Browsed by
Author: tejvan

Early Spring Flowers

Early Spring Flowers

Eye spy the first snowdrop of the year before the last rose is frozen to death.

springflower

The snow and exceptionally cold snap has delayed the first snowdrops, but, this weekend, I spotted the first snowdrops peeping through the soil. I love the way they suddenly just appear. You hardly have time to notice the leaves before they are in bloom.

springflower

Another great early spring flower is the yellow aconite. A low growing bulb, this looks great in mass planting and creates a great foil to the white snowdrops.

springflower
…

Read More Read More

Increasing Gardeners Productivity in the Garden

Increasing Gardeners Productivity in the Garden

Plan to get more from your time gardening. That’s it; have a plan, and try these tips

mixed border

The garden is a place of both leisure and work. We create a garden to enjoy, but sometimes we find it difficult to sit back and relax; instead we find numerous small jobs to do. We may go out in the garden to do one thing, but get sidetracked and start doing several things at once. If we are not careful we can spend a long time working in the garden but not change very much. These are some tips to increase your productivity in the garden.

1. Be Focused.

Decide on the most important task and then stick to that exclusively. If you want to weed a border; just concentrate on weeding. Don’t start splitting up plants or trimming bushes.

2. Economies of Scale.

Think how long it takes to get out the equipment and then put it back. It can easily be 10 minutes to get started and 10 minutes to pack up. Therefore, it is better to spend 1-2 hours working rather than several 15 minute sessions. Set aside an hour and then work really hard on that task; don’t waste time always getting started and putting things away.

3. Right Tools.

The right jobs can make a big difference. If you are pruning with a blunt pair of secateurs, everything will be harder work. Make sure you look after tools and if blades become blunt replace them, it will save time and make gardening more enjoyable in long run.

4. Choose Most Important Task

In any garden there are always a 100 different things that we can do. It is therefore important to prioritise. Start off with the most prominent border or place you want to look good; don’t worry about the odd weed behind the compost heap.

5. Create Time

Some jobs may be labour intensive meaning you don’t have time for more important tasks. For example, if you cut the grass every 4 days, you could cut it every 8 days and create an extra hour a week for weeding and planting.

…

Read More Read More

Best Summer Flowering Bulbs

Best Summer Flowering Bulbs

Plan ahead for a summer show of bulbs.

border2

When we think of bulbs, we tend to think of the spring flower bulbs like Daffodils and Tulips. But, summer flowering bulbs also play a key role in providing colour and form to the summer garden, especially that period in May June – in the transition from a spring to summer garden.

These are our favourite Summer Flowering bulbs

Ornamental Onions. These bulbs provide tall spikes of ornamental flowers throughout the border. Even when they have finished flowering their seed heads provide interest and architecture to the border.

Try varieties such as
Allium aftatuenese, Allium Purple Sensation
Allium Schubertii
Allium Giganticum
Allium Christophii
Allium
Summer Iris

The Bearded Iris grow from rhizomes. They like full sun in a well drained spot.
…

Read More Read More

Front Garden Dahlia Competition

Front Garden Dahlia Competition

garden

I spotted this front garden on Herschel Crescent, Oxford. It wins our Gardeners Tips ‘Front garden competition of the year award’. I loved the riot of colour. Every inch of ground is used to create a stunning display.

It illustrates what great value Dahlias can be. The best thing about Dahlias is the length of flowering season.

garden

Dahlias on display

garden

Hanging baskets everywhere

…

Read More Read More

The Best Time To Water Your Garden

The Best Time To Water Your Garden

Do not water your plants! Water the soil your plants have to live in.
water
Readers Question: I would like to ask if there are specific times of the day that you can only water the plants to maximize their growth. Thanks for being open for questions about gardening because I really want to grow more of our own plants in the next few months. from: Gardeners Questions

The best time of the day to water plants is in evening or early morning. This is mainly because the watering will be more efficient. Away from glare of sun, the water has time to seep into soil before evaporating.
The main thing is getting the right amount of water to the plant, the time of watering won’t really affect growth. Though in greenhouses, watering during the day, can help keep temperature down (dampening effect)

