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Author: tejvan

Dealing With Dandelions

Dealing With Dandelions

Oxford Castle
A sea of Dandelions

It is the time of the year where dandelions are popping up everywhere. This shot of Dandelion flowers is quite attractive (taken by Oxford Castle Mound). But, in the border and lawn dandelion is classed as a weed. In particular dandelion leaves will smoother the grass and make it weaker in the long term.

It is a tough weed, but definitely beatable.

For a small number of dandelions, I do recommend digging out the tap root with a trowel or custom weed trowel. The secret is to try and get as much of the root as possible. In practise, it is hard to get everything. But, it means that when it regenerates from a small bit of root, it will much easier to finish off with weed killer.

It is best to dig dandelions when the soil is dry as this makes it easier to shake off the soil surrounding the dandelion root.

If you don’t have time or energy to dig up dandelions, you can resort to a weedkiller which is designed for broad leaf weeds. You can either spray or paint it directly on to the leaves. It may need 2 to 3 treatments to finally kill them off.

Prevent Seeding.

Now is a good time to act, as if you let them go to seed, it will be just storing up more work for the future.
Oxford Castle

Dandelions aren’t the end of the world. This makes quite an attractive picture.

Eat Dandelions.

Another option is just enjoy the flowers and pick the leaves and flowers for salads. If you are really keen, you could roast the dandelion root to make a healthy organic dandelion coffee.

Related
Weedkiller for Dandelion

Book Cover

Roundup Weedkiller concentrate. Good for large areas which need treating at Amazon.

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Controlling Moss in Lawn

Controlling Moss in Lawn

moss
Unfortunately, my lawn has a lot of moss (if you look closely) this is because I’ve gone for the ‘wildlife effect’ i.e. too lazy to mow the lawn.

Moss is a signal of a lawn with problems. To control the moss, it is important to tackle the underlying causes of moss.

Causes of Moss

  • Damp, poorly drained soil.
  • Dry sandy soils which are infertile.
  • Acid soil
  • Too Much Shade. Moss is almost inevitable in heavily shaded areas. You could cut back the trees, but, it can be a shame to remove a shady spot on the lawn. Don’t forget moss is not the end of the world.
  • Infrequent Mowing
  • Cutting too low

Basically, moss thrives where grass struggles to grow. The best way to prevent excess moss growth is to provide conditions for strong grass growth. This involves.

  • Well drained soil
  • Watering in dry spells
  • Regular grass feed and use of weedkiller.

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Tip for Sowing Peas and Sweet Peas

Tip for Sowing Peas and Sweet Peas

An excellent way to start off sweet peas, is to use a piece of old guttering.

  • Fill the gutter with compost and place seeds at appropriate intervals (3cm apart). They can be sown from March to May
  • Place the piece of guttering at a slight angle so that excess water will drain away.
  • Keep well watered and when the seedlings have reached a height of 5-6 inches they can be planted out.
  • The advantage of using plastic guttering is that it becomes easy to plant out. Just push the seedlings out of the guttering and drop into a hole and the appropriate planting distance.
  • Growing in plastic guttering makes it easier to protect the vulnerable seedlings from slugs and snails. They can also be grow indoors to give the seedlings a head start.
  • Sweet peas grow long roots and need a deep pot
How To Encourage Wildlife into Your Garden

How To Encourage Wildlife into Your Garden

winding path

Some Tips for Encouraging wildlife into your garden:

Stack of Logs.

If you make a small stack of logs and cones, you will provide shelter for a variety of small creatures such as frogs, insects and small mammals. The stack of logs can be attractive in its own right and helps to build up an eco system in the garden.

Nesting boxes.

Choose a variety of nesting boxes for birds and also insects. One of the most useful creatures in the garden is the hoverfly. Former BBC gardeners world presenter, Geoff Hamilton, used to provide nesting boxes especially for hoverflies and ladybird, he even used to harden off the nesting spaces.

Water.

A pond with easy access from the side will be much appreciated by birds, hedgehogs and frogs. Make sure it is easy to access from the sides. In summer keep the pond topped up; this can be very important during very dry periods, when many water sources may dry up.

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Growing Penstemon

Growing Penstemon

penstemon

Penstemon are one of the most underated herbaceous perennials. Relatively easy to grow they can give an uninterupted display of flowers for several months.

The growing requirements of penstemon are fairly basic

  • Like a well drained soil. Penstemon do not like a heavy waterlogged clay
  • Like full sun. or at least sun for part of the day.
  • Penstemon are hardy, but, early growth may be caught by late frosts. It is advisable to cut back Penstemon in spring time – April /early May This means old growth will provide some shelter from frost. It is important to cut back otherwise they will become woody.
  • Benefits from general fertiliser in early May

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Creating a Fountain in the Garden

Creating a Fountain in the Garden

fountain

Fountain in Oxford Botanic gardens.

