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Simple Compost

By on January 3, 2009 in Flowers and Plants, Green Gardening

I promised a simple approach to thinking about your compost.  Compostable materials are either Green or Brown and you need a good mix of both. If you want the full scientific monte then you need a book. Green Compostables include grass clippings, tea bags, old flowers, nettles, weeds, comfrey or rhubarb leaves, pond algae, spent [...]

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Choosing Silver Birch

By on December 28, 2008 in Green Gardening, Shrubs and Trees

Silver Birch or Betula pendula has gleaming white trunk and stems that look good in winter with yellowing leaves in autumn that add seasonal colour. As a native British tree birches are good for the environment and encourage wild life. Growing Silver Birches In a large garden a full grown Silver Birch can offer shelter [...]

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Gardening For Climate Change

By on September 22, 2008 in Garden Design, Green Gardening

After this wet summer what has happened to Global Warming? Are there any advantages of Global Warming and how should gardeners design for such changes. What is Global Warming ‘Climate change’ is used as a catch-all phrase to encompass the effects of global warming, the increase in temperature caused by greenhouse gases and the Northerly [...]

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Garden Compost and Bokashi

By on September 15, 2008 in Green Gardening

Bokashi, Japanese composting, is really a fermenting system. It converts your household food waste into a liquid and food remnants that are ripe for final composting. Ripe isn’t a fair word as it smells only of sweet pickle. An additive of a lactic acid based micro organisms in a bran carrier is mixed with the [...]

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Attacting Insects To Your Garden with Spectabile

By on September 14, 2008 in Green Gardening

This Sedum spectabile ‘Brilliant’ has all the insects buzzing with interest. The butterflies that are attracted to various Ice plant species can be seen on the butterfly web site. September is a good time for the flowers on this range of plants. Before flowering broken stalks are easy to root or the main plant can [...]

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The Empty Vegetable Plot

By on September 7, 2008 in Green Gardening

Autumn is a good time to plant a green manure crop in your empty vegetable plot. Green manures are sown deliberately to be dug back into the soil before they flower. This helps improve fertility, suppress weeds, stop leaching and soil errosion and helps condition the soil. Empty Plot Tips Clear up debris and weeds [...]

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Wet and Soggy Summer

By on September 5, 2008 in Green Gardening, Pests, Problems and Health

Did you buy an extra water butt or irrigation system expecting a hot summer?                    Have you planted a Mediterranean garden of hot dry-condition loving flowers? Well this summer in England we have had ‘Global Watering’ not global warming. A bog garden would have been more appropriate. Moisture lovers have thrived and that means numerous weeds. [...]

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Insect Friend or Foe for the Gardener?

By on September 4, 2008 in Green Gardening, Pests, Problems and Health

Wasps At this time of year we find wasps munching on our ripening  Plums and Apples. They are not the main villain as they only attack fruit that is already damaged by birds or other insects. Their mouths are not strong enough to break the skin. Wasps help in a garden as the larvae feed [...]

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Liatris for Butterfly Food

By on August 19, 2008 in Flowers and Plants, Green Gardening

Also grown under the name Gay Feather or Blazing Star. The spikes may look like feathers but are a quite robust 1-2 feet tall. They flower blue, purple or white. I prefer a compact form like Kobold which requires no staking. Gardenerstips on Liatris spicata Plant 4-6 inches apart in clumps of at least 10 [...]

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August Wild Flowers

By on August 11, 2008 in Flowers and Plants, Green Gardening

Wild flower gardens are generally thought to be at their best in spring but this colourful patch was a riot of colour in the middle of August. Gardeners Tips for Wild Flowers Poor soil conditions encourage flowering. Do not fertilise wild flower gardens Group flowers with similar flowering times together. it would look to thin [...]

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