Once again this blog has been neglected for far too long. In my last post I mentioned that I was planning to move to a flat with a small patio garden. The move was accomplished earlier this year, but in the intervening months my wife and I have been involved in a full scale renovation of the interior. A new kitchen, new bathroom and redecoration throughout was followed by new carpets in the living room and bedrooms.

Once work on the interior was finished we looked at the patio and investigated the gravel area which is shown in the picture on the previous post. Scraping away the gravel we found that this had been laid on a layer of stone slabs. There were a number of spare slabs stored on site and it appeared that these had been removed at some time in the past. We arranged for these to be relaid so we now have a completely level patio area.

The vegetation shown in the previous picture consisted mostly of dead wood and as this was removed the trellis which was rotten started to collapse and so has been replaced. We have now planted honeysuckle, clematis Montana and a rambling rose so this time next year the trellis should be covered again.

My situation is exactly the opposite in that I will be leaving a substantial garden and moving to a flat with a small patio. As you see from the picture it consists of a small paved area on one side with a gravel section on the other. The grass beyond is a communal area so I will be able to enjoy the green without having to mow it. We are hoping to move early in the new year and I will post further pictures once we have carried out some improvements.

Here in the UK we have experienced, or should I say, suffered the wettest summer ever, or at least in the last hundred years so I’m told, but finally there has been a change. In fact the rain held off for most of the time that the Olympics and Paralympics took place and we are now enjoying something of an Indian summer.

The sun brings out the butterflies and this year there is a new attraction for them in my garden. At the end of last year my next door neighbor gave me what I thought was a clump of Michaelmas daisies which I divided into three and planted out. While I had been expecting the standard blue flowers these have turned out to be pink and a strong growing four foot high plant which the butterflies love.

The first picture is a Brimstone which is one of the first butterflies that appear in the spring and is less often seen in my garden at this time of the year. Then there are some pictures of Red Admirals. The first that settled on the plant was happy for me the stand nearby and take pictures, but was reluctant to open his wings fully. Then another appeared which had damaged wings. This was then followed by a third who kindly obliged and spread his wings fully. The small Holly Blue also visits my garden on and off for most of the year, but he is harder to photograph and the only picture I have is taken from behind.

Green roofs are a common sight these days, but this is the first time that I have heard of a green dining table. And by green I am not talking about the color, but rather green as in real grass. Called the picNYC this table is perhaps the ultimate accessory for the apartment dweller desperate for a lawn of their own. The company provides one free grass installation upon delivery, but if you tire of the green they helpfully suggest that you could just fill the top with stones. Read more..

And finally, Growing Potatoes in a Bucket. Why not give it a go?

To make the most of the day my wife and I paid our annual visit to Mottisfont. This started life as an abbey which was later partly demolished and rebuilt as a country house and is now cared for by the National Trust. Its main claim to fame is a large walled garden which is full of roses. Despite all the rain these were in remarkably good condition as you can see from some of the examples below.

Earlier this year there was talk of water shortages and hosepipe bans in my area, but all the recent rain has removed that threat. Whenever there is concern about water restrictions there is always plenty of advice on the best way to water your plants. Standard advice is that you should not water when the sun is shining since the water drops could damage the leaves. The theory is that the drops of water act like a lens and concentrate the sunlight so as to burn the leaf. In fact it seems that this is incorrect and research carried out two years ago by Hungarian scientists confirmed that this is a myth as this article by Ken Thomson explains. Read more..

If you are the sort of person who likes an neat and orderly garden shed where each tool has its allotted space you will appreciate this layout by ashbeedesign which has been pinned by Sarah on Pinterest. Read more..

And you can find my Pinterest board at: http://pinterest.com/hughe1/

Each year the exhibitors have to come up with new ideas to try to attract the judges’ attention. One of the garden designers who produces somewhat outlandish ideas is Diarmuid Gavin. Last year his suspended Irish Sky Garden which was raised 25 metres off the ground caused quite a stir as I described in this post.

This year he has risen to even greater heights with his 80 foot tall pyramid garden. Constructed from scaffolding poles this giant structure uses its many levels to demonstrate how even the smallest space can be used for planting. Here is a link to a picture of Diarmuid Gavin in front of his pyramid where you can read more about this amazing structure.

Entrance stones (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other day I was looking for some information on organic gardening and was trawling through one of the large article directories when I came across an article by Dr John Yeoman PhD. In “Intensive Organic Gardening – A Lazy Way to Grow More in Your Garden” he describes an easy idea to increase greatly the planting size of your organic garden. Starting by building a pile four feet wide by five feet long and four feet high using any woody, organic material. “Twigs, little branches, ancient logs, sunchoke stems, raspberry canes, sawdust, the roots of shrubs…  whatever you have to hand” is what he suggests. Cover with soil and you will end up with what he calls a “Wayland’s Smithy” which is actually an ancient Bronze Age burial mound. The idea, of course, is that by building a mound you  have a far greater growing area than the original flat ground. You can read the complete article here, and you will see that the link at the end takes you to his website gardeningguild.org where you can download a free ebook with more of his unconventional ideas. I don’t how it’s taken me so long to discover this intriguing site.

Oh and don’t miss his Tip of the Day: “To get rid of perennial weeds such as horsetail, thistles, bindweed, etc, without chemicals, sow turnip seed – very thickly. You won’t get any edible turnips but the root secretions kill almost all deep-seated weeds. By the third season, your soil should be clear. Amazingly, it works! ”

In common with many other places my area has seen hardly any rain this year and I noticed that exhibitors at the Chelsea Flower Show are planning
to create water-saving displays. “Drought gardens will take centre stage at Chelsea Flower Show this year – as leading designers make a virtue of cracked earth, recycled water and Mediterranean plants” reports Louise Gray in the Telegraph. Just as the activity of the ducks in my pond stirred up the mud making it impossible to see the bottom, the garden designers will be putting black dye in water features to make them appear deeper. And that is just one of the eco-gardening tricks described in this article. Read more..

“Claims of ‘helpful’ devices often wilt” is the headline to an article on one of my favorite topics garden gadgets. Denise Trowbridge writing in the Columbus Dispatch describes six products most of which are not as useful as they seem. Accompanied by photos of all except the upside-down tomato planters she reports the opinions of experts on the merits or otherwise of these items. Although the benefits of the upside-down tomato planters are described as “hooey”, some of the other products in the list do turn out to be worth the money. Read more..

They also have a video with further details:

Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

Talking of colors I came across this article about using purple lighting to grow plants indoors. Apparently the dominant type of chlorophyll in plants only needs purple light to function. By using red and blue LEDs to create purple light you can dramatically reduce the energy needed to grow plants indoors.

Source

Most of us will have heard of planting by the moon, the technique of timing your activities to coincide with the phases of the moon, but watching the clouds for a sign is a new one on me. “Look at the sky. Watch for the ball-like formation of the clouds. If you have that sign, you can plant your camote cuttings at sunset” is the advice from Lolo Pedro as reported by Ver F. Pacete writing in the Sun Star Bacolod newspaper. And it’s not just the timing that is important, there is a specific ritual to be followed. Read more..

“Weird trees of Winston-Salem” is the title of this piece by David Lusk. “Drive down practically any street in Winston-Salem and you will find an ever-increasing number of weird trees. These trees are not naturally or inherently weird. They did not grow to be weird or desire to weird. Most of these trees were intentionally planted to be “normal” trees, a term I will use to distinguish natural tree forms from those trees intentionally made weird. Nature’s intent is that trees have trunks, upwardly growing branches and leaves that seek the sun — a normal tree. Evident locally, human intent for trees is sometimes at odds with that of nature.” David Lusk is the president and consulting arborist for Lusk Tree Care, Inc. in Winston-Salem and his complaint is that many trees in the town have been topped which he describes as tree mutilation. “Our community is increasingly becoming a showcase for weird and wacky trees”. Read more..

On the subject of weird trees I stumbled across a website called the Pooktre Tree Shapers. These are certainly weird shapes for a tree, but the results have both artistic and practical merit. For instance they show how you can grow yourself a chair and a mirror, but don’t expect quick results since it takes several years to produce the finished article. Read more..

Apart from evergreens the only other color in my garden at this time of the year is provided by the red and yellow branches of the cornus bushes.

Making compost is an essential part of my gardening routine. Over the years I have read many books describing different methods of making compost, some more complicated than others. I have studied the many different types of compost containers, but never purchased more than some timber to construct a simple 3×3 box which has served me well enough. In fact my system has always involved two boxes. When the first is full the contents are emptied out and the partially decomposed material from the bottom is transferred to the second box to complete the process.

“Surprising Compostable Home and Garden Green and Brown Things” by Susan Morris suggests that your compost heap does not have to consist only of grass clippings and plant waste, but various other sorts of household waste. Read more..

“2012 gardening trends: Hits, misses and hopes” is the title of an article by Kym Pokorny. If you want to know the trend that’s too pervasive to call a trend anymore, the trend riding on its coattails, the trend she most obviously – and embarrassingly – neglected to mention, the trends she hopes really will be trends and the trend that isn’t, except in her mind, read more..

When I saw “Grow Your Own Gnome Garden Kit” I thought it meant “Grow Your Own Gnome”, but no it is just a kit containing three packets of seeds and fibre pots so you can grow a “garden” for your gnome. I thought most people who like gnomes bought them to place in their gardens, so cannot see why they would want to plant a separate garden for their gnome. But then I noticed that the product is available from Perpetual Kid. Read more..

My last post was all about choosing a christmas tree and by now everyone will have theirs so the only helpful advice at this stage is how to care for your tree. Erik Pauze has plenty of experience although his tree is rather larger than yours. I can say that without fear of contradiction since Erik is the head gardener at Rockefeller Center and responsible for a 74 feet tall monster that is wider than the average living room. Watering involves gallons of water and he needs a blower to sweep up the needles every day. Read more..

In these gloomy economic times I have found one man who believes that good times are just around the corner. Rollo Maughfling, a leading druid, claims that 2012 will be an excellent year. He was speaking at the end of the Solstice ceremony at Stonehenge. “He said that the sun rising over the horizon at the end of the ceremony, bathing more than 1,000 people who attended in pale light, meant good things for the next 12 months.” Read more..

And finally a story involving christmas lights and mysterious disappearances. Robb Rosser can fill in the details. Read more..

On which note may I wish you a very happy christmas, or the compliments of the season if you celebrate the holiday in another tradition.

