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One of a gardener’s pet hates is the common slug and of course the second is the snail. It is infuriating to find that your plants have been damaged by these pests. There are many products designed to eradicate these pests ranging from the notorious slug pellets that you scatter beside yor [...]
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Tags:pests·slugs·snails
Controlling broadleaf weeds in the lawn has always been a problem and particularly so for organic gardeners who do not use chemical weedkillers. In my garden I have several clumps of wild promroses that self seed naturally through the borders and provide a fine display in the spring. What is not so welcome is that [...]
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Tags:broadleaf weeds·Chelsea Flower Show·daisies·dandelions·lawns·organic weed control·weedkillers
This article by Jeff Lowenfels “How to grow tomatoes — starting now” is a useful reminder of the basics of growing tomatoes from seed. He takes you through all the steps from seed to plant with a reminder that tomato roots must never touch the walls of the container until they get into their final [...]
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Tags:$64 tomato·plants·seeds·tomatoes
This was the title of an article that I wrote way back in December 2004 and submitted to the Ezine Articles Directory. Keeping cats, in particular other people’s cats, out of your garden is clearly a major problem judging by the number of sites that show up when you type “cat repellent” into Google or [...]
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Tags:cat repellent·keep cats out of garden
This is just a short post to let you know that the December issue of Garden Ramblings has now been published and you can read it online by clicking HERE.
You will see that in the special offers section I said that there was no sale at Gardener’s Supply Company, but I have just received an [...]
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Tags:Garden Ramblings
Some people think that squirrels are cute little creatures. The way that they sit upright with their bushy tails erect using their front legs like hands to eat nuts and other goodies. Or we marvel at the way that they leap from branch to branch in the trees with such agility. But not if we’re [...]
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Tags:garden tools·herbs·squirrels
We are all being encouraged to grow our own veggies to save money in these recessionary times, but think how much more you can save by growing your own flowers for cutting. Apart from sweet peas which take up little space, I have never grown flowers for use in the house.
Recently my wife has been [...]
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Tags:alstroemeria·cut flowers·sweet peas
For Clyde Tressler going green in caring for his lawn means more than using organic fertilizers. For him throwing out the gas powered mower is the key and he makes a spirited case for “the reintroduction of manual labor to lawn care”. I love the way that he suggests that while your head may reject [...]
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Tags:beneficial bugs·children·compost·lawncare
I spent yesterday visiting Loseley Park near Guildford. The weather was perfect and the roses were in full bloom, but imagine my surprise when I found this border of bergenias in flower. I had always thought that bergenias were spring flowering plants although I have discovered after some brief research that some varieties do flower [...]
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Guerrilla gardening has been around for several years and is generally understood as a clandestine activity carried out by small groups often at night who plant flowers on neglected areas of public land. Admittedly the publication of “On Guerrilla Gardening” by Richard Reynolds has given the activity an air of respectability, but it is still [...]
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Tags:guerrilla gardening·lawn mower·rain gardens