Adventurous Window Boxes

There must be a window box on this picture to tempt you to be adventurous this year.

As you can see window boxes come in all shapes and sizes and there are no holds barred.

What Makes a Good Adventurous Window Box

Credit for photo mosaic
Window Boxes by robynejay CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Garden Spring Clean Products

Read about our ‘Quick Fix Garden Spring Clean’ tips.

Free Products to Help Garden Spring Cleaning

• You have already supplied the first product with your brain power and resolve to spring clean.
• Elbow grease is one of the most useful products you can imagine. It is even more use if applied in a preplanned, focused and logical manner.
• A willing or paid helper may be the next product on your list. Make sure who is calling the shots or the helper may delegate to you!
• Local councils collect your refuse so ‘Dustbin it’ or throw it on a compost heap with a tidy lid.
• Plant out in neat rows any early or overwintering seedlings. This looks tidy and you can aim for the natural planting look when plants growth really takes off.
• A sweeping brush is essential and could be made as a besom out of birch twigs but I would splash out on a bought brush.

Product Reports and Articles

Path Cleaning and Cleaners
Garden disinfectants
Best Weed Killers
Wood Care
Fence Care

Greenhouse Clearance Sales and Cleaning

New Greenhouse Clearance Sales.

October is a slow time for greenhouse sales as you would imagine. That is why there are numerous sales offers around at this time of year.

You can save 20% or more on the price of a new greenhouse if you buy at this time of year.
The Greenhouse People have just sent me a mailshot offering £3000 Alton or Robinsons 8′ X 10′ greenhouses for £1999 in a major clearance event.
Local retailers need the space for Christmas products and may be offering special quick sale deals.

Old Greenhouse Clearance

• I am content with my current greenhouse subject to winter damage!
• Clearance for me means taking out the old plants and soil used for growing tomatoes.
• I will fumigate an empty greenhouse to clear out any lingering pests.
• Selected plants will be returned into a new plunge bed I have developed for alpine plants.
• Windows will be cleaned and algae removed to improve the amount of light during the short winter days.

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Gazebo and Garden Tent Types

Spring showers, Autumn rain and Summer storms can all spoil our enjoyment of the garden.
For those planning a garden party or just informal drinks a Gazebo may be the answer.

Low Cost – Good Value Gazebos

• Surprisingly you can get a self assembly, steel framed gazebo from B&Q for £17. It measures 10 foot by 7 foot and is powder coated steel in white.
• The Arran gazebo is a big play tent 10′ by 10′ costing £30 from Homebase or a striped model is £80 from Tesco
• Pop up Gazebos from Tesco, Webbs and Greenfingers are from £70-£90. Guy ropes and pegs are included.
• Side walls may be appropriate but remember this will increase wind resistance so watch the weather.

Upmarket Gazebos

• Skye garden party gazebo from B&Q costs £99 and measures an impressive 30′ by 10′. It is enclosable on all 4 sides.
• Totally open sides with a pyramid shaped roof looks elegant in the Sumba model from B&Q.

Gazebos

available from Amazon are shown here

What is a Gazebo

• Gazebos are an ornamental garden feature with international connections.
• Used to provide shelter from strong sunshine, breezes, insects and light rain they are constructed in numerous styles and from a variety of materials.
• Tent-style structures of poles covered by tensioned fabric are detailed above along with example suppliers.
• Gazebos can have a range of alternative names including; pagodas, pavilions, kiosks, belvederes, follies, alhambras, pergolas, and rotundas.

Thanks to poluz, on Flickr for the first picture and increasing our international connections. Visitors from 34 different countries have read our blog in the last week.

Also to nicpic, on Flickr for the Bespoke gazebo that is the top tip for those with big gardens and aspirations.

Poundshop Pots and Cheap Pots

I am an extravagant shopper throwing my pounds away on all sorts of garden related offers.

This plastic pot was only £1 and I wish I had bought several more. It was probably designed as a holder for 5 individual pots.
I drilled holes in the bottom and using well drained but moisture retentive compost I planted it up with these miniature Hostas. It will keep the slugs at bay and provide a home for the Hostas to increase in size. Fortunately I had some red alpine grit to decorate the top and it looks OK with the terracotta plastic colour.

I could have put gravel or Hortag in the bottom and used it for pot plants but I would probably have let them get waterlogged.

Warning on Cheap Pots

• Make sure there is enough drainage. Pots sometimes have too few holes or none at all.
• Pottery pots may not be frost proof and even terracotta pots and earthen ware may crack and split in freezing weather.
• Ceramic pots need to have been fired at high temperatures (expensive energy) or they will chip and have a short life.
• Cheap plastic pots may be made from thin material that flexes, cracks and distorts when full of wet compost

Related articles
Poundshop bulbs
Growing tips for miniature Hostas

Log Roll Edging

I have had problems with my terracotta edging alongside a path. It looked very tidy and the sculpted effect was very pleasing. There is negligible soil to hold back and a straight concrete path edge to butt up against. However after 3 winters 25% of the sections have broken or crumbled. This is annoying as they are not cheap and it takes time and effort to replace the damaged ones.

