestion by the speaker that, if potatoes were discovered today, they would be banned due to their poisonous nature.
Now, I’ve always been aware that you should avoid eating green potatoes, but I haven’t really considered them an [...]
Designs on tulips
Posted on Friday, September 16th, 2011
When we moved into our house our front garden contained a scrappy piece of lawn, about 3m², with a rather unhappy Mahonia in the centre. A combination of an apathetic attitude to mowing this small area and my desire for a tidier aspect for the front of the house lead us to take up the [...]
Strulch update
Posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011
A quick update on my March post about ’strulch’, the straw based mulching material.
Well, I have to say, it’s worked very well. I’ve used it on a couple of different beds and it’s done a very good job of suppressing weeds. Irritating little annual/ephemeral weeds seem to have been almost entirely kept in check. I’ve [...]
Plantophile? I just can’t help touching plants...
Posted on Friday, August 12th, 2011
I have a confession to make…I like to touch plants. In fact, I like to touch them all over. I don’t just do this in the privacy of my own back garden, I’m ashamed to admit I also do it in public. When visiting gardens I will take any opportunity for a furtive leaf stroke [...]
Full details of Plantophile? I just can’t help touching plants...
What’s in a name?
Posted on Monday, July 18th, 2011
Names are a big thing in horticulture. You have botanical or common names for plants, names for different tools (don’t get me started on the difference between secateurs and pruners!) and names for techniques (spliced side-veneer graft, anyone?).
We also like to name our gardens – in various ways. Thinking about famous gardens, we can see [...]
Borde Hill, West Sussex
Posted on Monday, July 4th, 2011
On the hunt for roses, and enjoying a glorious summer day, I trooped off to visit Borde Hill in West Sussex, UK. The gardens surround Borde Hill House, a private residence (not open to the public) which was originally built in 1598. The gardens were established in the early 1900s and are ensconced in 200 [...]
E-coli outbreaks in Europe
Posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
Following the recent outbreak of e-coli in France, which it is alleged originated from a batch of sprouting seeds sold by Thompson and Morgan, the popular UK seed and plant provider has withdrawn the following seeds from sale, and recommends that if you already own these seeds that you do not grow or consume them:
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