One of the best ways to enhance a garden is through the addition of a water feature. Water brings a new element to the garden. In this photo the sunlight has caught the spray from the fountain, lighting up the picture.

Benefits of Adding Water Feature to garden

  • Water helps create interest
  • Creates a focal point in the garden
  • Sound is reassuring soothing; it adds an extra element to the garden
  • Children will love them.

Downside of Fountains

  • Moving water can damage plants. Water lilies prefer  still or slow moving water.
  • There is a cost of running and maintenance of a fountain.
  • You need to keep an eye on safety

 

Sunlight Through Autumn Leaves

Sunlight Through Autumn Leaves

sunlight

I took this photo in Autumn last year, outside Merton College, Oxford near to Christchurch Meadow. The natural sunlight highlights the colours of the changing leaves.
The sugars in the old leaves can create wonderful colours ni autumn

Growing Organic Vegetables Best Tips

Growing Organic Vegetables Best Tips

organic veg

Homegrown  vegetables are definitely worth the time and effort and organics are even better. Growing vegetables will reward you with a fresh and tasty supply of your favourite vegetables. You can also have the reassurance of knowing how they were grown without the unnecessary spraying of countless chemicals.

These are some tips to get the best results from growing organic vegetables.

 

Organic Fertiliser

To get the best vegetables you need to feed the growing plants well. Fortunately, there is a range of suitable organic fertilisers such as pelleted chicken manure, well rotted manure and many others. These organic fertilisers also have the benefit of realising the food over a period of time and helping to improve the soil structure.

  • Remember, although vegetables benefit from good feeding, it is important that you don’t overfeed.
  • The other tip to remember is that to get the best fruits use tomato (potash) rather than nitrogen fertilisers at the appropriate time.

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Lily Flowered Tulips

Lily Flowered Tulips

red tulip

A red ‘Lily Flowered Tulip’ creeping above the late spring snow.

I have just ordered my tulip bulbs for autumn planting.

Lily Flowered tulips are so called because of their unique shape: the blossom resembles a lily, or sometimes an urn. This effect is created by long, pointed petals which tend to bend back; it can give the impression of a six pointed star.

Varieties of Lily Flowered Tulips Include

  • Ballade
  • Ballerina
  • Blom’s Harmonious Mixture
  • China Pink
  • Elegant Lady
  • Fly Away
  • Jane Packer
  • Mariette
  • Marilyn
  • Marjolein
  • Maytime
  • Mona Lisa
  • Moonlight Girl
  • West Point
  • White Triumphator
  • Yuri Dolgorukiy

How to Recognise Lily Flowered Tulips

    • Lily tulips are all classed as Division 6 tulips.
    • They are a small group of tulips, which used to be classified as Cottage Tulips with an hourglass shaped bloom.
    • Lily-flowered tulips with their cinched-in waists and reflexed petals show their distinctive shape off best if not too closely crowded together.
    • In style they are similar to the Ottoman or Turkish tulips of the 18th century.
    • They are a beautiful race of tulips with lovely flowers and gracefully reflexing and pointed petals.
    • The elegant blooms are born on strong wiry stems from mid April to May.

Thanks to Bloms Bulbs

tulip pattern

It is hard to see what type of Tulip is showing in this photograph as the flowers are well blown! (that means they are open to the fullest extent and are nearing the end of there display life.)

Tip toe through the tulips

Because tulips are such showy flowers I couldn’t resist adding another favourite picture to this short collection of snaps.
See also Parrot Tulips on Gardeners Tips

Growing Hydrangea

Growing Hydrangea

Hydrangea at Sunset
Hydrangea at Sunset

Hydrangea is a great plant that offers a long flowering season on a nicely shaped bush. Books suggest sun / partial shade. But, our experience is that it can thrive in full sun, but heavy shade will leave it stunted. It is relatively pest free which is a real boon. It is also fairly resistant to frosts, though new blooms may get damaged in a heavy frost. It is a heavy feeder, especially when in bloom. Give a good feed in spring with a general plant fertiliser.

Flowers come from new shoots, so you can prune back the old shoots in Autumn. But, we like to just dead head to encourage more flowers.

Getting More Flower Heads

  • Feed with phosphorous rich fertliser like bone meal.
  • Water well from early spring to encourage growth but remember Hydrangeas flower on old wood.
  • Prune with care I repeat ‘remember Hydrangeas flower on old wood.’
  • Blooms come from buds set in the autumn at the tips of stems.
  • Reduce the number of stems on the plant in early autumn.

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