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Category: Gardening

General gardening tips and hints

Top 10 Small Gardens

Top 10 Small Gardens

Alpine Trough

You can grow an interesting garden in an old sink, trough or container that you have to hand. In the case of the photograph above all the plants chosen were small compact alpines. They include small varieties of normal garden favourites such as Asters, Pinks (Dianthus), Campanula, Gypsophilia, Primula, Sempervivum and Pelargonium (Geraniums).

Types of Small Garden

1. Container
A collection of plant pots on hard standing can look exceptional. The choice of plants is massive, fruit trees, trailing annuals, bulbs, conifers the list is endless. Hanging baskets also fit in this category of containers and as an idea try a herb garden in a basket near your kitchen door.

2. Window boxes
If you have ever seen Swiss Chalets in summer they will probably have been brimming with red geraniums and brilliant trailing flowers. Free window box plans are available for DIY experts to try and make their own.

3. Bonsai

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Weed Control Tips and Water Avens

Weed Control Tips and Water Avens

Don’t let your weeds seed – wildlife and wind will do the job of importing weeds anyway.

wood-avens

I am suffering this year from a pernicious weed called ‘Avens’ part of the Geum family. It comes in two sorts the yellow flowered Wood Avens  Geum urbanum and the pinker flowered  Water Avens Geum Rivale. They seed freely and there-in lies the problem as individually they are innocuous but when they spread around they become a pest.

Weed Control Tips

  • Do not let weeds run to seed and disperse or you will have them for years.
  • Do not put seed heads in the compost bin, if the heat fails to kill them you will end up spreading them around far better than mother nature can do.
  • Hoe the soil as young annual weeds emerge. Good housekeeping will keep the number of weeds down.
  • Remove the root of weeds to stop them re-emerging. Avens are shallow rooted but the stalks will just break off so you need to loosen the soil and pull out the roots.
  • Think of any plant in the wrong place as a potential weed and remove or kill the flowering thugs amongst your plants. ( Forget-me-nots and some Poppies are a weed in my garden.)
  • Beware imports of exoitic plants that become weeds. Water Avens is an escapee from pond plant situations
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Greenhouse Shading

Greenhouse Shading

cool-greenhouse

Two or three hot days and I am glad I had already shaded my greenhouse from the sun.

It bis easier to remove in Autumn if you apply the cool-shade on the inside. For years I have struggled to clean the high apex from the outside!

Why Shade Your Greenhouse

  • Direct sun can bleach the chlorophyll out of plant leaves and leave them scorched.
  • Burnt and dehydrated plants will be distresses and will fail or perform badly.
  • Greenhouse trap heat and you can have too much of a good thing.
  • Keep the heat down but allow the maximum amount of light.

How to Shade your Greenhouse

  • The cheapest method I have found is to use Coolglass a powder you mix into a suspension and paint or spray on.
  • Old fashioned whitewash with a bit of size to make it stick is an old gardeners tip.
  • The aim is to keep down the heat whilst still getting the light so a thin covering is best.
  • You can use shade netting and there are many varieties available. Horticultural fleece may provide enough shade.
  • Roller blinds or wooden slatted blinds can be adjusted to suit the conditions each day.
  • Automatic blinds can be installed to suit many purses (that are reasonably full to start with).

Other Related Tips

  • Keep up the humidity in your greenhouse. In the morning and during very hot days I pour water on the floor.
  • Water plants at night so they can take up a drink for half the day and are turgid in the morning.
  • Avoid splashing the plants if watering during the heat of the day.
  • Remove the shading later in the year (end August) to help the last tomatoes ripen.
  • I only paint the South East and West faces of the greenhouse as you can see in the photo.
Soil Testing Kits and Patio Stuff

Soil Testing Kits and Patio Stuff

Book Cover

Test your soil (from each area of your garden) for acidity or alkalinity so you know what plants will thrive.

Chemical Tests
Mix a sample of soil with water. Add the test solution or capsule of test chemicals and watch the colour develop. Read off the colour of the liquid against the chart supplied that gauges alkalinity, neutral, acid and very acidic levels on a scale a bit more refined than the old litmus test from school.
The above kit is available from Amazon and is more detailed and comprehensive in that it also tests nutrient levels of NPK potassium/potash, phosphorus and nitrogen.

Probe Tester
These devices are supplied by Draper and others for checking soil pH levels, moisture content and light intensity. The tester comprises two 210mm long probes, three way selector switch (moisture/light/pH) and easy-to-read dial gauge. Uses solar power, so no batteries required.