An alternative may be the log roll type edging shown above. It is more robust and less aesthetically pleasing but needs must. Made from tanalised wood it will probably last up to 10 years. The links are made from robust galvanised wire.

Log Roll Edging Tips

• Log rolls are available in various heights. 6″ is a bit small for some jobs if you need to bury part of the edging 9″  and 12″ seem my preferred sizes.
• Roll lengths also vary but more than 6′ in length and the roll becomes harder to handle.
• You can get untreated wood rolls but they will rot quicker.
• You could treat the wood with a paint or dye similar to that used for fences or decking.

Other Options For Edging

• Metal edging strip is popular on lawn edges. Green and black versions are available.
• I use some concrete paving on its side and kerb stone sections.
• There is a Bamboo fence sold as edging that looks attractive in the right setting.
• Willow hurdles or woven willow can act as edging.
• Gard Edge is made from polypropylene and is guaranteed for 10 years.
• For a neat lawn edge there is nothing to beat a well tended gully and the soil cut back regularly with a lawn edging tool.

Amazon supplies a variety of Log Rolls similar to the photograph above.

Read more about Lawn Edges

Garden Equipment For Children

What garden equipment attracts children of the current generation?

• The swing was the most popular piece of equipment until recently when trampolines became more popular.

• Tree houses and dens made from existing resources rather than purchased have enduring charm and fit into the rest of the garden without jarring too much. If you can accomodate bird and insect homes why not have an area for the kids.

• If young footballers keep missing the net you can be sure the ball will hit a precious plant. Unless that is, you have the space for a large lawn with a hard surface surround. More damage is done recovering balls fro herbaceous borders so plant tough items like geraniums, hemerocallis, bay and box.
• Sand pits are great for the very young. Buy fine sand not the yellow staining sort of builders sand.
• With a suitable wall you can paint wickets or goal posts and even mount a hoop for netball.

Water for Children

• Safety is important for younger children. Do not leave them alone near water.
• A rill can be fun. A shallow stream or channel of running water fed from a sump.
• If you have a pond you can fit a black metal mesh just under the water surface and it will be virtually invisible.
• What about a board walk over a marshy area. Not as much fun perhaps as a paddling pool that needs to be emptied when the adults are not around.

Tree and Play Houses

• If you do not have a large sturdy tree you can build one on posts hidden by the branches of a smaller tree.
• Keep kids interested by adding to a tree house with ropes, hammocks, walkways or other features.
• If you are handy you could mount a tree or play house above a garden shed
• You can buy a large range of tree houses see amazon

Trampolines from Amazon
Swings from Amazon

Trampoline photo from Darkjoe on flickr using creative commons license

Stone Chippings and Grit

Uses of Grit and Stone Chippings

• Decorative features on paths and patios.
• Alpines and rock gardens need grit for drainage and chippings can add a nice decorative finish.
• Add to the top of pots to retain moisture and improve general appearance.
• Top off  newly sown alpine seeds to prevent water washing seeds away.
• Chippings deters weeds on beds and borders when used as a mulch.
• Also good for topping pots indoors.
• Deters moss and algae from growing.
• Grit and sharp sand improve drainage and help breakdown heavy clay soils.

Yorkshire cream coloured stone chippings in very large bags from amazon. They are about half to one inch sized chips or 15-25mm of creamy stones. A large bag will cover approx 15 square yards at 2 inches deep.

Read about Alpine Plunge beds or about Creative Mulching

Collecting Old Garden Tools

I am often attracted to this advert for Atco lawn mowers.
I must visit the lawn mower museum to see its 400 cousins.

Old automatic hedge clippers on display at RHS garden

Plant label at the Chelsea Physic Garden

Old Garden Tools T Shirt from Amazon

Old Garden Tools from Kay Sanecki

Climbing Plant Frames and Supports

A rose arch is a serious piece of kit for supporting your climbers.
Other ideas are provided below;

Plant Frames and Supports

• The good old stand by is the bamboo cane with twine.
• Twiggy sticks can be enough to support peas and lower growing climbers.
• If you have a fence or wall the strong wires tied across to soft nails or vine eyes may be the answer.
• Thompson & Morgan’s climbing-frame-plant-support allows and encourages free growing plants to climb for 4 feet.
• Trellis is another popular support mechanism and is available in a variety of patterns.
• A rope swag hung between two uprights can encourage a vertical plant to grow laterally.

Supporting role of stakes