Photo credit: Andrew Dunn

And it’s not just vegetables and chickens that are organic or free range. According to Mother Earth News to be really environmentally friendly you should avoid trees that have been treated with pesticides and herbicides. Read more..

“An Eco-Chic Christmas Tree” is how Lauren Barth describes this eco-friendly tree made from recycled cardboard. All very eco-friendly I’m sure, but despite it being easy to assemble and maintenance free I don’t think it would be my choice. Read more..

If you agree with me that a living tree is the best choice then you have to decide what type of pine or fir to choose for your living room this year. I found this video which was made a few years ago, but the advice appears to be evergreen:

Everyone loves lists so I’m told. I’ve found this list of 20 Heirloom Vegetables complete with descriptions and full color pictures. But before setting out her list Christine Vrey, the author, reveals that half the vegetables she thought were vegetables are in fact classified as fruit. So such common crops as cucumbers, peas, beans, courgettes and peppers are technically fruit, but for the purposes of her list she has adopted the common usage of the term vegetable. You can find her list here.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting gadgets and today I have found one that looks as if it could provide real benefits if it can be manufactured at a reasonable cost. AirDrop pulls water from the air and is designed for use in arid areas which are unsuitable for growing crops. While the concept sounds fanciful, the scientific principle is basic in that warm air is passed down below ground where it cools and releases drops of water. The system uses a turbine which is powered either by wind or solar so is entirely self contained. Read more..

How can you add color to dreary winterscapes in a way that takes minimal work and no maintenance? Felder Rushing has the answer: “My carefully honed skills at zero-maintenance gardening are being put to an acid test. Though I rarely get involved in landscape projects, I’ve agreed to work with some Mississippi Delta folks on one that will feature year-round color and texture, in miserable dirt, with no water”. Read more..

And finally you may have noticed that there is a new section in the right hand sidebar called Coupon Codes. I have included links to five garden supply companies. If you click on the link you will be taken to list of their latest coupons and sale offers. The information is updated automatically so it is worth checking whenever you want to make a purchase. Click one of the links to see how it works.

“Families use pets as lawn-mowers”. I found this snippet in one of those “100 Years Ago” columns. Using animals to keep the grass in trim is not exactly a new idea – sheep have been turned out in churchyards for hundreds of years. In this case it seems that the pet was a large white rabbit. My experience of pet rabbits is that if you let them loose on the grass they will do their best to escape. However in this case the rabbit was kept in a cage which was moved around the yard as each patch of grass was trimmed. Seems a rather labor intensive way of completing a simple task. Read more..

Margaret Lauterbach writing in the Idaho Statesman has an interesting piece on garden “ghosts”. “Do you have ghosts in your garden? Many of us have friendly “ghosts”, or reminders of friends who gave us seeds for this plant, or a start of that one.” I have plenty of friendly “ghosts” in my garden many of which came from my late mother. My wife, who did not always have the best of relationships with her mother-in-law, is constantly saying “Oh that reminds me of your mother again” as she walks round the garden. As if that were not enough there is that calicarpa which was a gift from a work collegue she would prefer to forget. However the article concerns a plant that has come to be known as “Miss Wilmott’s ghost”. Read more..

Sprinkle the seed and water are common instructions, but not usually on your hearthrug. The Garden Rug allows you to walk on greenery in your living room. Read more..

Image via Wikipedia

“Aphids aren’t all bad” claims the headline, but “Gardeners know aphids as tiny, squishy pests that can suck the life right out of plants and, as if that weren’t enough, leave behind a sticky, nasty mess”. It’s common knowledge that ladybugs eat aphids and and so can be used as a non chemical form of pest control. The article goes on to describe how other insects also feast on aphids as well as other garden pests. Where I became slightly lost was the idea that you introduce ladybugs to deal with the aphids, yet at the same time you are planting aphid-attracting butterfly weed to attract more aphids. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? What do you think? Read more..

“Growing your own healthy soil” is another of those headlines designed to catch your attention. But true to her word the author, Jane Ford, writes that there “are a few things you can do to the soil in your yard and garden this fall that will literally grow it into soil that is healthy and full of organic matter”. It involves adding layers of material to the site in a way reminiscent of the lasagna method except that the latter did not include radishes or spinach. Read more..

My wife loves figs. Recently she discovered that a new friend had a fig tree in her garden and so dropped the odd hint that she would love to receive a few figs. The friend was reluctant to part with her figs, but she did produce a small sapling so that we will in due course be able to harvest the fruit from our own tree.

I remember reading that fig trees need to have their roots restricted so I checked with my copy of “The Fruit Garden Displayed” by the RHS which suggests that the planting hole should measure some three feet by two and be lined with bricks. However I discovered a simpler method from a gardening program on the radio. Use an old drum from a washing machine – it will restrict growth and the holes in the drum will allow small roots to grow through. In fact I will be using an old container with holes drilled in the sides which should perform the same function.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s time to start thinking about planting bulbs to flower in the spring, but if like most of us you have squirrels in the area, you need to plan how you can protect the bulbs. I found this article by Ciscoe Morris writing in the Seattle Times in which he suggests various ways to safeguard your tulips. I was interested by his first suggestion that you should plant tulip bulbs twelve inches deep. I heard of this many years ago and tried it myself for several years. The idea was not to deter squirrels, but to allow you to leave the tulip bulbs in the ground after they had finished flowering and then plant summer bedding on top. This worked well for me in my previous garden, but now I just plant tulips in containers. I have to cover these with chicken wire to stop the squirrels digging up the bulbs, but luckily they do not nibble the growing plants. Read more..

“What Are Those Weird Green Brain Fruit Anyway?” was enough to peek my curiousity as did the picture of this weird softball-sized green fruit. It seems that despite their green color, they’re oranges. Osage oranges, to be specific. Read more..

Vertical gardening is all the rage these days. We have wall plantings, window farms and now you can find instructions on how to turn your old ties into vertical gardens. Read more..

And finally here’s one of those good ideas that seem so sensible, but do we actually get round to putting it into practice? A simple garden plant organizer that would be so useful provided you make the effort to create it. Read more..

Red admirals are comparatively rare visitors to my garden, but this one was clearly fascinated by the helenium. It flitted from bloom to bloom and seemed quite oblivious to my presence in its search for nectar. What was interesting was  its concentration on this one plant. Nearby is a sedum which is supposed to be one of the plants that you grow to attract butterflies, but this was totally ignored by the red admiral.

You can tell that it is late in the season as the red admiral’s wings are slightly worn. After allowing me to take several pictures I must have moved too close and it flew away.

Doug Courneya who is a horticulturist and a certified arborist has written a useful summary of the tasks to undertake this month to keep your lawn in top condition. He covers mowing heights, weeds, fertilizing, dethatching, aerating and seeding. He also includes a link to the “Sustainable Lawn Care Information Series” at the University of Minnesota. Read more..

“Now is prime time to plant, revive irises” is the title to this piece by Nancy O’Donnell in the Columbus Despatch. “The tall bearded iris, also known as German iris, is a stately bloom for color in May and June, but every three to five years in August, it’s our turn to show the plant our gratitude.” Instructions on new plantings and division and replanting of overgrown clumps follows including tips on fertilizing. Read more..

Recently I found several helpful videos demonstrating the techniques described in her article. I have added these to my main site which you can find here.

“It’s a Robot! It’s a Terrarium! It’s a Robot Terrarium!” Yes, I can see the robot, but I’m really not sure about the terrarium. It appears to be a model robot with cavities where you can insert plants. It seems that both ready-made and DIY robot gardens are on the way. I can’t wait! Read more..

“It’s difficult to stay motivated in the garden through the heat of summer. It’s tempting to slack off but the weeds are not taking a break” so writes Rob Proctor for 9News. Get out there and attack your weeds before they bloom and set seed which will give you even more of a headache is his advice. Read more..

On a similar theme Joe Lamp’l writing in the Seattle Times tells of his “aha” moment when he discovered that chasing round with sprays and pesticides to rescue plants that were in the wrong situation was a fruitless task.

On the other hand “Proactive gardening is simply doing the important things to ensure the health of your garden before you see a problem. It’s providing the best growing environment, like sunlight, great soil and putting the right plant in the right place. It’s spacing your plants appropriately for air circulation and sunlight, it’s watering properly and using plenty of mulch. Then it’s taking the time to stay in touch with your garden. The whole key to proactive gardening is to know your garden so you can catch changes early to prevent possible problems later that require more drastic action”. Read more..

Guerrilla Gardening used to be thought of as a somewhat disreputable occupation where people crept around at night surreptitiously planting seeds or small plants in unkempt and unused scraps of city landscape. But now the practice is almost mainstream. “Guerrilla gardening hits Houston: Rambos on a green mission seed bomb the city” describes how Sherry Eichberger, owner of One Green Street, went on a girl’s night out with seed bombs and catapults. More interested in how far they could shoot their missiles than where they would eventually land, this was clearly more of a PR stunt than an undercover activity. Read more..

And finally some(mostly useless) garden gadgets for summer:

Keeping chickens in your backyard has become increasingly popular and the humble chicken coop has evolved over time. While the birds need protection from predators, they also need to be able to move around the yard so they are not confined to one muddy patch. Of course you can take the time to move the coop at regular intervals, or you can now buy a robotic model that moves itself using solar power. Read more..

On a rather smaller scale is the Green Lantern. This is a combination lamp and mini planter. It’s green because it’s made from liquid wood which I had not heard of before, but apparently the material is an organic polymer comprised of waste from wood by-products. It looks like plastic, but has a slight aroma of toasted wood. The light is provided by a string of LEDs which “emit a warm luminous glow that supports the photosynthesis process of the accompanying plant, creating a direct relationship between the lamp and host plant”. Read more..

“Learn about urban foraging this afternoon: as in eating plants off the sidewalk”. If you’re interested I’m afraid you’re too late. This event took place yesterday when you could have been “checking out overgrown areas and thickets, looking for wineberries, blackberries, and elderberries, all different-tasting, and all delicious”. All for $15 a head. Read more..

For less than a third of this sum you can tour a jungle paradise in a London suburban garden. As she dropped down the hill Anna Pavord “saw on the left-hand side of the road, a house completely smothered with things to eat. Strawberries dripped down from pouches set either side of the little gate. A plum tree obscured the bay window of the front sitting room. Cucumbers cascaded on to the pavement from a clay pot set into the boundary wall, a pumpkin had started a determined assault on the roof. Peaches and a nut tree made a notional boundary between this garden and its neighbour”. Read more..