Pation Improvers

Patio
Patio

Unfortunately, my patio doesn’t have an underlay to stop weeds coming through, so it is necessary to get the old hoe out and skim off the weeds. Actually it is quite a relaxing job. Also I use the hoe to scrap off some of the moss which starts to grow on the patio.

If you really want to get your patio clean and return it to its original bright condition, you will want to invest in a proper patio cleaner. This Karcher 300 effectively cleans the patio without spraying dirt up onto the walls and your trousers. If there is a heavy build up of moss, you might want to scrap this away first. It is relatively easy to use and at £33, relatively good value for providing one of the easiest ways to clean your patio. It’s easy to forget the original colour of your patio and also how much brighter the original colour can be.

Book Cover Patio Cleaner at Amazon.co.uk

Patio Cleaning Chemicals

Patio Cleaner Liquid at Amazon.co.uk

Patio Cleaning at Amazon
RHS Service
The RHS provides a Soil testing service for a fee details can be found on the Soil Analysis Service web page.

Purple Flowers that Attract Bees

Purple Flowers that Attract Bees

Is it the nectar, pollen or colour that attracts bees to flowers. May be it is all three!
Just watch bees swarm over Thyme when in flower.

b-cistus

Cistus only seem to flower for one day then the petals drop. Resting in the sun this Bee seems content with life.

069

Foxgloves have long tubular flowers so the Bee has to crawl right in to get the nectar. This moves pollen from flower to flower and Foxgloves then produce thousands of small powdery seeds.

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Shade and Dry Areas

Shade and Dry Areas

Try the shade test. If you can’t see to read then plant a fountain as no plants are likely to thrive.
If you can only just read then try Ivies, ferns, mosses, box, Ruscus aculeatus an evergreen shrub or craggy moss & lichen covered stones.
Under a deciduous tree spring bulbs, berberis and some clematis may be good doers.
Lightly wooded areas are havens for hostas, hellebores, solomons seal, trillium and choisya amongst others.

Dry Shade is one of the least hospitable places in the garden but some flowering perennials will thrive. A modicum of sun or light will suffice to provide this more interesting top ten.

Top Ten Dry Shade Perennials

Poppy

1. Convallaria majalis or Lily of the Valley will provide scented bell shaped flowers and spread from underground shoots
2. Meconopsis cambrica Welsh Poppy with single yellow or orange flowers has fern like foliage
3. Lamium maculatum or the Spotted Deadnettle is semi-evergreen.
4. Geranium macrorrhhizum or Balkan Cranesbill has magenta flower sprays and covers the ground quite quickly.

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Accidents with Seeds

Accidents with Seeds

Oh to Bee a Wallflower

Things often go wrong in the garden so it is a change when serendipity takes a hand.

Recent Accidents
In my greenhouse I have a permanent, slatted wooden bench. I must have been careless with some wallflower seeds which have fallen close to the glass, grown and flowered.
Every morning for weeks I have gone to open the doors to air the greenhouse and been confronted by a wonderful smell. If I had planned to get a scented greenhouse I could not have done better.
I will now try more scented accidents but will stick to one scent at a time with wallflowers featuring again next spring.

A different seed accident has taught me a painful lesson. My compost got contaminated either at the supplier or in my potting shed.
I keep my compost in old waste bins and leave the top open when I am using the compost regularly.
To a bag of compost I add sand or John Innes depending what  am growing. This years first batch of seeds grew rapidly but every pot has grown a crop of weeds.
Fortunately I used all the contaminated compost before I realised the problem and later sowings in fresh compost were fine.

 

Occasionally even the best seed packet retailers make a mistake with the contents or plant description. Don’t assume it is always your fault.

Action for the future

I must not mix  one bag of compost with another.
Buy the same brand of trusted compost everytime (I used five different ones this year).
Put a lid or cover on the compost to stop insects, seeds and fungus causing problems.
Not storing paper envelopes of seed on the shelf above my compost.
Plan ‘accidental’ seed sowing in interesting places.

 

  • Whilst in the aluminium greenhouse I strung a firm wire across from the knee high screw holes as part of my intended support for tomato plants later in the year.
  • During the hot spring I have damped down the greenhouse to improve humidity. I used the hose pipe on fine spray from the doorway to water the seed trays.
  • I am ready to harvest the small carrots I have grown in the greenhouse where the tomato plants will go.
Garden Clippings

Garden Clippings

As I search for sensible articles and reports on various garden subjects I collect a range on odd bits of information. Not knowing what is helpful I hope at least one of the following gardeners tip is of use but let’s see how we go.