Other Tips for Watering Plants

  • The most critical time for watering is:
  1. When plants are in flower or leaves are limp early in the morning.
  2. When soft fruits have started to form
  3. When plants are newly planted or transplanted.
  4. When plants start to show signs of distress.
  • When you water make sure it seeps down to roots and soaks the soil and not just first inch otherwise roots will grow upwards or stay on the dry surface.
  • It is better to water thoroughly but less often than frequently and often.
  • Try mulching after a good watering. Mulch is anything that preserves moisture of soil.
  • Different Plants have much different needs for watering.

water is unfit for human consumption

Best Time To Water Your Garden

  • The Best Time To Water Your Garden is when the plants are just beginning to suffer from a lack of water.
  • If you get new drought controls in parts of the UK, the Best Time To Water Your Garden may be when no one is looking. (Only joking you will be watering with grey water and water collected from a rain butt won’t you.
  • Thinking about watering restrictions just a reminder the your garden does not need watering! Save your energy and water for those ‘at risk’ plants that really need water and be focused on your watering programme.

Related


Credit
water is unfit for human consumption by woodleywonderworks CC BY 2.0

Growing Californian Poppies – Eschscholzia

Growing Californian Poppies – Eschscholzia

I like a brash colour in the garden and you can’t beat my favourite annual Californian Poppy. Eschscholzia californica is a bit of a mouthful but Californian Poppies and their family are well worth the effort.
Californian Poppy
The Californian poppy is an easy to grow hardy annual, which thrives in well drained sunny positions.

Growing Eschscholzia Tips and Hints.

  • Eschscholzia doesn’t like being transplanted at all, so it is best to sow in open ground. Eschscholzia have long soft tap roots that are easily damaged so take great care if you have to transplant them.
  • The main criteria for growing the Californian poppy is a well drained soil and sunny exposure.
  • Eschscholzia doesn’t need feeding and can thrive in the thinnest of soils. Gravel gardens are ideal.
  • They can be sown in October or early spring.
  • If they enjoy the conditions of your garden, it will freely self seed; it can even become a little invasive, although it is fairly easy to weed through just a light raking.
  • It is worth thinning the seedlings so that individual plants become stronger.
  • …

    Read More Read More

Red Poppies

Red Poppies

Poppies are a great flower and the greatest colour must be red.
redpoppies

I was surprised to see these red poppies still flowering into Octobers. Simple to grow, these red poppies offer a dazzling display of late season colour.

redpoppies

Red Poppies from Seed

Red poppies are easy to grow from seed. Annuals grow quickly and tolerate a range of soils, preferring a sunny position. Perennial red poppies are also quite easy to grow, though the flowers are more blousy and may need staking.

redpoppies

Red Poppies against backdrop of Magadalen College, Oxford
…

Read More Read More

Gardening Links

Gardening Links

Google now make it hard to find a good gardening blog and discourage links. Still here are some you may find useful or amusing.

red

BBC Gardeners World – Gardening site of BBC

Royal Horticultural Society – gardening online

Unwins – Seeds online

Debby’s Garden Links – Directory of categorised links to UK gardening related websites.

Nicky’s Seeds Flower seeds herb seed vegetable seeds garden sundries. Purveyor of quality seeds worldwide of all your favourite, rare and unusual seeds, Garden Sundries and Garden Games

Lets go Gardening – The one stop gardening site for all your needs including Gardening & Wildlife News, Shopping, Information, Forum, Gallery & much more.

Horticultural -  Author of Allotment Keepers Handbook

Sundry Links to other Garden Blogs

Growing Lettuce

Growing Lettuce

Lettuce may not contain that many calories so it makes a great summer food crop.

Lettuce
Lettuce in neat rows, looks a great sight as well as offering great crops

Growing lettuce is one of the most rewarding vegetable or salad crops. If you keep the slugs at bay, you will have a rewarding crop, even from a tiny space in the back garden.

In summer, lettuce has a short growing season. It means within a couple of months, you can be cutting leaves for the salad bowl. The loose leaf varieties can be ready for harvest after only 6-8 weeks. If you sow at regular intervals and make use of cloches, you can have a supply of lettuce for a large part of the year.

Tips for Growing Lettuce

  • Sow directly into the ground and thin out later. Lettuce doesn’t like being moved. If you have to sow in greenhouse, use modules for easy transfer.
  • Lettuce do npot germinate well in hot temperatures.
  • Lettuce like a humous rich soil, so make sure soil is well prepared, otherwise, the leaves will be tougher and more leathery.

    • …

    Read More Read More