Of course the rain has started the lawn growing again and encouraged the weeds so there is plenty to keep me busy. I’m not sure whether it’s the sun or the rain that has affected my Japanese maple, but some of the top leaves have shrivelled and turned brown. I thought that I had planted it in a spot that would give sufficient shade, but it now looks as though I will have to move it to a new position where it will receive greater protection from the afternoon sun.

In the lead up to Father’s Day there were the usual articles with gift suggestions, but one that caught my eye was this by Jim Ewing writing in the Clarion Ledger. “Organic ‘gadget’ dads can check their ERGs, ORPs, Brix and sap!” describes gadgets for soil testing that goes way beyond ph levels. His light hearted look at these tools includes a link to the catalog where you can discover the full scientific details. Read more..

And finally a true herb bed with pillows made of Mexican Heather and nightstands which are actual working beehives. Read more..

While a sky garden hoisted by a crane is just a novelty for the show, rooftop gardens are a practical way to grow crops when other space is not available. This article by Sean O’Driscoll examines the different ways that people are using their rooftops and how to overcome the weight problem. Lightweight containers and ultralight soil mixes using coconut core and perlite is how one group solves the problem. Others adopt a structural approach to strengthen the roof so that it can stand the extra weight. Read more..

A few weeks ago I planted a Japanese maple in my garden so I was naturally attracted to this article on “Tips and Hints for Pruning Japanese Maples”. “Caring for Japanese maples requires regular, light pruning. The trees have an attractive shape naturally but may require careful removal of the branches for the desired look, to prevent branches from rubbing together, and to maintain size.” Read more..

Her article has a picture of the Irish Sky Garden taken from above, but to get a real idea of what it looks like you need to see the picture in the Daily Mail which also shows the 30 foot high B&Q tower garden.

Some of the more conservative exhibitors were wearing “quiet smiles of satisfaction” as the weather stepped in and high winds meant that the sky garden had to stay on the ground and the tower garden took on a slight list as reported in The Independent.

After the earthquake and tsunami which devastated his country in March the Japanese designer decided that he would have to abandon his plans, but changed his mind last month and resolved to create a new garden to send a message to the world that Japan was fighting back. This story also comes from The Telegraph.

And I could’nt leave this topic without mentioning the South Korean garden which has as its main feature the smallest room.

A few days ago I visited a local garden and found this magnificent peony in full bloom. There were several specimens in the garden, but this one called Mischief was being featured as the Plant of the Week. My excuse for including this picture is this article by Jennifer Jewell in anewscafe.com which has information on both the history of the peony and tips on cultivation. And as I have discovered peonies require patience. It will be many years before those in my garden reach the size of Mischief. Read more..

For Linnea Due the reasons are not just practical: “But to me, the best excuse for going up is aesthetic. Trellises, arches, hanging baskets, and the like add texture, varying focal points, and hidden nooks to an otherwise flat-as-a-pancake landscape. Once you try vertical gardening in your yard (it’s a must on a balcony, where space is premium), I guarantee you’ll never go back to ground level”. Read more..

For a real “high in the sky” experience you will have to visit the Chelsea Flower Show later this month. Skyfarming is the description given to this nine meter tall tower growing system. One wall is covered with plants while the others support solar panels which provide electricity to power the water pumps that push water from a borehole round the hydroponic growing system. Inside the tower, along with the stairs are greenhouse areas for propagation, and a compost chute. There is even an insect hotel with ninety bedrooms. Read more..

Bee nest boxes are a waste of time according to a recent study carried out by the University of Stirling. In the UK bumblebee nest boxes have become the must-have accessory for gardeners keen to help wildlife. But over a four year study not a single commercial nest box “became occupied or showed any sign of inhabitation” according to the report. The study involved the placing of 736 nest boxes in gardens and farms in southern England and central Scotland. Over the period of the study an average of only 23 nest boxes were used by bees, just over 3 per cent of the total. Read more..

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I found this article by Brian Minter about using vines to solve garden problems. “Looking for a simple but fast cover-up to screen an old fence or wall, an unsightly building or a nosy neighbour? Why not try some interesting and attractive vines?” His review covers most of the common vines including Virginia Creeper, Hummingbird Vine, Silver Lace Vine, Wisteria and Honeysuckle.

In my previous garden there was large wisteria which provided a great show provided I remembered to prune it at the right time. It was planted next to a long beech hedge and keeping the two seperate was quite a job. When trimming the hedge I would find wisteria shoots up to twenty feet from the main bush.

So wanting to cover a rather unsightly shed in my present garden I planted a wisteria a few years ago, but so far it seems reluctant to extend its shoots where I want them to go. Instead it is producing a bunch of small branches at one end and, to make matters worse, only a few flowers.

I am having better luck with honeysuckles which along with clematis and jasmin are my favorite climbing plants. As Brian Minter says “Vines are great, easy to grow, colourful and effective in solving so many landscape problems”. Read more..

While vines can be very useful in the right place, you need to make sure that you do not choose one that is too aggressive and so becomes the problem rather than the solution. Joe Lampl writing in The Seattle Times talks about “Invasion of the garden thugs”.

“Aggressive thugs try to take over your landscape. Invasive thugs have larger goals. They escape from the garden into the natural environment and quickly squeeze out a lot of other plants in their path”.

He describes half a dozen common “thugs” including creeping buttercup which is the one that is causing me problems in my lawn and elsewhere. Read more..

And finally a quick tip on how to save on potting soil. I have tried this myself and it certainly makes sense. Read more..

If you don’t fancy the idea of having lots of containers on your balcony, then sprouts or micro-greens might be the answer for you. All you need is a jar or a small seed tray and a windowsill. This article taken from the Nashua Telegraph claims that “Leafy greens picked at the “sprout” stage, or let go to the “microgreen” stage hold more nutrition than their adult counterparts, and they need no cooking–an energy and time saver!” If you think this sounds all too good to be true, then take a look at the comment at the bottom of the original article in the Nashua Telegraph. Read more..

For a complete no grow solution you could follow Sam Thayer and try “Foraging The Weeds For Wild, Healthy Greens”. Delicacies such as shepherd’s purse, sow thistle and wild carrot can be found for free. But you need to know what you are doing since some wild plants such as poison hemlock are dangerous and can kill. Read more..

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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 with its creamy white petals. Personally I’m not too keen on black flowers in the same way that blue roses do not seem to be quite right in my eyes. Here is a selection from Birds & Blooms.

High Country Gardens are featuring “the exclusive new Agastache “Blue Blazes” and a remarkable new ornamental grass called “Blonde Ambition” Blue Grama that has been chosen a Plant Select Winner for 2011″. Another of their newcomers that caught my eye was the Pink Cotton Lambs Ear (Stachys lavandulifolia).

Monrovia have come up with a number of exclusives with eye-catching names such as Blue Balloon Bluebeard, but the plant that I noticed was the Cathedral Gem Sausage Vine. Not that it is particularly impressive, but apparently it was found growing on the wall of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, U.K.

Tipnut is a website that I haven’t come across before. As its name suggests it’s full of tips on everything from household, health and beauty, DIY projects, crafts and gardening. The page I found was “Crafty Gadgets & Gear For The Garden” with a dozen crafty projects for the garden. These include DIY seedtape and a planter’s yardstick as well as various tool organisers. The Garden & Plants page has sections on Homemade Weedkiller Recipes, Raised Bed Plans and Do You Grow Dishcloths?

Queen Anne’s Lace is a wildflower which is common in North Georgia. Apart from its attractive white flowers it has many useful features. The plant is a wild carrot which can be eaten like a carrot when young, but that is the least of its virtues. The seeds can be used to make a tea which apparently “was used for centuries as a morning-after contraceptive”. A tea made from the leaves has many other uses as does the oil made by steam distillation of dried seed. The juice from the roots can treat skin conditions including wrinkles. When mixed with honey and oatmeal you have a homemade facial. Read more..

And finally some practical advice. When you see a title like “Should You Take the Burlap Off the Root Ball Before Planting?” you would expect to be given either a yes or a no, but it seems that you have to make up your own mind. Read more..

Image via Wikipedia

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 several biological control products that you can purchase from the garden center to deal with different pests.

Fortunately most native plants have their own natural predators to keep them under control, but problems arise when plants are imported from abroad. In this case there is no natural predator and the plant can run wild and crowd out native plants.

I found an interesting article by Michael Behar which highlights the problems caused by invasive plants such as spotted knapweed which originates in Europe. He describes how Noah Poritz a 52-year-old entomologist earns his living selling beneficial bugs. In the case of the spotted knapweed the predator is the knapweed root weevil. Read more..

If you were asked to define your personality type I imagine you would describe yourself as extrovert or introvert or maybe somewhere in between. But have you heard of “The Crabapple Branch Gardener’s Personality Test”? Click the link and give it a try.

Image via Wikipedia

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 are dramatic, but not really practical for the average home garden. Others can be both creative and highly practical serving both as a feature and useful to cover items that you wish to hide like unsightly sheds, air-conditioning units, utility poles, and fences. In her piece in the Philadephia Enquirer, Virginia A. Smith describes how “Vertical plants and props also earn their keep as architectural statements and problem-solvers. They offer what designers call “exclamation points” in otherwise flat landscapes”. Read more..

If you have suffered from the brown marmorated stink bug, help may be at hand. Research at at a laboratory in Newark is developing a possible biological control. A tiny parasitic wasp may be able to nip the stink bug explosion in the bud by preying on stink bug eggs. Read more..

I always enjoy reading about garden designers and I found these two articles about two very different characters. Lancelot Capability Brown the sixteenth century landscape designer revolutionised the landscapes of the great English estates. He removed flowerbeds surrounded by box hedging and what he considered fussy objects that restricted the view. He invented the ha-ha as a replacement for the wall so that you could have an uninterrupted view of the landscape. Read more..

Diarmuid Gavin, a 46 year old from Dublin hates neatly clipped lawns, clusters of pretty roses and a few bumpy rockeries thrown in for good measure. He has built a reputation on his experimental gardening style – and the forceful personality that’s seen him clash with colleagues in the ­gardening world. “To be honest, a lot of people in the business tend to get along better with their plants and flowers than they do with other people” he says. Read more..

And finally two giant veg stories. First 9-year-old Austin Davis from Charleston, W Virginia and his twenty-one pound cabbage and Panhandle man Sam Pittman with his 8-pound turnip. No picture for this one and it was too tough to eat!