Trendy flowers are fads waiting to be superceeded. Three years ago I highlighted the grass Calamagrostis x acutifolia Karl Foerster, Euphorbia cyparissias Fens Ruby, Dogwoods and Gillenia trifoliata. (They grow 6′, 3′, 4′, and 18″ respectively). Who grows them now?.

Organic items that have been slow to compost on my bin this year have been egg shells, avocado skins and stones, spiky top leaves of pineapples plus those green biodegradable plastic bags sold for indoor compost collecting. 12 months should have been long enough but have patience.

Clumps of Primroses and Primulas that have finished flowering can be lifted and divided by pulling apart good sized pieces that should already have rooted. Keep them moist and planted in some shade. If plants are too small to divide mulch them with organic matter to bulk up for next year.

Aubrietia should be sheared hard after they finish their display. A new cushion of foliage will help keep the plants growing for years without feed as Aubretia have no liking for rich soil.

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Container Gardeners Tips

Container Gardeners Tips

container-gardening

Silver champagne buckets or plain galvanised steel, there is a container for every purpose. These Pansies contrast with the brick wall and almost cover the container.

Gardeners Container Tips

  • Wether using a pot, tub, bowl, trough or urn make sure there is a drainage hole to allow rain and water to escape. Plants can drown far too easily.
  • Select the material for the container to complement the garden design and chosen plants. Stone, wood, plastic and metal containers are freely available.
  • For a conservation garden ‘found materials’ can be made into a container. A  hollowed out log, old barrel or any container coated in a slurry of concrete and yogurt or peat can look and do good.
  • You may plan to use a containers for one season or several years. Use compost that will suit the conditions eg John Innes no 3 for trees and shrubs or peat substitute for annuals.
  • Plan the planting to soften the edges of the container with plants spilling over. Do not leave a lot of soil showing as it will look sparse.
  • When planting from a pot use the current pot to make a suitable sized hole shape in the container so you can drop the plant straight in and firm it easily.

Alpine Strawberries

Outdoor containers made from terracotta or pottery need to be frost proof to avoid cracking. It is also advisable to lift them off the ground so they do not freeze to the path. A hard frost can see the base left behind when the pot is moved. To prevent this you can buy small pot feet, put the container up on bricks or stand it on some gravel or bubble wrap.

Winter Container Care Tips
Keep winter containers out of cold drying wind for the best results. Any shelter will be appreciated by plants that have to do battle with winter conditions.
Winter can often have dry spells so keep an eye on pots that may need some watering. This is also true of pots under roofs and eaves.
I like to use a woooden tub or half barrel and start by lining the container with a few bits of broken flowerpot or polystyrene for drainage.
Plant pre-grown bulbs before adding the other plants with trailing plants at the edge of the container. You can bury small pots in a larger container and change them as necessary.
Plants grow more slowly in winter so pack them in fairly close together to get a quick effect.
If you have special plants that do not like their crowns to get wet put a glass cover over the pot.

Tips for Good Lawns

Tips for Good Lawns

Lawns, particularly when the grass is newly cut, can provide the most evocative of garden scents. Lawns act as a natural soak a-way for rain and in so many ways are preferable to hard landscaping. Keep the geese off!

London  jan 13

Improve the look of your garden by cutting the grass and trimming the edges. A neatly mowed lawn sets off the rest of the garden.

  • In June you can lower your mowers  cutting blades if you wish but leave 1 inch of grass or it will looked scalped and get bare patches.
  • If you have too many daisies or weeds in the lawn it is OK to give it a ‘feed and weed’ treatment. I find it easier to use a liquid combo for this job but there are also several granular applications you could use. I also have a spot weeder for dandelions and one off weeds.
  • Do not worry if the lawn is dry and starting to go brown it will soon green up again after rain. It is a waste of time and effort to water the lawn except in the most extreme conditions when hosepipes will be banned anyway.
  • It isn’t too late to rake over the lawn scratching the surface to remove dead grass, moss and other debris.
  • On bare patches brush in some sand and lawn seed.
  • If edges are crumbling and damaged  cut out a length about 10 inches wide and turn it around so the damaged part is in the centre of the lawn and the new edge is crisp. water the new piece and it will knit back together.

Enjoy the grass on your lawn, walk barefooted or lay out to get a sun tan. Do not be a slave to your lawn or garden but enjoy.