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Each June I look at the blooming Elderflowers and think I really should have a go at making some Elderflower cordial and then promptly forget. However this time around I was with it and so set about making Elderflower cordial which is a doddle and knocks the spots off any shop bought stuff.
Summer has officially arrived (at last) and with it comes the prospect of warmer drier weather which gives you the chance to get out there and do a bit of work but also take a moment or two (but no more!) to enjoy the fruits of your labours from earlier in the year. Keep an eye on the watering and the weeds both of which will need plenty of attention at this month.
Here’s the deal – you don’t mow your lawn this month, you let it and any flowers grow merrily away and in return at the end of the month bask in the glory when you find out how many bees your wild lawn will feed and at the same time help others learn more about the nation’s lawns. Interested?
At last May is here which is one of my favourite months for gardening – flowers starting to burst and there is the lush green of new leaves everywhere. Oh and two bank holidays of course! There is plenty to do around the garden and a little work now will pay dividends in spadefuls when summer arrives.
As I understand it, we (Brits) are a low productivity economy and need to be “investing” so we can be more “productive”. Taking that onboard and keen to do my bit… a few years ago I invested in a set of Bosch Easy Prune Cordless Secateurs – just the ticket I thought to zipping through my pruning tasks and being more “productive”.
I have lost count of the number of times I have encountered the remains of a small tree/shrub where the top is long gone, but the stump remains. Why? Well, usually the answer is that removing even a small stump can appear to be difficult job so why not let it just rot away. Unfortunately, that may not work as quite a few stumps can regrow. So, removal is the way to go here I will show you how I remove a small stump without too much effort.
Sprouts are the marmite of vegetables with people either liking or passionately hating them. However I always take the view no matter how much you dislike a particular food thing, there is always a recipe out there that could change your mind. So if you run a mile when sprouts are mentioned then stop and give this Waitrose recipe a go as I think you will be pleasantly surprised – it is really a doddle to make, cheap and very very tasty and without that bitter taste are often associated with Sprouts.
Left to its own devices a Pampas Grass can soon get out of control and dominate smaller gardens. There are various ways of cutting it down (best done in late winter) however having done this a few times with various large grasses now I have a quick and easy way to cut them back without creating a massive cleaning up headache. In this post I will show you step by step how to cut back an overgrown Pampas Grass the easy way.
When a perennial is starting to outgrow its spot and is muscling others out of the way it is time to divide it. The most common approach requires two garden forks to prize the lifted plant apart but what if you don’t happen to have enough forks to hand? Well there is a simple way to split your these plants as I will show you.
Yes, you did read that correctly – I use an eraser to help keep my secateurs clean. OK, this isn’t something I fished out from the bottom of my school pencil case – this eraser, by garden tools specialist Niwaki, has been created specifically to clean garden tools and it works a treat as I will quickly demonstrate.
Not every Manor house garden is a picture of perfection. In fact, most of the Manor House gardens we don’t get to see are being looked after as best people can but there are those gardens where a tipping point has been reached and they are slowly being lost. You have to admire these owners for their previous efforts and more importantly opening up their garden which we recently visited. This is my postcard from a fading Manor house garden.
The arrival of the puppy means visits are fewer this year, but the Green & Gorgeous Flower Farm Open Day was one that we didn’t want to miss (so the puppy had a lazy Sunday afternoon napping). Behind the scenes, where the magic happens, this is ultimately a business but my oh my, so many lovely flowers to see and share so, here is my postcard from the Green & Gorgeous Flower Farm Open Day.
If you want productive apple and pear trees then winter is a key time in the gardening calendar – what you do now will be heavily reflected in the fruits you harvest later in the year. One topic that has come up recently is winter washing and in particular should “wash”, when to do it and whether that is before or after pruning. Estate and Orchard Gardeners rarely offer up their expertise on these kind of topics so I needed to come up with my own view.
Another year hurtles by and so, this year, I am 4 and a bit and I thought it would be interesting to look back over one year of my work and some of the numbers that have been totted up. Obviously, this being Christmas, it is going to be a bit light-hearted because hey people we survived another rock and roll year (drought, downpours, freezing etc.). However, what follow are, as accurate as I can get them, and for those that are “estimated”, they are done so with… well stories in mind.
I come across this often – the assumption that once the clocks go back or the winter weather is in full flow that your gardener will shut up shop until they emerge once more from the cocoon of winter into the warmth of spring. The reality is rather different, for a gardener, whilst it is not quite as manic as the May’s and September’s of the year, winter is a seriously busy time. So with my Santa hat on I have booked myself on a disability in garden design course as well as an emergency first aid course. No rest for this mouse.
It is that time of year when any thoughts of putting my feet up can be put to one side for a while yet because it is an ideal time to get some of those on the back burner jobs sorted and one which has been there for a while is getting an old greenhouse back into service again and it is already looking really good.
Should you be looking for a Christmas gift for a garden loving person or ideas for others who might be stuck then I would thoroughly recommend “The Sceptical Gardener” by Ken Thompson. It is a no-nonsense approach to gardening and various associated topics. The articles are short and thoroughly researched, well written and with the quite a lot off-beat facts and figures (5,000 people each year are injured by flowerpots apparently) as well as debunking many gardening myths. Definitely one to have to hand.
It is that time of year when the trickle of falling leaves will soon become an avalanche and so now is the time to get your leafmould cage ready. All you need is four posts lightly knocked into the ground and some chicken wire and a few nail staples to hold the wire on and then you are in ready for action.
I came across a draft of a post I had obviously put together after a particularly traumatic hedge trimming session but hadn’t posted (always wait). Anyway, after a bit of tweaking on reflection and with Autumn fast approaching, here are some of the things I have learnt about hedge trimming.
Whilst there are many “for the nation houses and gardens” open to us folk, there are also a multitude of private homes and gardens also available to visit. Whilst they may not be open every moment of the year they are nonetheless worth hunting out because they often are a personal endeavour and for that reason always very special. Kingston Bagpuize House, near Abingdon, is just such a place and to be honest though the gardens are very modest to say the least they are well done and the walks in the area around just enough for a lovely afternoon. Here is my postcard from the Kingston Bagpuize House.