I’m sure that from time to time most of us have tried planting unusual seeds just to see if they would germinate and produce an interesting plant. Writing in the New York Times Michael Tortorello has taken this to the extreme. Emptying out his kitchen cupboards and his fridge he has assembled a huge array of seeds large and small to carry out his botanical experiment. Needless to say most had little chance from the start, but it makes a good story. Read more..

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Maybe you think it’s still too cold, but “There are actually many tasks that need to be done in February to kick off a great growing season” according to Susan Owens a Celina resident and a Collin County Master Gardener. She recommends you should start with a soil test and then complete your pruning before plants start to come out of dormancy. But avoid Crape Myrtle murder if you want a profusion of blooms. Read more..

“Season extending” is the subject of Margaret Lauterbach’s piece in the Idaho Statesman. There’s no point in planting seeds in cold soil so she describes the various ways you can speed up the warming process in the spring and also how to protect your young plants from late frosts. One product she mentions is Walls o’ Water (WOWs) and I found this post at Gardenweb describing how to make your own from 2 liter bottles. Read more..

“Ground cover is a low-maintenance alternative to lawns” is the title of this article by Dan Gill. In fact this is far more than just suggesting you dig up your lawn and replant with low growing groundcover plants. He talks about those shady areas under trees and bushes where the addition of groundcover plants can make all the difference. Instructions on preparation and planting are followed by a comprehensive list suitable plants for these conditions. Read more..

Another way to beat the cold is to grow indoors. Recently I wrote about Windowfarms which are a variation on the hydroponic method. Now there is Aquaponics which combines fish with hydroponics. Where before farmers needed to grow vegetables and fish separately, an aquaponics system allows you to do both at the same time and in the same location. The concept is premised on the interdependence of fish and plants; plants create the perfect environment for fish to grow by cleaning the water and the fish produce the bio-nutrients that plants need for their growth. If you are curious as to how you can benefit from an aquaponics system, Read more..

“When moles are most active, about 20 percent of the calls agent Dave Pehling takes at the Washington State University extension office in Everett, Wash., are from people exasperated by moles.

“There’s not really a lot we can tell them,” Pehling said. That’s because nothing really works for long to get rid of a mole, and if it does, another will just move in”.

But if you can contain your irritation, there is a plus side.
“People should be grateful for moles, agrees Linda Chalker-Scott, associate professor and extension urban horticulturist at Puyallup for Washington State University.

“They are definitely your friends. They are nature’s little rototillers; they aerate the soil and do a wonderful job of bringing a lot of organic material into the soil. They are doing all this great work for us, we don’t have to pay them anything, and most of us are out there trying to kill them.” Read more..

And the soil from those molehills can be converted into excellent potting compost. Read more..

Slugs are another common problem for many of us. The way that they nibble at our emerging plants I find particularly annoying. Suggested remedies are many and varied. My bookshelf contains a slim volume entitled “50 Ways To Kill A Slug” which lists all the conventional forms of control plus several weired ideas. Kym Pokorny writing in The Oregonian has her own suggestions. Read more..

The fact that there are so many different ways to make compost tends to make the process seem more complicated than it really is. Here’s a suggestion for making compost indoors using some rather unusual ingredients:

Image via Wikipedia

If you want some indoor gardening activities while waiting for spring and a window farm does not appeal, why not grow some sprouts? Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate, but they are not what I am talking about. “How to grow sprouts” is the title of an article I found in the Christian Science Monitor which is all about sprouting seeds. In their case mung beans which are ready to eat anywhere from three to five days after sowing. Read more..


Pruning roses is one of those tasks that often worries novice gardeners, so it’s useful to have a reminder of the correct way to tackle it. Dr. Michael Ishak is a retired physician and an accomplished rose consultant with the South Coast Rose Society. Although his advice is aimed at California residents who have to take a couple of extra steps to induce a resting period, the general principles apply wherever you live. I was pleased to be reminded that climbing roses should have their stems trained horizontally to encourage the plant to produce shoots and flowers at each bud rather than just at the tip. Read more..

Whenever I see a title like “Getting rid of nightmare weeds” I hope that I will discover the simple solution to removing the bindweed and couch grass from my garden. Needless to say there is no magic bullet, in fact one lady mentioned in the article took 20 years to eradicate horsetail from her yard. That is an extreme case but bindweed, it seems, does need three years to kill off all the roots. And then it might just creep back from next door unless you install “a weed barrier of at least three feet (one metre) deep (deeper if possible)”. In my case I just learn to live with them. Did I mention that this comes from the Delta Optimist? Read more..

Finally I could not resist including a link to this garden gadget despite the fact that it has nothing to do with gardening or tulips, but just vaguely looks like one. Read the article then watch the video.

Tulip Corkscrew

In fact the Windowfarms.org has been around since 2009, but the reason I am writing about it today is because a Mexican Jose de la O has produced a new design. His system consists of modular units that fit together on the window allowing you to choose how many you require. For a not exactly complimentary review, Read more..

So what can you grow in your windowfarm? From the video you may have noticed various herbs and the harvest of two lettuce leaves and a tomato. If you are starting in the winter you want to choose fast growing crops so that you can see some early results. Terry Kramer writing for the Times-Standard recommends Asian greens. “These tasty, nutritious vegetables are the ultimate fast food when it comes to growing your own; they zoom. Most can be harvested within four weeks after setting out starts”. Read more..

If you’ve never tried using a raised bed in your garden the beginning of a new year is a good time to start. Raised beds have several advantages over growing plants in open ground. It is easier to control the soil composition so that you know you are using the best soil mixture for your plants. The raised soil level makes it easier to tend the plants. Making a raised bed is a simple diy task, but if you want some detailed instructions, I found this site which shows several different designs. Read more..

And if you want some ideas on how to plan your raised bed, follow this link.

This talk of raised beds is all very well, but if you’re stuck inside looking out on snow and ice, what you need are some practical suggestions on how to occupy your time until gentler weather arrives. “Waiting out winter: strategies for gardeners” is a simple list of sixteen ideas with something for everyone. Top of the list is “Start something from seed. One seed tray on a windowsill can make a difference”. One that I always mean to try is “Force budding branches into bloom”. But I’m not so sure about their final tip “If all else fails, eat chocolate or head south”. Read more..

As usual as the holiday season approaches there is no shortage of advice on suitable gifts for gardeners. Plants are popular presents, but some common varieties are a little tricky to care for indoors in the middle of winter. Poinsettias are a particular problem. In past years I have found articles advising you how to look after your poinsettia so that it will flower again next Christmas, but Bob Polomski who is an Extension Horticulturist at Clemson University has different ideas. In “What to do with holiday plants?” he tells how he deals with plant gifts once the holidays are over. Read more..

Writing in the Seattle Times, Ciscoe Morris has more advice on those holiday houseplants. Basically – do not eat them. While I can’t imagine anyone wanting to eat a poinsettia or an amaryllis bulb, it’s useful to be aware that they are poisonous and can cause serious harm both to humans and pets. And don’t hold your drink under the mistletoe in case one of its poisonous berries should fall into your glass. Read more..

Talking of mistletoe, if you plan to harvest some in the wild here’s some advice from one seasoned harvester, Bill Anderson from east Tennessee. Read more..

On a completely different note, if there are any reluctant gardeners among your friends and acquaintances, this story might encourage them to take another look at their backyard. A gardener from Derby in England was digging his garden when he discovered a stone bust shaped like a pharaoh. It turned out to be 4000 years old and worth an estimated $15,000. Mind you the chances of anyone else making a similar discovery are about as good as winning the lottery. Read more..

Well you can’t buy one yet, but a Dr Yen-Hsun Su of the Research Center for Applied Science in Taiwan has just bioengineered a way to make a tree that glows. As an experiment he implanted nanoparticles of gold into a plant and the leaves began to glow. Read more..

December is not usually the month when you would be thinking about garden fountains, but I found this coupon which gives you a 10% discount. Just click the banner below and quote DecSAS10.

Scanning the lists of the latest gadgets I found these Plantariums. The kit consists of a jar shaped like a test tube containing “NASA-approved colored nutritive growing gel”. Seeds are packed in the lid and there is even a stick to poke them down into the gel. You can then watch the plants develop and once they reach the top of the jar, you move them into a normal flowerpot. As usual with these gadgets it seems to be a rather complicated way of growing a few seedlings. Read more..

And now to the shopping. I’ve found a couple useful lists. The first is by Henry Homeyer and includes several of his favorite tools and his book of the year. Read more..

The second is by Mike Dull who is one of the WSU Master Gardeners of Chelan County. His list consists of five books which would make excellent gifts. Read more..

Heather Hacking from Chico CA has a different approach. For her the most satisfying form of organic pest control is snail stomping. Having decimated the snail population in her own yard she now scours the sidewalks in her neighborhood after rain in search for more of these pests. Read more..

“Non-Toxic Dandelion Killer” sounds great – just what I need I thought. Dandelions in the spring are hard to get rid of, particularly in the lawn. Read on and you discover that “Your kitchen and bathroom are the first places you should look for non-toxic options for killing dandelions in your yard. You might be surprised to learn about what you already have in your home that can be used as a non-toxic weed killer”.

Several homemade recipes are suggested, but it is not too clear as to how effective they are. But then you can always use your shovel to dig them out making sure that you don’t leave any of the root behind. Finally the counsel of perfection – don’t allow any to go to seed!  Read more..

Finally a suggestion for a homemade activity which is both creative and could solve your Christmas present headaches. These eco planters are made from cement and vermiculite using common household containers for the moulds.

“I started making these eco planters for gifts a year ago and haven’t stopped. They are simple, stylish and downright lovable. Each pot is unique and has an organic, handmade feel. It is not an instant gratification project and you will have to commit, but the results are well worth it. I like to make about six at a time.”

Read more..

This used to be a job that I found more physically taxing than any other gardening task, even digging. After I had finished I felt completely wacked. But over the last few years I have found that it has required less effort, perhaps because I take it more slowly.

Last year I was seduced by one of those glossy catalogs to buy a leaf vacuum and shredder. The catalog showed a picture of a lightweight machine with wheels that you could push like a mower to collect all the leaves. I placed my order just as the first leaves were falling, but unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and a week later I received a letter telling me that they had sold out and had to reorder new stock. By the time the machine arrived I had already completed the annual task with my trusty rake. But this year it will be a different story and I am looking forward to using my machine for the first time.

