{"id":11127,"date":"2011-10-11T08:57:03","date_gmt":"2011-10-11T15:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=11127"},"modified":"2012-04-27T02:58:08","modified_gmt":"2012-04-27T09:58:08","slug":"101-gardeners-new-years-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/101-gardeners-new-years-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"101 Gardener&#8217;s  Resolutions and Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Wild meadow by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/3785610534\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2625\/3785610534_d1ee2fcd29.jpg\" alt=\"Wild meadow\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Plant and Floral Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Grow the plants and flowers you like.<\/li>\n<li>Grow more flowers for cutting.<\/li>\n<li>Grow plants for shape, texture and form.<\/li>\n<li>Tie to supports Clematis, Chimonanthus and Climbing Roses to prevent wind damage and improve flowering.<\/li>\n<li>Increase the planting of scented Witch Hazel (eg. Hamamellis x intermedia Jelena).<\/li>\n<li>Sow Sweet Peas in deep pots and pinch out the tips when they have 5 leaves.<\/li>\n<li>Plan how the colour of flowers will look when planted. Use single colours rather than mixed seed packets.<\/li>\n<li>Collect and replant or distribute the seed from your own star plants.<\/li>\n<li>Grow plants that contribute over long periods of the year.<\/li>\n<li>Select and grow <strong>a shock and awe<\/strong> plant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Eco and Environmental Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Remember we must leave this environment for future generations.<\/li>\n<li>Grow fewer varieties but focus on nectar and pollen rich flowers that are local and help wild life.<\/li>\n<li>Improve soil with rotted compost and try not to compact the air out of wet soil by walking on it.<\/li>\n<li>Increase water collection and storage with linked butts or new collection points.<\/li>\n<li>Fumigate the greenhouse to get rid of fungal spores and overwintering pests<\/li>\n<li>Provide a range of different bird foods to attract various species. Blackbirds love a bit of a bite of an apple.<\/li>\n<li>Keep lawn edges neat and trimmed but have natural areas for wild grass and flowers.<\/li>\n<li>Use natural fertiliser and non-chemical controls.<\/li>\n<li>Reuse and repurpose old items rather than sending them to the tip.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use local and natural stone <\/strong>for your construction work. Airmiles on Indian paving and energy used to manufacture composition paving slabs are unnecessary uses of resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>General Gardening Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Reduce the size of plant clumps and shrubs and trees that are beginning to take over their allotted spot.<\/li>\n<li>Deadhead faded flowers to extend flowering time.<\/li>\n<li>Prune and trim when plants need it not just when you have the secateurs in your hand.<\/li>\n<li>Sow seeds thinly and thin out. Give plants appropriate space.<\/li>\n<li>Make succession sowings, only sow small quantities of a crop at each sowing.<\/li>\n<li>Split clumps of Snowdrops and Winter Aconites after flowering. They split best &#8216;in the green&#8217;.<\/li>\n<li>Create a low maintenance area to spend time elsewhere in the garden.<\/li>\n<li>Take full enjoyment out of your garden.<\/li>\n<li>Listen to advice but <strong>do as you please<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Work with the weather it is all you&#8217;ll get.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Houseplants and Indoor Pots<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Check plants for pests before bringing them into your home.<\/li>\n<li>Keep Azalea and Cyclamen pot plants moist at all times.<\/li>\n<li>Flowering plants need bright light so position accordingly.<\/li>\n<li>Repot plants into larger pots if have consumed the compost or are in need of space.<\/li>\n<li>Add fresh compost to the top of pots when the houseplants are not growing as strongly.<\/li>\n<li>Keep pots of bulbs and flowering plants cool to prolong the life of the flowers.<\/li>\n<li>Many houseplants will benefit from some time outside in the middle of summer.<\/li>\n<li>Water the plants not the windowsills.<\/li>\n<li>Move plants around in the home.<\/li>\n<li>Try the exotic not the commonplace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Win Friends and Influence People<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Grow more flowers and greenery for cutting and flower arranging. It should please those indoors<\/li>\n<li>Grow pots and containers of plants to give away. It is an easy way to use your surplus.<\/li>\n<li>Sharpen your blades and tools using a sharpening stone and wipe over with oil<\/li>\n<li>Look at your garden from your boundary and aim for at least one <strong>crowd pleasing<\/strong> feature for passers by to admire.<\/li>\n<li>Join your local horticultural society, you will get advice, make friends and may be offered free or cheap produce.<\/li>\n<li>Use the RHS and AGS for information and join these societies if you want to use the benefits of membership.