Every fortnight Elaine provides seasonal tips and advice about gardening jobs that we could be getting on with as we go through the year. She includes some handy photos too!
The festive season is upon us, and we must brace ourselves for browsing the shop-shelves while listening to Slade, Mariah Carey and Wizzard once again. Because so much of Christmas was cancelled last year, I wonder if we’ll welcome the Yuletide Muzak a little more this year than normal? No, me neither, but I’ll be humming…
Mid-November – Can you hear the faint tinkle of jingle bells on the wind? Time to start making wish lists for yourself, and planning and ordering lists for your family and friends too, perhaps? There are a few really useful jobs to tackle outside too, including giving your garden tools an early Christmas present……… By…
Here we are, already at Halloween weekend! In between scraping out pumpkins and dressing excited small children in spooky outfits, there are some very handy tasks in the garden you could tackle/escape to, including reviving your mint pot, taking easy cuttings and digging out the horror weeds. Just a reminder that if you don’t have…
We all know the weather’s going to turn soon enough into something a little more…errr… challenging… So here are some ideas to get you out there before that happens. And don’t forget that if you don’t have time to read this blog, no problem! Click on the podcast link at the bottom and listen to…
There is a certain wistfulness at the start of October about another summer gone by, but this month has its glories too – be sure to stop and appreciate the coming autumn colours and harvests while you are busy cutting-back or making leaf-mould amongst other tasks….. Pruning for protection The usual time for the serious…
Aarrrgghh – suddenly SO much to do in the garden again! The lazier days of July and August are over, and we must buckle to it with all sorts of propagating and preparing – and shopping! – while we enjoy the soft air and beauty of September. My resident robin has started serenading me loudly…
I’m struggling to remember an early September when the grass looked greener and the plants (and weeds!) looked lusher. There are compensations to having a summer as we have had in the south, when the sun has been VERY reluctant to put his hat on (although quite fed up with Caroline’s reports of daily sunshine…
The plentiful August rain round here has kept things green and growing. Disappointing for the high holiday season, but it has meant that the garden has avoided its usual ‘parched desert’ look – hurray! Jobs for August include cutting hedges, supporting late border-stars and planting bulbs as we look forward to the end of the year and…
High summer and everything in the garden going at full bore – hurray! This is when you really find out how successful your plans were for new plants, new borders, this year’s fruit and veg crop etc. Triumph? Disaster? A bit of each, I expect, like me. There are still some things to do in…
From the torrential rain to the searing heat and back again – it’s amazing our gardens are standing at all! But they are, and giving us heaps of pleasure (and work and grief, sometimes!).When weather permits, let’s get on with some tasks like cutting back early perennials, feeding rhododendrons and harvesting courgettes………… The next generation…