Once you have collected the leaves the question remains as to what to do with them. Leaves are a valuable source of humous which will improve your soil so putting them out for collection with the garbage is such a waste. Collect the leaves into plastic bin bags and store them over the winter and you will have fine leafmold in time to dig in to the soil in the spring. Add a spadeful of soil and some grass cuttings to each bag to encourage the process. That last tip came from Marianne Binetti and you can read her article here.

Another way that you can use some of your leaves is suggested by Ronique Gibson in “10 Ways to Organically Decorate your Thanksgiving Home”. I’m not sure quite how practical is her suggestion of using tougher leaves like Magnolia and Oak leaves for coasters for your drink, but there are nine other ideas and the pictures are stunning.

As all marketers know the word “secret” always attracts attention and so I could not escape the headline “Achieving Happiness In Your Garden: The Sixth Secret”. It turns out that the secret is really just good old-fashioned advice, but worth reading all the same.

What’s free, green and provides exercise in the fresh air? Well according to George Weigel it’s compost. Free because you are using grass clippings, fallen leaves and other plant matter from your own garden. Green because you are recycling matter that would otherwise have to be carted off to landfill and the outdoor exercise comes from building and turning the compost pile. In his article George dispels the common misconceptions about smelly piles that atttact rodents and then extols the benefits of compost in the garden. A useful reminder of why every yard should have at least one compost heap. Read more..

When I read the headline “Natural Selection and Macroevolution in your lifetime” I could not understand why this was included in a list of gardening articles. Furthermore the headline itself was hardly enticing, but I was curious and did read the article. At first glance it is about a particular species of lizard, but read on and you will discover how the lizard’s relationship with a variety of arum lily has changed the landscape of a Mediterranean island in just twenty years. Read more..

“As young gardeners, we put in youthful plants that proceed to grow in unexpected and often unintended ways. Suddenly, or so it seems, we become older gardeners and find ourselves trying to control the unwanted but perfectly natural behavior of mature plants.” This is a quote from “Gardening for a Lifetime — How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older” by Sydney Eddison which is reviewed by Jim McLain in the Yakima Herald-Republic. Read his review and if you are interestd you can by the book at Amazon from the link below. Here’s the review.

The second contribution is from Tim Lamprey, the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His article deals with the problems that can arise from fungus diseases that can over-winter on debris in your garden if you do not do a proper cleanup before the winter. He also stresses the importance of disposing of diseased plant matter correctly. It’s not good enough just to toss it onto a cold compost heap. Read more..

Seed bombs have now achieved an air of respectability. In Los Angeles you can find former gumball machines loaded with seed bombs. Pay your fifty cents and become a guerilla! Read more..

Returning to the subject of slugs and snails that I mentioned in a recent post, I found two stories concerning these problem pests. The first concerns the apparent homing instinct of snails. An enterprising lady living in Devon, England noticed that when she removed snails from her plants and deposited them at the end of her garden they were soon back on her plants. Since one snail looks much like another it was hard to tell whether the snails she removed were returning or newcomers were taking their place. So she put a dab of nail varnish on the shells and was able to prove that this homing instinct was indeed true. Taking matters one step further she then tried to discover how far away you have to move the snails before they lose their ability to find their way back. It seems that the critical distance is thirty meters. More than this and you are safe.

Source: BBC

The other snail story is a problem waiting to be solved. In Kerala, India Giant African Snails have eaten fruit, flower buds, mulberry shoots, cotton plants and the leaves of maize. The village people call them ‘Rakshasa Hula’ or demon caterpillar. Read more..

One gadget that has been around for several years is the upside-down tomato planter or Topsy Turvy which is the name that Linden Staciokas uses to describe them. The idea was that diseases and insects don’t attack upside down crops as often as right side up crops, but there are some downsides to this technique as this article explains. Read more..

September brings falling leaves which have to be raked up, bagged and sent to the municipal compost piles. Rather than disposing of your leaves, why not convert them into a fine mulch to use around your plants? I found this tip for a novel way to use your weed wacker. Read more..

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 plants to various kinds of traps. While many of these products work to a greater or lesser extent, it is clear that there is no perfect remedy, otherwise there would not be such a huge range of products designed to solve the problem.

I was give a book for my last birthday called “50 ways to kill a slug”. This listed all the popular remedies together with a few fatuous suggestions designed more to satisfy the blood lust of the annoyed gardener than to be effective in removing the slugs. But one thing I have noticed as the years roll on and each new season unfolds is that slugs prefer certain plants. I suppose this is not really so surprising since we humans have our likes and sdislikes, but perhaps we should observe and learn from the behaviour of our local slugs and snails. For instance I like to grow lupins, but they ar e they one flower that is always decimated by slugs in my garden.

This year I created a new herbaceous border with about a dozen new plants. Out of these two were attacked mercilously and the remainder were ignored. Pyrethrum and liatris were the victims. I was able to rescue the liatris by attaching a collar around its stem, but the buds on my pyrethrum were all damaged before the flowers could open. Another plant that I no longer grow is the hosta because its large and attractive leaves attract slugs by the dozen. And a hosta with shredded leaves is not a pretty sight.

The conventional wisdom is that you should grow plants that are native to your area and so perhaps this should be extended to taking notice of the habits of your local slugs.

I found this article by Margaret Lauterbach with the intriguing title “When life gives you weeds, make a salad” and it reminded me of a book I bought many years ago called “How to enjoy your weeds”. For most gardeners weeds are a nuisance that require constant attention if we are to keep our beds and borders free of them. Of course you can keep most weeds at bay with a generous layer of mulch, but even this will not suppress bindweed which is my pet hate. But this is straying from the theme of her article which is in effect “if you can’t beat them, learn to make use of them”.

The article lists five common weeds that you can include in a salad. Dandelion is top of her list, a plant that is rich in vitamins and minerals, but is too bitter for my taste.

Purslane is one that I have not eaten myself, but is apparently nutritionally rich, containing more omega-3 fatty acids than some fish oils. Purslane is also a very good source of Vitamins A, C, some B complex vitamins, and dietary minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, and others. It’s usually added to salads.

The article describes how Sonchus (sowthistle) is eaten in New Zealand, but history records that it was used as a salad herb by the Romans. More recently the herbalist Culpeper suggested its use as a cosmetic that “is wonderful good for women to wash their faces with, to clear the skin and give it lustre”.

One common weed that is not included in the article is the stinging-nettle. As a source of iron it beats spinach and also contains vitamin C. While nettle eating contests prove that you can eat it raw, most recipes involve cooking in some way. The book I mentioned earlier on “How to enjoy your weeds” has recipes for nettle soup, creamed nettles and nettle porridge and also instructions for making nettle wine and nettle beer. Read more..

If you’re feeling slightly more ambitious and want to increase the growing space in your apartment a group of New Zealand students have come up with a novel solution. Their clip-on garden in a box Plant Room is designed to be bolted on to the front of your apartment. This extra space will provide room for a vegetable garden, clothes line, rainwater collection and solar hot water production. The basic idea is to, “combine sustainability with cheaper energy and a desire to improve the landscape from inside, and out.” Read more..

Coming back down to earth Annie Spiegelman, the author of,“Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva’s Down to Earth Guide to Organic Gardening”, has seven tips to save you money in your garden. Compost, compost, mulch and succulents are just four of her tips. All good solid advice from a Master Gardener. Read more..

FLICKR/JOHN.E.ROBERTSON

Using urine as a fertilizer for plants and trees has a centuries-old history. It is a renewable organic resource with the perfect combination of plant-growing nutrients that also saves water and chemicals when kept out of the sewage stream. Urine provides ideal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium: the three nutrients required by all growing plants. Source www.ehow.com where you can read instructions on How to Use Urine as Fertilizer. While the idea is not immediately appealing there are apparently a number of organic gardeners who follow this practice.

Pradhan and Heinonen-Tanski, environmental scientists at the University of Kuopio in Finland carried out a trial growing four plots of beets and treated one with mineral fertilizer, one with urine and wood ash, one solely with urine, and one with no fertilizer, as a control. The beets grown in the plot with urine fertilizer wre larger than those treated with mineral fertilizer. Read more..

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen garden gnomes mentioned in the news, but today I came across this toe-curling headline “Gno end to gnome-lovers”. Despite the fact that these harmless creatures are alomst universally despised and rarely seen in gardens, it has been reported that more than 26,000 were sold on ebay in Canada last year. Read more..

Everyone knows that they should avoid touching poison ivy and if they do the result is likely to be rather painful. While poison ivy declares its menace in its name, there are several other plants which can cause a nasty rash as Jane Milliman discovered to her cost. In her case the culprit was the gas plant, Dictamnus albus. Other plants that should be given a wide berth that Jane mentions in her article include wild parsnip and giant hogweed. Both of these are umbellifers and other members of that family can also cause rashes. These include dill, celery, parsnip and even the humble carrot. Read more..

Upside down tomato planters are very much old hat these days, but Tony Tangorra has given the idea a new twist with his Fence Top Gardening. He has produced a heavy-duty plastic bracket that attaches to the top of a fence and securely holds a pot. The patent pending container bracket fits all fence tops and allows you to grow from the bottom, side and top. Further details are available from his website and you can even buy the brackets from Amazon, although it was out of stock when I checked. Read more..

Major Clark Davis who lives in Dunlap decided that he would like to start growing vegetables, but did not want to dig up his lawn or have to erect rabbit proof fencing. I suppose he could have gone to Fence Top Gardening, but instead he took his inspiration from the Survival Blog.com. He has installed three 10-foot long, 6-inch diameter PVC pipes mounted horizontaly on wooden posts. The pipes are filled with Miracle Grow soil and seedlings are planted into holes drilled in the top of the pipes. The lowest pipe is 18 inches from the ground, too high for rabbits but high enough so he can still mow the grass underneath. Read more..

In my last post I discussed ways of keeping cats out of your garden and also the subject of raised beds and how some people thought that you could’nt grow veg without one. Well today I have found a gadget, or rather an installation, that combines all round protection from intruders with built in raised beds. Wire mesh over a stout wooden frame is strong enough to keep deer out and netting above and below deters both climbing cats and squirrels and burrowing rabbits. The raised beds inside come complete with soil and optional extras include watering systems and even “a starter supply of organically grown plants”. This is clearly not for someone who is worried about the cost of the wood for constructing a raised bed since prices for the basic 8-by-10-foot model start at $3,500. Read more..

