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General gardening tips and hints

Be Safe from Poisonous Garden Plants

Be Safe from Poisonous Garden Plants

Datura, Brugmansia or Angels Trumpets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Datura also called Brugmansia or Angels Trumpets are not very angelic particularly when it comes to dangerous plants. They could easily feature in an Agatha Christy thriller.

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After our recent post – Flowers that can be eaten. We though it worth sharing a list of plants which are dangerous if eaten. In addition avoiding consuming these plants many common problems arise from contact with the sap.

  • Aconitum – Monkshood
  • Arum – Cuckoo pint.
  • Colchicum – The autumn crocus
  • Convallaria – Lily of the Valley
  • Cytisus – the Broom – All parts can be fatal if eaten.
  • Daphne – Shrub grown for its beautifully scented flowers. Berries very dangerous
  • Delphinium – All parts Highly toxic – can be fatal if eaten
  • Digitalis – Foxgloves cause irregular heart beat and digestive problems. Digitalis is used in heart medicines but is poisonous eaten straight from plant
  • Gloriosa superba
  • Laburnum – Beautiful flowers that flower in May but can be fatal if eaten
  • Lantana – (Spanish Flag)
  • Nerium – A beautiful conservatory plant
  • Phytolacca – The poke weed
  • Ricinus communis – Castor Oil Plant. Not to be confused with Fatsia.
  • Taxus – A hedge favourite.
  • Veratrum – The false Hellebore.

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Be Also Careful Not To Eat

  • Daffodils
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Buttercups
  • Hyacinth
  • Wild mushrooms that are really Toadstools

Eating these can cause various health problems.
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Poisonous Plants For Animals

  • Ragwort is poisonous to animals and can cause kidney failure and liver damage which is irreversible. Often fatal to horses and cattle and a number of dogs die by eating a small amount.
  • Other Senicio plants and Castor beans can also be fatal to animals.
  • Leaves and branches of Oleander produces digestive problems.
  • Even the water that flowers have stood in can become poisonous to animals.
  • Datura stramonium and Angels Trumpets are poisonous to humans and animals.
  • Easter Lily is poisonous to cats and dogs should not be allowed to eat cocoa shells.
Couch Grass Treatment & Cures

Couch Grass Treatment & Cures

Will the EU ban the garden use of glyphosphate the best chemical cure for Couch grass?

Couch grass

Couch grass is an invasive perennial garden weed.
In the north of England it is called twitch but elsewhere it is called quick grass, quitch, dog grass, quackgrass, scutch grass, and witchgrass.
The latin species names are Elytrigia repens or Elymus repens.

What is Couch Grass

  • Couch spreads under ground and can get amongst your other plants.
  • Couch grows on most soil types except those with a very low pH.
  • It prefers heavier land but is able to spread by rhizomes in lighter soils.
  • Couch growth is especially vigorous on uncultivated land.
  • Common couch can form dense clumps that exclude other vegetation. The pointed roots will invade new areas.
  • If left undisturbed a mat of young rhizomes forms in the upper 4″ of soil.
  • The aerial shoots are not killed by freezing.

Organic Treatment & Cures

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Easy African Violet Care – Saintpaulia

Easy African Violet Care – Saintpaulia

Not all violets are violet coloured at least not African Violets.

More plants die from over watering than lack of water and this is particularly true for African Violets. These blue, pink, white and violet or bi-coloured plants are native to mountainous tropics and need very little water. Here are some gardeners tips to avoid killing your favourite African Violets – Saintapulia.

Watering Tips

  • Only water African Violets when the soil is dry and I mean dry!
  • Soak the plant with (soft) warm water when it is begging for a drink.
  • Let all the surplus drain off. Do not leave any water in the saucer.
  • Top or bottom watering are both acceptable but it may be easier for beginners to start with bottom watering to avoid drenching the fleshy leaf stalks.
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Novel Eco Gardens

Novel Eco Gardens

‘Novel Ecosystems’ is a catch all phrase to encompass the changes in an environment created in part by human contact.

From an ecological stand point the free movement of ‘life’ forms that  integrate with the new surroundings creates a localised eco-sytem. Consider this from the point of view of a garden that contains many imported plants, non-native species and even crops grown out of season. We gardeners intervene in ‘New Ecological World Order’ either consciously or otherwise.
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Eco Changes in the Garden

  • Conversion of greenbelt and pasture to housing or building on new sites can set up a domino of changes.
  • The commercialisation of the horticultural industry since the Tulip Mania of 17th century has seen a growth in imported plants.
  • Plant explorers seeking new, exotic or different species brought diversity back to the UK.
  • The quest by gardeners for something new, better or different encourages change.
  • Cross breeding has created may hybrids between native and invasive plants.
  • New intentional and unintentional ecosystems created in areas of urbanization

Eco Problem Plants

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Favourite Fruit Varieties

Favourite Fruit Varieties

What is your favourite fruit?

Currants

From the Ribes currant family I prefer the Red currant for making pies. However I also grow Black currants R nigrum for the intense flavour. They bear fruit from new shoots made the previous year so prune some old wood in winter.
I have just tried White currants last year and they are similar in cultivation to Red currants but need little or no pruning.

Soft Fruit

  • I have just planted a new bed of strawberries. My previous attempts were in a shady place and didn’t excel. This time I have tried a variety called Loran plus a dozen plants from my brother in law type unknown. The plants have had three wet weeks to get established and by the end of next month will be ready for the winter rest.
  • Raspberries were not brilliant this year but made 18 jars of jam. Many of the canes are up against a hedge and therefore short of water much of the year so I am content with the result.
  • It is a long time since I grew Loganberries and I pick wild blackberries again for pies
  • A thornless Blackberry may be suitable for a child friendly garden
Supporting Role of Stakes, Ties and Canes

Supporting Role of Stakes, Ties and Canes

Lush growth in May and June will create abundant growth and plenty of colour. But by mid summer and early autumn a shabbiness of middle age may have crept into your borders. However a border that has been carefully staked and tied in spring and summer will not lapse into slovenly habits.