<\/li>\n<li>Plant to visit flower shows and open gardens to see how the professionals design and execute a garden scheme.<\/li>\n<li>Beg cuttings or advice from other gardeners, they are usually a friendly bunch. I was once told <strong>&#8216;Everyone is entitled to my opinion&#8217;.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Enter your local village show. It is the taking part that is important not the winning.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your boundary and pavements neat and tidy. Pick up litter and kill off weeds outside your house to make the street a better place to live.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Allotment Focused Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Get an allotment!<\/li>\n<li>Alternatively increase cultivated area by a deal with a neighbor<\/li>\n<li>Mastered the art of successional sowing to avoid gluts.<\/li>\n<li>Grow more winter crops<\/li>\n<li>Store potatoes, butternut squashes, onions and shallots.<\/li>\n<li>Pick courgettes and runner beans regularly.<\/li>\n<li>Protect against carrot root fly, cabbage white butterfly and Pigeons before it is too late.<\/li>\n<li>Get more manure to hearten up the soil.<\/li>\n<li>Talk to other allotmenteers about successes and failures of the past<\/li>\n<li>Grow what <strong>the family will eat.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Gardeners Tips Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/\">Read Gardeners Tips<\/a> regularly<\/li>\n<li>Subscribe to gardeners tips RSS feed<\/li>\n<li>Get Gardeners tips by email.<\/li>\n<li>Buy from Jersey Plants or Thompson Morgan by using Gardeners tips links.<\/li>\n<li>Comment on Gardeners tips.<\/li>\n<li>Link your web site to Gardeners tips.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/advertise\/\">Advertise<\/a> on Gardeners tips.<\/li>\n<li>Tell your friends about Gardeners tips.<\/li>\n<li>Nominate the best resolution from the list of 101 Gardeners tips new year&#8217;s resolutions<\/li>\n<li>Did I mention Gardeners tips for the best gardening tips?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Fruit and Vegetable Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Grow more fruit and disbud so that apples, pears and plums grow to a good size.<\/li>\n<li>Grow early potatoes in containers or sacks such as International Kidney or Vales Emerald for something newer.<\/li>\n<li>Start chillie seeds early on a sunny windowsill.<\/li>\n<li>If I grow Chard Bright Lights in a decorative bed I must remember to eat the crop not just look at it.<\/li>\n<li>Two or three Marrow plants can provide all the courgettes a family needs. Try Defender or Green Bush<\/li>\n<li>Reshape old Apple trees during winter by pruning to get a bowl shape that lets in air and light.<\/li>\n<li>Divide congested clumps of Rhubarb .<\/li>\n<li>Feed the area around the roots of fruit trees.<\/li>\n<li>Consider <strong>more space for fruit<\/strong> such as Stone fruit, Bush fruit, Cane fruit, Soft fruit and Apple and Pear trees.<\/li>\n<li>Add lime to the soil where you plan to grow brassicas and leafy greens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Fun Resolutions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Give me patience but hurry!<\/li>\n<li>Apply perspiration in the garden regularly.<\/li>\n<li>If it dies its a flower if it lives its a weed.<\/li>\n<li>With a flower in one hand and a cold drink in the other, tell somebody else where to dig.<\/li>\n<li>Have pride in how bad your hands look.<\/li>\n<li>Learn by by trowel and error.<\/li>\n<li>The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and brown sauce.<\/li>\n<li>It is knowledge to know Tomato is a fruit but wisdom to stop putting it in a fruit salad.<\/li>\n<li>Go to the Yorkshire garden center where you can <strong>buy one &#8211; get one<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Grow your own dope &#8230; plant a man.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Restate the Blinking Obvious<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Do more weeding.<\/li>\n<li>Cut the grass regularly.<\/li>\n<li>Keep everything tidy.<\/li>\n<li>Water deeply when needed.<\/li>\n<li>Excel with the plants you already grow.<\/li>\n<li>Kill insects that cause damage.<\/li>\n<li>Stop infectious rot and disease.<\/li>\n<li>Turf out the dead and dying.<\/li>\n<li>Nature causes living things to suffer and die.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do not believe all you read in lists like this.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Give links and credits such as this to <a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/house-greenhouse-plants\/grow-colourful-gloxinia-as-houseplants\/\">Gloxinia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I  once said <strong>&#8216;Everyone is entitled to my opinion&#8217;<\/strong> so do not believe all you read but pick your top resolutions from this list of over 100 bright tips and resolutions arranged in sections of ten under each heading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,17],"tags":[248],"class_list":["post-11127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-gardening","category-gardening","tag-photo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}