Raised Beds are so popular nowadays that some people believe that you cannot grow vegetables without one. To buy the timber kit and suitable soil to fill it from a garden center will set you back quite a few $$$, and this has led people to think that they cannot afford to start a garden. People turn to growing their own vegetables with a view to saving money, but often it turns out that it would be cheaper to buy from your local supermarket when you take account of all you have spent on plants and fertilizer as well as tools and equipment. But help is at hand in the form of Maureen Gilmer whose Small Budget Gardener: All the Dirt on Saving Money in Your Garden contains helpful tips and advice on how you can create beautiful, healthy sustainable landscapes with recycled materials and limited resources. Read more..

A common feature of many of the gadgets on the list is the provision of information. For instance numbers two and nine monitor the moisture level in the soil and send a message to your cell phone when it begins to dry out. Surely a more practical approach would be for the sensor to activate an automatic watering system rather than just issuing a cry for help, but that would be less geeky.

Perhaps one of the more practical objects is number three, the plant robot which moves around your room to ensure that your plant receives the maximum amount of sunlight. Another is the Soil and Sun Probe which I have seen before. This is an electronic probe that you stick into the soil so that it can analyze the conditions for that particular spot. You then plug it into your USB port and it will suggest plants that will suit the conditions.

Further down the list you will find the expanding flower pot and the self watering umbrella stand. You can find the full list here.

One item that was not included in the list of fifteen is the “Grow Your Own Beer Garden kit”, surely far more useful than many of the above!

Source

But help may be at hand. Recently I came across a product which claims to be both organic and effective. Iron X is a selective weedkiller for lawns. It contains iron in a chelated form which you dilute in water and spray on the grass. The iron has no adverse effect on the grass, but kills most broadleaf weeds. And it is fast acting – within hours of application, broadleaf weeds turn black and begin to die.

At present Iron X is only available from Gardens Alive where you can find a list of the twenty weeds that it controls.

Maria Rodlale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale, Inc, has her own secret organic weed control method. This one is not for lawns, but rather those awkward places where weeds sprout among rocks and cracks in paving stones. Simple in the extreme – just boil a kettle and pour hot water on your weeds. Apparently it works best on smaller weeds. Read more..

It’s Chelsea Flower Show time again. In fact it’s nearly over. The show has been running all this week and there are some stunning exhibits. I’ve found this short video from YouTube which is an introduction to the show, but if you want to see more including tours of all the show gardens go to the BBC website.

Smallest waterlily in the world brought back from the brink of …

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s top propagation ‘code-breaker’, horticulturist Carlos Magdalena, has cracked the enigma of growing a rare species of African waterlily – believed to be the smallest waterlily in the world with pads than …

Publish Date: 05/19/2010 1:30

http://www.sciencecodex.com/smallest_waterlily_in_the_world_brought_back_from_the_brink_of_extinction_at_kew_gardens

You can see pictures of the waterlily here.

Clematis Montana

Clematis Alpina Constance

Clematis Sunset

Clematis Montana is known as a vigorous climber and this one in my garden has lived up to its name. This is now the third season since this was planted and it has now completely covered the tree stump. While montana can be a nuisance in the wrong place, where there is room for it to sprawl it makes a fine show.

The montana was the second clematis to bloom in my garden this year. It was preceded by clematis Alpina Constance which put on its display in April and is now over. Next I am looking forward to Ice Blue and Sunset which are growing together in a container. The Large white flowers of rather oddly named Ice Blue are complemented by the reddish purple of Sunset.

The oldest clematis I have was planted soon after I moved to this house some six years ago. Clematis Jackmanii Superba has puple flowers and blooms profusely on a north facing fence. Each year I prune it back to eighteen inches from the ground, but last autumn I decided to leave the main branches in place. Unfortunately when I checked earlier this spring I found that the main stem had been broken almost at ground level and it is only now slowly beginning to grow back. Slugs are a problem and nibble the emerging shoots, but clematis are tough and always recover after a slow start.

Source(which includes recipes for Squash and Crab Soup and Cool Cucumber Ginger Limeade).

Krystle Vermes writes a regular Plant of the Week column in the Boston Green Community Examiner and her piece on radishes caught my eye. Radishes are ideal crops for kids because they are easy to grow and take only a few weeks from planting the seeds to harvest. With their bright pink skin and peppery taste radishes make a coloful addition to any salad. Read more..

A recent subject in the Plant of the Week series covered a flower that has been flourishing for over 35 million years. Certainly the rose has been prized throughout history and remains a firm favorite today. The article by Krystle Vermes includes advice on planting and varieties as well as the best time to pick them for use in flower arrangements. And it gives me an excuse to include some of photos of a few of my favorites. Read more..

The strongly scented GertrudeJekyl

St Swithun climbing rose

Rose border at RHS Wisley

Bryn Bird’s husband is in the Navy and so each time they move to a new posting she packs up the soil and boards of her square foot garden and loads them into the removal van along with her other belongings. On arrival at the new station she can reassemble her garden and be ready to plant straightaway. Read more..

On a similar theme, if you want to grow grow climbing vegetables in a small space, here is a simple design for an A frame that is an easy DIY job. A neat feature of this design is the replaceable foot. Read more..

“Heuchera is a shady alternative to hosta” writes Sara Busse in the Charleston Gazette. I love hostas but so do slugs, and there is nothing worse in my eyes than a hosta that has been decimated by these slimy pests. Mind you I do not find heucheras as attractive as hostas, but they are useful plants and I do have several in my garden. Read more..

Losing the lawn or de-lawning is the current trend “to reduce or eliminate a green pit of wasted time, money and space”.  Recycle rainwater, think vertically, go native with plants are other directions in which we should be moving. Read more..

I love reading about garden gadgets, and enjoy pouring scorn on some of the complicated and expensive products that are produced to perform functions that are far easier if done in the traditional way. But today I have found a useful gadget, a folding wheelbarrow which is ideal if you have limited storage space. On the same page you will find some other interesting ideas including a wheelbarrow chair. Read more..

Then here’s the Gadget of the Week – “By sharpening the normally dull sides of a pruning sheer, the Fiskars Garden Multi-Tool ($20) brings Leatherman-like convergence to your prized plants. One side is serrated for tough wood, while the other is a plenty-sharp knife. While we love the added functionality, be warned: You may be used to grabbing regular sheers by the blade, but one squeeze of these could be enough to keep your hands out of the garden until harvest. fiskars.com.”

Source

And finally here is what I would describe as the ultimate geeky gadget – the Blossoming Garden Solar Light. “This motorized flower blooms every single morning and closes up at night”. Read more..

Both bushes are over ten feet tall and the pink one leans over the adjoining path. I did prune it gently last autumn so that there was room to walk underneath, but the weight of the flowers pulls the branches down.

The reason I mention this is that last week I watched a gardening program on TV where they demonstrated that you can prune a camellia right down to within two feet of the ground and within a year it will produce new shoots and flower the following year. I don’t think I will be that drastic, but am encouraged to know that I am unlikely to kill the bush.

We had some unusual visitors to our 3×5 foot garden pond the other day. A pair of ducks arrived and she rooted around the weeds while he stood guard on the bank. There is a large pond about half a mile away in a local park and I assume this is where they came from, but why they should leave that large area of water for my small pond is a mystery.

Two days later I saw three ducks in the pond, but before I could get my camera they waddled off down to the bottom of my garden where there is a small stream. I assumed they had flown in, but perhaps they had used the stream. Anyway there is no harm to the pond although I cannot see the frogspawn any longer..

Growing your own vegetables has become ever more popular in these recessionary times. The main reasons given are that crops from your own garden are fresher and tastier than those bought from the store and to save money. But some are questioning exactly how much you really save. I found this article by Reid Kanaley which contains links to several reports that have calculated that the savings in money terms are quite small. And beware the $64 tomato! Read more..

As regular readers will know the newsletter has relied on guest authors for much of the content over the last year or so and I have tried to bring you useful articles on various gardening topics. Although this newsletter will no longer be published, I plan to increase posts to this blog  to include guest authors whenever I find interesting articles. I have added a subscription form to the blog so you can sign up and receive an email each time there is a new post.

On to this month’s issue where I have included articles by four guest authors. First comes a warning from Abel Jones about the dangers of toxic mulch. This is clearly a significant problem and something you need to be aware of when buying chipped bark for mulch.

Our second guest is Jeffry Bullock who writes about “The Different Colours In Your Garden”. His article looks at the way that color can be used to create a mood in the landscape. He discusses the effect created by different colors and suggests plants that can be used for each.

Next Geoff Wolfenden gives us his ideas on “How To Keep Cats From Wrecking Your Garden”. This is a constant problem for many of us and Geoff has some useful tips.

Finally Mike Podlesny writes about “The Least Favorite Vegetables To Grow In The Garden”. This is the result of a poll he carried out with his subscribers and you may find the results surprising.

As usual we start with a video which is looking forward “Primavera – Spring is Coming”.

Here is the link to Garden Ramblings.

If you live in a part of the country with an arid climate and want an alternative to the usual advice that you should just grow native plants, Susan Reimer has a suggestion. Give up your lawn and grow succulents instead. Although they like water and they look more lush and lovely when they get it, they will survive through dry weather. Grow them in containers and you will be able to move them around during the season. You will also be able to store them indoors during the winter. Read more..

It’s that time of year again when we should be starting on the veggies. And there’s no shortage of advice on how to set about it. Lee Reich has “10 steps to a successful first vegetable garden” with basic advice for beginners. If you prefer video Bob Webster has his “Vegetable Gardening 2010 Edition” which is a recording of his seminar. Take your pick.

Willie Chance who is now retired from UGA Extension in Houston County says that he knows of no reason not to talk to your plants, but suggests you stop if they begin to talk back. In fact he is making a serious point that although you will not hear what they are saying, if you use your eyes you will see that your weeds are giving you a clear message. For instance the appearance of certain weeds in your lawn can show you what you need to do to remedy the situation. Read more..

Many people are talking about a second Great Depression and Terry Johnson writes a somewhat gloomy article outlining the problems that may lie ahead. Although you can grow your own fruit and vegetables, he suggests that this may not be so easy as the cost of fuel and fertilizer rises to make this uneconomic. But he has the answer – a sustainable, self-renewing, low input food forest garden. Read more..