Tips for Using Canes

  • It makes sense to support single-stem plants like Hollyhocks, Delphiniums and Gladioli early in the season but it is never too late. When tying stems to a cane make a loose figure-of-eight with the twine or a tight knot will damage the the stem.
  • You can make your own ‘pea sticks’ from Hazel, Elm suckers, Beech or even Fir.
  • If you want to grow your own canes then the bamboo Phyllostachys nigra produces unobtrusive black canes.
  • Use thick canes if possible – buy 8 foot canes and cut in two with a fine hacksaw at a joint
  • Freshly bought canes can be cut with secateurs
  • Single canes are not appropriate for multi stemmed plants as the string just makes a noose for the plant to flop into. Put two canes at the back and at least one in the middle then a web of string can provide several supports.
  • If your string slips down the cane your effort will be wasted. use a clove hitch knot slid down from the top of the cane and keep the know just above a joint.

Off the Peg Plant Supports

  • Circular wire grids too set above a plant for it to grow through are available but are not cheap. The green plastic covering on the wire isn’t totally natural in appearance.
  • Interlocking stakes with a hook to link to the next stake helps make a support shape appropriate to the plant can work quite well. I use these for Peonies.
  • Semi circular hoops for the border edges are available to hold plants back from lawnmowers
  • Part off the peg and part DIY you can use a wire grid supported in 4 corners to cover a wide area of the herbaceous border.
  • Obelisks and a variety of cast iron towers are available for training climbing plants

Special Staking for Special Plants

Ornamental Grass & Design

Ornamental Grass & Design

There are many families, species and varieties of grass suitable for ornamental purposes. Wether you want a prairie grass-scape, a potted plant or a focal point in a formal garden then there is a grass to suit. Grasses are well suited to a range of landscaping projects.

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The Fescue, Pennisetum, Panticum, Carex, Miscathus, Stipa and many other species are covered below. A recommended variety is given where ever possible along with shore notes. Grasses are perennial unless stated to be annuals.

 

Gardeners Tips Recommended Varieties

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Common Lawn Weeds and Treatment

Common Lawn Weeds and Treatment

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Bellis or Daisy is recognised by it’s flat rosettes of oval leaves and small white yellow eyed flowers. They tend to form colonies that hug the ground to smother out nearby grass. From the boots of the ‘My old mans a dustman’ song, ‘it takes such a job to pull them up that he calls them daisy roots’ the best treatment is a selective weed killer that may need a couple of applications. Alternatively each root can be dug out by hand.

Dandelion leaves are recognised by long hairless coarsely toothed leaves that form large rosettes. They form dense mat to suppress the nearby plants or grass. The flowers are bright yellow and self-seed freely from Dandelion clocks the globular seed heads we blew as children. The long tap root will regrow unless removed completely or killed by systemic weed killer. Spot treat the weed with a touchweeder or selectively apply a weed killer. Burning and boiling water on the leaves may have some impact on crazy paving but i don’t find it works on lawns.

Buttercups stunt nearby plants and make the lawn look uncared for. remove by hand or normal weed killers.

Clover has shamrock shaped leaves (not real rocks as you find in rockeries). Clover stays green in drought and as a leguminous plant its roots provide nitrogen for grass but the pink or white flowers are intrusive. As clover thrives on poor soil feed the lawn and use a grass box on the mower to remove seed heads. Lawn sand may be used to treat the problem.

Plantains have large leaf rosettes that can smother grass and compete for vital nutrients. Fork out by hand or treat individually.

Annual meadow grass hosts harmful eelworms and is hard to control with weed killers. The leaves are short tufts and strap shaped with tiny coarse flowers. in summer they can die back leaving patches. Feed the lawn well and use the grass bow when mowing. really bad investations may need re sowing or turfing.

Moss is a dense low growing mat of greenery that affects badly drained lawns. It is too short to be cut by a mower but a lawn that itself is cut too short can attract moss instead of grass. Feed the lawn with a weed and feed fertiliser or use lawn sand containing a moss killer. Scarify and improve drainage by forking over the lawn

Lawn Tool Tips

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Mixed Penstemon Plants

Mixed Penstemon Plants

penstemon

Penstemon’s have been an excellent, low maintenance plant for me. They can start flowering in June and still be flowering 4 months later in October. They mostly require well drained soil and protection from heavy frosts. Dead heading is advisable as it will encourage new flowers.

Once or twice a year, I would recommend adding a general fertiliser applied at the base of the plant, taking care to follow the manufacturers instructions. They don’t need a heavy manure of strong nitrogen feed as this will just encourage excessive leaf growth and make them more susceptible to aphids.

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What is AGM – Award of Garden Merit

What is AGM – Award of Garden Merit

This is the Royal Horticultural Society symbol for the Award of Garden Merit ‘AGM’. This award indicates that the plant is recommended by the RHS.

Awards are usually given after a period of trial at an RHS garden.

The AGM is intended to be of practical value to the home gardener. It is awarded therefore only to a plant that meets the tried and tested plant varieties using trial methods and  criteria.

AGM Criteria

  • It must be available in the UK
  • It be of outstanding excellence for ordinary garden decoration or use
  • It must be of good constitution – the award includes a hardiness standard – H4 is hardy through out the UK
  • It must not require highly specialist growing conditions or care
  • It must not be particularly susceptible to any pest or disease
  • It must not be subject to an unreasonable degree of reversion in its vegetative or floral characteristics.

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