While gardening is regarded as an enjoyable hobby we are all happy to use labour saving equipment to help with the heavy and boring tasks. Although a rotavator is not essential if you only have a small area to cultivate, no-one would think of maintaining a lawn without a mower. And you don’t even have [...]
After two months without any rain and unseasonal high temperatures the last three weeks have reversed the trend with heavy showers and longer periods of rain nearly every day. As a result my roses bloomed a month earlier than usual and so now have finished their first flush, but made a great show for a [...]
Last week I wrote about the preparations for the Chelsea Flower Show and included some links to pictures of some of the more unusual show gardwns. One of these was the Irish Sky Garden designed by Diarmuid Gavin which won a Gold medal and The RHS People’s Choice Award. I found this video tour of [...]
Tags:Chelsea Flower Show·Irish Sky Garden·japanese maple·rooftop garden
In my last post I mentioned the preparations for the Chelsea Flower Show and this is the week that the show opens its doors to the public. Each year sees more and more ambitious designs to the extent that there is some adverse press comment that the structures are taking over from the flowers. For [...]
“Why garden high in the sky?” asks Linnea Due writing in the East Bay Express. The obvious answer is to increase the growing area by making maximum use of the space. Mind you to describe it as “high in the sky” is somewhat of an exaggeration when what the article goes on to discuss is [...]
Tags:bee nest boxes·Chelsea Flower Show·skyfarming·vertical gardening
“No Excuses, Just Vegetables” is the title of an article by Mike Lieberman in which he shows how, with a little ingenuity, even apartment dwellers can grow their own veggies. “It’s worth the time and effort if you grow even one herb or vegetable. It will make a difference” he says. Of course he really [...]
Tags:balcony·containers·foraging·micro-greens·sprouts·vegetables·veggies
I know it’s rather late but I have just noticed an article on new plants for 2011 and this has prompted me to check a few sites to see what new varieties are on offer this year. Black and white seem to be common themes with the Black Velvet petunia and the Coconut Ice sunflower [...]
Tags:burlap·DIY·gadgets·herb·new plants·Queen Anne's Lace·wild carrot
As someone who tries to stick to organic principles and avoids the use of pesticides wherever possible, I am always interested to hear of ways to encourage natural predators. We all know that ladybugs eat aphids and so I always try to give them a helping hand to find their prey. And there are now [...]
Tags:biocontrol·crabapple·gardener·invasive plants·natural predators·personality test
Vertical gardening is not a new idea. Garden writers have for many years suggested that people with small courtyard gardens should make the most of the space by growing climbing plants up the walls and fences bounding their property. But new forms of vertical gardening are emerging. Some like the “green wall” covered with ferns [...]
Tags:arbors·brown marmorated stink bug·Capability Brown·climbing plants·Diarmuid Gavin·fence·giant veggies·trellis·vertical gardening
I’ve just come across a recent study that claims that vegetables grown using chemical fertilizers contain more vitamins and so may be better for you than organic produce. This is a report by the British consumer magazine Which? and has caused some consternation among organic gardeners. The claims follow a two year study growing potatoes, [...]
Tags:chemical fertilizer·organic·pesticides·unusual seeds·vegetables