On a lighter note here is someone who is really into garden gadgets: “Gardening and lawn care is so much more fun when you have all the latest gadgets and tools. You know you are truly prepared when you step outside in your lawn aerator shoes and wearable garden stool, rolling your pecan picker upper, with your trusty power drill auger at your hip! If you are the type of person who loves gadgets and gizmos as much as you love gardening, then you are in the right place. Make sure you are not missing out on any new gardening equipment that you did not know you could not live without!” Read more..

Garden statues come in all shapes and sizes, but this one I found is rather more ambitious than most.  “At 22 feet long and 11 feet tall, this Jurassic-sized replica is the largest sculpture we have ever offered! Realistically sculpted with rows of menacing teeth, a fearsome tail and scaly skin, our prehistoric artifact is cast in quality designer resin and hand-painted with powerfully convincing color and texture. This display-quality sculpture transforms any home, garden, restaurant or hotel into something truly magnificent!” The quote is from a highly critical article on this monster that is supposed to be a Tyrannosaurus rex.  Here’s some more: “I mean, come on, who in their right mind would want such a terrible mockery of a dinosaur sitting out in their yard? The only, and I mean only, possible use for something like this is to place outside your neighbor’s bedroom window at 2am and then tap on the glass. Does that justify the $7500 you’d have to spend? Uh, not even close”.  Read more.. (Please note that the dinosaur shown in the picture is not the one described in the article.)

The title of this next item is “Grass Lamp Reminds You the Grass Is Always Greener In the Country” which almost sounds like a haiku and is just about as useful.  As the author explains “While you can’t grow a crop of tomatoes in Marko Vuckovi‘s Grass Lamp, the grass will flourish under the lamp’s light and remind you the grass is always green—in a country house”. Read more..

Finally a useful tip. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I have not seen it before.  Simple instructions showing you how to dry herbs in the microwave. Could be useful at this time of the year.  Read more..

After considering the technical difficulties of producing new crop varieties the article lists “Trendy seeds for 2010”. It’s an A to Z from ‘Agnes’ cucumber to ‘Zesty Blend’ microgreens. Read more..

If the above list has fired up your enthusiasm to have a go, but you’re not quite sure where to start, this article will point you in the right direction. Sarah Henning leads you through the process starting with how to pick your site, whether to use a raised bed or containers, what to grow and how to prepare your soil. Her 7 point check list ends with the final instruction: “Eat. Harvest your garden’s bounty and enjoy every last bit!” And there’s a handy planting timetable as well. Read more..

Finally the February issue of Garden Ramblings is now online. Do take a look.

In times of water shortages and hosepipe bans we are often encouraged to reuse “gray water” from our baths and sinks for the garden rather than just let it drain away into the sewers. But now it seems that this may not be such a good idea after all. Here’s a warning from the Health Mininstry in Israel that studies of gray water showed that it had often had very high levels of e.Coli bacteria.  “The Ministry said that the public could be in danger from infection if it uses gray water for private vegetable and fruit gardens, or even if it is used on lawns where children and pets play”. Read more..

Suggestions from people who left comments included sprinkling lime, moth balls, eucalyptus oil and silent roar, but others felt that the first two could actually harm the cats and so were not a good idea.

Another article I found listed 30 tips, but admitted that most were ineffective and that the one thing that had solved his problem was an ultrasonic cat repeller. Then again others have found these to be useless.

If you want to read my article which I see has now been viewed over 135,000 times, you can find it here. Please leave a comment.

Starting with the water this is a waterfall, or rather a water feature consisting of four waterfalls in which the liquid appears to travel uphill. Inspired by the drawings by M C Escher the water travels round the rectangle cascading down and then up the slope to the next cascade. To see how it works, read more..

Under the headline “Science confirms book’s tale: Plants talk” Jeff Ball talks about a book he read some forty years ago about the Findhorn Community. This was a group  living in a remote part of Scotland who started a vegetable garden and were able to communicate with the garden plants through spirits they called devas. Crazy as this may sound it turns out that scientists have discovered that certain plants can communicate with each other. Read more..

The gardening myths are the second five of a series by Denny McKeown. Common mistakes that beginners often make include over watering, pruning and deer proof plants are just three of the topics he covers. Read more..

And finally the January issue of Garden Ramblings is now online so take a look and let me know what you think.

As you see from the banner Gardener’s Supply Company still have their Winter Sale, but if you visit their site and look down the left hand menu you will find their After Holiday Sale where there are savings of up to 81% and prices start at just $2.77.

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 email from the company advising that they are holding a Secret Santa Sale with savings of up to 73%. Click the banner to find out more.

photo credit: russelljsmith

When I first came across this site I had to check the date in case it was 1 April. While the practice of growing tomatoes in upside-down containers has been around for a couple of years, the idea that you should do the same with a collection of houseplants seems faintly ridiculous. While I can see that it is a way of saving space, the rsulting display is decidedly peculiar to me at least. See what you think. Read more..

Finally some practical advice on choosing a Christmas tree.  Master Gardener Marsha Overton lists the different kinds of evergreen trees that are available and discusses the pros and cons of each. Read more..

The Original Two Poplars

The one remaining poplar

As long as we have lived in this house my wife and I have always admired two tall poplar trees in a neighboring garden. Watching the leaves appear each spring – my wife insists that April 20 is the date when they are fully in leaf, and then gradually losing them in the fall so now the branches are bare again. But alas stormy weather has caused more than the leaves to fall. Yesterday the weather was particularly wet and windy, and when I looked out of the window at lunchtime I noticed that one of the trees had disappeared. Here are before and after pictures. Now we are just hoping the the remaining poplar will survive as it has been such a feature of our landscape.

Of the many ways of propagating plants division is one of the simplest. There’s no fiddling with seeds or complicated grafts, just dig up the plant, divide it into smaller pieces and then replant small sections where you want them to grow. Of course this is not suitable for all plants, but works well for many perennials as Tony Tomeo explains. Read more..

“THE quest for gardening’s holy grail is over. It’s a blue rose – and it will be gracing flower arrangements near you thanks to an Australian company”. The article continues in similar vein and then almost breathlessly confides: “The blue rose has almost mystical connotations. Associated with royalty and ‘love at first sight’, they are also symbols of the ‘impossible dream’ – most likely because of the difficulty associated in developing them”. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about since we have had the rose “Blue Moon” for years although that is not regarded as a true blue, but rather more lilac or mauve. Then again this new Applause rose is being described by some as a “wishy washy mauve”. See what you think. Read more..

And finally I couldn’t resist this quote from Mel Gibson:
“Some of the best advice I was given, a long time ago, was from a guy who said, ‘You want to make yourself better, go and dig a ditch.’ So, a lot of that’s been going on, ditch-digging, vegetable-growing”.

Source

“November gardening tasks” by Katherine Grace Endicott is a handy reminder of the tasks that need to accomplished this month. “November cold signals that it’s time to put the garden to bed for the winter. Clear debris that would harbor insect pests over the winter. Plant young, winter-weather-hardy, spring-blooming plants now so that they will grow sturdy roots over the winter. Spring-blooming plants planted in fall significantly outperform spring-blooming plants planted in spring” is the introduction to her checklist that follows. Read more..

And now for a book review from Nancy Szerlag. In fact she is talking about two books both by Tracy DiSabato-Aust – “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques” and “The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals and Bulbs”. If after reading her review you think that either book might be of interest, I have discovered that making your purchase from Amazon will result in a considerable saving. Read more..

If you haven’t completed your bulb planting yet, I’ve just heard that Dutch Gardens are having a Fall Clearance Sale where you can save up to 40% – worth a look.

I always keep my eyes open for Q&A articles. Although the same questions seem to come up time and time again, there’s usually at least one helpful piece of information that you can glean from them. This is by Richard Nunnally writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. How to get rid of English Ivy, dealing with crabgrass in junipers and how to store banana trees and hibiscus plants over the winter are just three of the subjects he covers. Read more..

Michelle Obama and the White House vegetable garden are in the news again. On this occasion she has invited some elementary school students to help her harvest the crops, but the interest seems to be more on the fashion than the veggies. Read more..

Tomorrow is Halloween and Terry Wolfley gives us a potted history of pumpkin carving and the origins of Jack-O’-Lantern. He also makes some suggestions about varieties suitable for the garden and includes his recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds. Read more..

If you have spent time and money installing a garden pond and stocking it with koi, the last thing you want is preditors stealing your precious fish. Luckily there are a number of ways that you can protect your koi and this artcle suggests several different methods. From the obvious one of making the pond too deep to allow a heron the stand to providing areas where the fish can hide in the depths are just two of the ideas you can find here. Read more..

It is a well known fact that back problems are one of the commonest reasons why people take time off work and digging in the garden can be a prime cause of the problem. For this reason people may be put off starting a new project in their backyard which involves digging, but there is another way as Cindy McNatt explains. “You can start a new bed anywhere in your landscape without lifting a shovel. No-dig gardening is easy and it works.” Read more..

So many of the gadgets that I review here turn out to be complicated pieces of machinery which are designed to carry out functions that traditional gardening methods achieve with far less cost and greater efficiency. I am thinking in particular of those fancy indoor plant growing systems where an old fashioned flower pot would serve just as well. For a change I have come across an electronic gadget that performs a useful function. The Electronic Bug Zapper kills mosquitoes and other flying insects both inside and outdoors as Owen Jones explains. Read more..

And finally here is a belated reminder that the October issue of Garden Ramblings is now online.

“Take time to watch ‘naked ladies'” is the title of this article in the Sun Herald. Lycoris radiata is the official name of these flowers whose common names include surprise lilies or spider lilies, even hurricane lilies as well as naked ladies. In fact naked is an apt description for the plant which has no leaves but just  “gloriously red frilly flowers” on a bare stalk. Jack in the pulpit and Black-eyed Susans are two other common names discussed in this piece. Read more..

And now for the gadget spot. I was intrigued by the name of the “Koolatron Dog and Cat Repeller” hoping that someone had finally come up with an effective way of keeping these animals away from our gardens, but was disappointed to find that it is just a battery powered ultrasonic device of which there are already plenty on the market.

As gardeners we enjoy planting seeds and tending the plants as they grow, but all that you need is a container, compost and seeds. The people who make gadgets just seem to make life so complicated, or is it just the “fishing lure” trick to hook the angler rather than the fish. The “Self Sustaining Indoor Garden Gadget is perfect if you don’t have a garden, but you want to grow your own herbs, flowers or vegetables indoors”. I suppose it’s just a minature hydroponic setup, but I am not sure how many vegetables you can grow in a small pot.

