Several times over the past few weeks, I have spotted a male Bull Finch among the leafless trees in my garden. It is a beautiful bird with grey, salmon pink and black markings but it can be a pest to gardeners. Normally bullfinches eat grass and weed seeds, but when supplies run low and temperatures […]
Winter is a great opportunity to check over hand tools, replacing broken handles and sharpening blades of hoes, shears, loppers and spades. Brush off any soil, clean off rust with wire wool, then use a fine file to flatten notches on the cutting edge. Years ago when I worked on the local Parks’ department, Fred, […]
Collecting leaves – the perfect job for a bright, sunny day. As the nights draw in, it is time to wrap up your pots and plants to protect them from frost and cold. Terracotta or glazed pots should be wrapped with several layers of ‘bubble wrap’ or hessian and raised from the ground on bricks […]
Early in the month it is time to check that the glasshouse is ready to accommodate your tender plants, so you are ready when temperatures drop. Pick your last tomatoes and ripen them on the windowsill. Blemish free fruit can be stored in a cool drawer, to be ripened in the fruit-bowl as needed during […]
From the start of September until weather starts to cool in mid to late October, is the time for annual lawn maintenance. It should not be something you do in dry conditions, wait until the weather is warm and moist so the lawn can recover after treatment. If there is moss in the lawn, kill it […]
From mid-summer until November, rhododendrons and camellias are forming flower buds for next year’s display, so it’s essential that the compost or soil around them doesn’t dry out at any point, if it does they simply won’t form buds or will demonstrate their disapproval by shedding the ones that have already formed. Check your plants […]
Despite the damp dreary weather, you still need to water your hanging baskets and containers as most rainfall runs from the leaves onto the ground around the pot. Petunias and pelargoniums are drought resistant, but if the compost gets dry, under watered fuchsias and lobelia can take weeks to recover. Feed your flowers weekly with […]
Now that greenhouse tomatoes are growing well, remove the side shoots of ‘cordon’ varieties, as they appear, using your finger and thumb, this will create a single productive stem. Keep the compost constantly moist, particularly if you are using growing bags, as the compost dries out rapidly; twice a day is ideal, depending on the […]
Dear Weather, please can you consider the date and change from your April angst to something more akin to the month of May flowers. Thank you. The soil is still cold from rainfall and frosty nights, so greenhouse sowings in pots and modules, over the previous weeks will be well rewarded. Outdoors, once the soil […]
April is an ideal time to lift and divide bamboos, grasses and clumps of herbs that have grown too large, this keeps them within their allotted space and maintains vigour. Divide them carefully by pushing two forks back to back into the centre of the clump then pushing the two handles together to prise them […]
Add the frosty nights of late February to soil that’s still sodden after the winter rain and it may not be until the middle of the month that the soil in your vegetable garden is warm enough to sow early crops. However, this should not stop you from preparing the seedbed, by raking the ground […]
I have to confess that it’s great to see the back of January, with its long dark days, now it’s February there is that wonderful feeling that spring is on its way. Peppers, chillies and aubergines need a long growing season – it takes up to five months from sowing until the fruits mature. Most […]