On the same page you can find a link to the ultimate geeky gadget – the USB greenhouse. It reminds me of an easter egg in which you can plant three marigolds. You can watch them growing on your desk  and you can monitor progress on your screen – Wow!   Read more..

But a conservation garden is not just about grass. “The new 7,000-square-foot Conservation Garden features environmentally friendly gardening with an emphasis on native plants and mulching and composting techniques to reduce the use of commercial fertilizers and pesticides that are potentially harmful to people and nature”. The article contains some helpful hints as to how you can adopt these priciples in your own backyard. Read more..

A few months ago I wrote about various garden gadgets that were new on the market. Now I’ve found a couple of articles by people who have bought some of these products and tell of their experiences. First is Larry McDermott writing in The Republican who is not too happy with his $12 watering wand. Read more..

“One of my favorite parts of writing this column is that it provides the perfect excuse for buying and trying gardening toys. Usually, I have three or four new tools or gadgets to play with, but the second one I purchased this year was such a whopper of an expense that I quit after two” says Linden Staciokas writing in the Daily News-Miner. The “whopper of an expense” he refers to is an indoor composter costing $400. When I read about this product earlier in the year I thought it sounded too good to be true and so it turns out. Read more..

And finally the September of my Garden Ramblings newsletter is now online with articles on spring bulbs and organic lawncare among others.

Slugs and snails are one of the more annoying garden pests because of the damage they cause to flowers and vegetables. I listen to a weekly radio program where a panel of gardening experts answer questions sent in by listeners. Last week the panel were surprised to be asked how to encourage snails into the garden. It turned out that the questioner enjoyed eating escargots and wanted to be able to “grow his own”. In case you are interested here is the recipe for a snail farm. Take an old laundry basket and place inside some plant pots for cover and soil for the eggs. Provide water and feed your stock lettuce and paper. Bon apetit!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

I’ve found a couple more garden gadgets, both solar powered so with green credentials. Depending on your point of view the first one is either exceptionally cool or the height of tackiness. “The Amazing Solar Powered Whirling Sunflower” – when the sun shines it spins! Wow!
The second gadget is more practical. If these “Garden Solar Insect Zappers” work as claimed, then they sound like a worthwhile investment.

And finally the August issue of my monthly newsletter Garden Ramblings is now online.

With the title “Can We Ever Have Enough Gardening Tools?” you might expect to be presented with a long list of the writer’s favorite implements, but Suzanne Thompson restricts herself to two both made of plastic.  Read more..

Here’s another headline I couldn’t resist: “The best herb scissors in the world”. In fact these are for use in the kitchen rather than the garden, to chop your herbs after you’ve picked them. “At just under $11, they’re a time-saver that won’t drain your wallet!”   Read more..

If you are not too keen on seeing vegetables in front of your house, then why not grow them on the roof?  For restaurant owners Mike and Helen Cameron the desire to use produce grown locally in their business was a major concern. A rooftop garden above their restaurant means that their food miles can be measured in feet.  Read more..

Like fishing lures which are more often designed to catch the fisherman rather than his quarry, some garden gadgets turn out not to be such a good idea as they first seemed. I’ve found these two selections containing products of varying usefulness. The first list includes the Easy Bloom plant sensor. Plug it into the ground for 24 hours, then plug it into your computer and you will be given plant recommendations. The portable composter sounds interesting, if a little pricey, but Prepara Power Plant Mini seems to be an unecessarily complicated way of growing a few seedlings.  Read more..

The second group comes from Shiny Shiny which just about sums up this collection. From fairy lights to a laser fountain by way of Darth Vader speakers and ending with a hot tub, what more could you want in your backyard?  Read more..

And finally the July issue of my monthly newsletter Garden Ramblings is now online.

Recently my wife has been buying bunches of alstroemeria from our local supermarket, but after seeing this display at a local garden, I am trying to grow some myself. Hopefully it will eventually grow into a good sized clump and provide plenty of flowers for cutting.

On the face of it teaching children how to cook seems a strange way of getting them interested in gardening. But harvesting the crop and then preparing it to eat makes the connection and gives kids the incentive to become involved in the gardening activities. The problem is that children usually don’t have a lengthy attention span, but the article explores various ways of overcoming this. Competitions and experiments are just two of the suggestions.  Read more..

Organic gardeners do not use pesticides and so have to find other ways of controlling the aphids and other pests that invade their gardens. Here’s a description of “5 Beneficial Garden Pests That You Will Want To Live In Your Garden”.  Read more..

“Design a compost heap into the landscape” is the message from Jane Gates in the LA Landscape Design Examiner. We all know the benefits of compost, but it’s useful to be reminded of all the different methods of converting garden and kitchen waste into this soil enriching material. Full of practical tips.  Read more..

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 a second time in the autumn. When I enquired I was told that the plants were Bergenia ‘Morgenrote’ and that they regularly flowered throughout the season. I will have to find some to replace my unamed variety which has refused to produce a single bloom for the last three years!

Writing in “Landscape Juice” Philip Voice considers the reason why garden designers prefer grouping plants in odd numbers rather than even. To “avoid a bed with plants all in a row lined up like soldiers” is one answer, but it all depends on the context and the type of effect you are trying to achieve.  Read more..

“Working gardens that are pretty much self-maintaining” is the way that John Cobb describes the rain gardens in Lexington, KY. Designed to catch stormwater runoff and allow the water to soak slowly into the subsoil, rain gardens reduce the flow of water into the stormwater sewers. And provided suitable plants are chosen will add an attractive feature to your garden. “The challenge is to use these (native) plants and not have it look like a bunch of weeds”…  Read more..

Fed up with mowing the lawn? Then buy yourself a wallaby, at least that’s what some people in Britain are doing according to the Daily Telegraph. Watch the video and see what you think. Perhaps it might be cheaper to buy a couple of sheep.  Read more..

I’ve never been too keen on alliums particularly when they are grown en masse like those in the picture, but after reading this piece by Steve Silk I am begining to see them in a new light. Don’t be put off by the photo at the top of his page, but scroll down and admire the Allium bulgaricum or Sicilian honey lily. While it’s a great joke I don’t think that I would bother with Allium ‘Hair’ but I am impressed by the Star of Persia. Read more..

“What stage are you at?” asks Roger Marshall as he takes us through his five stages of gardening from the young novice full of enthusiasm to the more mature gardener. Follow him as he describes the evolving landscape as ideas and interests change over time. Read more..

On a rather more high tech level are these “10 brilliant gadgets for your garden”. There’s an  Alligator cordless powered lopper with Ni-Cad battery powered jaws that turn branches into wood chippings, with up to 150 3.5cm cuts per hour. The Toro 3-in-1 Recycler Mower gives you the choice of either spinning the cuttings in to a regular grass bag, or chewing them up and spitting them out as a mulch. And for relaxing there’s a gas barbecue and outdoor sound system. And perhaps the ultimate gadget, a completely autonomous robot mower with its own built in solar panel, enabling it to recharge itself when not in use. Read more..

Back to reality and Carol Oneal writing in the Mail Tribune has some suggestions on ways to save money in the garden. Recycle and save some “green” is her motto and she starts with a plastic gallon milk jug which can be used in four different ways. Using old pantyhose to make  ties is one that we’ve all heard before, but I’m not sure if cutting up a discarded venetian blind for plant labels is really worth the effort. Read more..

Mowing the lawn is not everyone’s favorite task, so how would you like to give up your grass and be paid for it into the bargain? If you live in LA this is now on offer. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has begun a cash-for-grass program. Single-family homes served by the DWP will be eligible to receive $1 for every square foot of turf that they replace with less thirsty alternatives. Las Vegas has had a similar scheme for years and, as a result, has saved almost a tenth of its annual water supply. Read more..

It seems that we cannot escape the upside-down tomatoes this year. Here’s another view from Carol O’Meara. Does the method work? Yes it does she admits, but then lists a number of problems that can occur. After you’ve read this you may decide that growing tomatoes in the conventional way is not such a bad idea after all. Read more..

Too often garden gadgets turn out to be more trouble than they are worth. Either they are not strong enough and so break the first time you use them or so fiddly that it is easier to do the job in the conventional way. But here’s a gadget that is both simple and practical. If you like to use a tablecloth when eating outside, you will know the problems caused by a gust of wind. Attach these clip on tablecloth weights to the four corners and you can dine in peace. Read more..

“In Which Urban Beekeeping Looks Like A Religous Experience” Couldn’t resist including a link to this photo.

Another gadget that caught my eye is this Garden Shower. Just what you need to cool off after a hot day in the sun. The shower consists of a 30 inch diameter disc that is completely portable. Just hook it up to your garden hose and step on the pad to activate the jets. Read more..

One gadget that would be really useful and would be the answer to every gardener’s prayers would be one that kept cats out of your garden. Numerous methods have been suggested but I have yet to find one that is truly effective. Listening to the radio the other day I heard of a novel suggestion that was said to be absolutely foolproof. Make a noise like an elephant and cats disappear in a flash.

Talking of four footed intruders a few months ago I found this cheeky fellow sunbathing in the flowerbed. He let me get quite close before he slowly strolled away.

Perhaps it wasn’t a “he” after all because look who came to show off her family.

I had to take the picture through the window so as not to disturb them and that is why the photo is rather fuzzy.

The article covering the Prince’s award also mentions a few highlights of the show. With the economic downturn there are fewer sponsored gardens this year and exhibitors have been spending less on their creations including one made from scrap and recycled materials. One uncoventional exhibit has flowers made from plasticine – described as low maintenance by its designer.

One unexpected guest yesterday was a garden gnome which was sighted in an exhibit submitted by a member of the RHS ruling council. This caused some surprise since garden gnomes are bannned by the rules and lead to automatic disqualification. But it appears that the offending creature was removed before the judges arrived.  Read more..

In “Gardening success stories” Tony Eulo describes three pleasant surprises that he has experienced in his yard this spring. The first concerned an invasion by some evil looking bugs which on closer inspection turned out to be soldier beetles which were devouring the aphids on his artichokes. Number two was his discovery of a better way of dealing with his annnual cover crop and the third involved sunflowers. Read more..

Continuing the good and bad insects saga Matthew Stevens, the horticulture extension agent for Halifax County Cooperative Extension, describes several that we should welcome to our gardens. These include ladybugs and praying mantis as well as spiders. He lists several more beneficial insects and, as these can be harder to recognize, he includes a link to the N.C. State entomology department website where further details can be obtained. Read more..