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Gardening Tips

Pruning and planting – Grow-how tips for March

Aarrggh!  All of a sudden it’s mid-March and the gardening jobs are multiplying as the big growing season gets under way.  It’s exciting too, though!  Here are a few ideas to spur you into action – rose-pruning, spring planting, potting on seedlings and lots more……. How to prune bush roses My main task for March is completing all the […]

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Gardening Tips

Take charge of your clematis! Grow-how tips for March

I can’t help feeling excited now March is here! colour and life are returning all around us, and the songbirds are revving up their glorious spring voices.   And what they’re telling us is to get a move on!  The gardening jobs are multiplying rapidly, from pruning clematis and blackcurrants to tidying ferns, starting off shallots and […]

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Gardening Tips

Doing your prep – Growhow tips for February

Here we are on the brink of another thrilling spring garden season! Shakespeare’s Henry V had the words for it: “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start. The game’s afoot..” But are we REALLY ready? This week’s tips are mostly about prepping for the manic deluge of horticultural tasks […]

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Gardening Tips

Potting up the prims! Grow-how tips for early Feb

Hurray!  That’s dreary old January out the way. By the time we get to the end of February there will little signs of approaching spring  everywhere, even if there are still some cold blasts to come.   So let’s welcome in February by doing some cheering jobs like potting up primroses, sowing broad beans and beautifying tree-bark, amongst […]

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More shrubs for free! Grow-how tips for January

Things are turning a bit nippy, aren’t they, even down here on the balmy south coast!  Frankly, it’s a welcome relief after all the endless rain.   This may be the quieter side of the year horticulturally speaking, but there are still jobs to do like making more shrubs for free, tending your garden furniture and planting […]

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It’s wet out there! Grow how tips for January

Arghh, will it ever stop raining?!  It’s been a very wet and windy start to the New Year here and in many other parts of the country.  It’s not tempting to get out into the garden in such miserable weather, but there are jobs calling, such as releasing lawn compaction and tidying the base of trees, […]

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Bring the garden inside! Grow how tips for December

You definitely need a break from all the present-buying, list-making, baking and strategic planning required in mid-December! So relax for a while and choose some beautiful foliage to make your home a green haven this Christmas, as well as thinking about our precious songbirds over winter, and perhaps a little gentle pruning………. Creating a festive […]

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Gardening Tips

Let’s plant lilies! Grow-how tips for December

It’s a funny thing but each year the whole Christmas shenanigans seems to begin earlier in direct correspondence to the older you become! Take a break from the list-making, pudding-stirring and sock-buying and get on with a few gardening tasks, such as planting lilies, prepping herbs for winter use, and earthing up the cabbages… Lovely […]

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Gardening Tips

Tulips for cheer! Growhow tips for November

Late autumn and the leaves are turning colour and falling fast now. Winter’s on its way, but that’s no reason to hang up your trowel and gardening coat till spring – No, no, no, there’s work to be done! Let’s plant tulips, clean up the paths and mulch the beds for starters… Planting tulips It’s […]

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Battening down the hatches! Grow-how tips for November

Whoa!  We have all had some VERY rough weather this autumn, haven’t we!  I hope your outdoor spaces have survived the onslaught of wind and rain. There are tasks we can do to make our gardens more resilient against wild weather so let’s get on with cutting back roses and other shrubs, as well as sorting out […]

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Raking it in! Grow-how tips for October

The first properly cold snap here in the south means that we can no longer deny that winter is on its way – Laura’s hauling her tender plants in, Caroline’s surveying snow on the Highland mountains around her, and the shops have fully-stocked Christmas aisles. Resist the urge to hibernate, plant a cheering winter pot or […]

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Gardening Tips

Let’s plant trees! Gardening tips for October

It looks lovely out there today, but we all know that we could face some very rough weather before October is out, don’t we!   So let’s make the most of the gentle, bright autumn days to get some excellent garden tasks done, such as tree planting, taking some hardwood cuttings, and moving hardy evergreens…… Time […]

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Gardening Tips

Are you feeling seedy? Gardening tips for September

Most of us have experienced some fierce storms this week and guess what?!  Most of us got (very) wet AGAIN, as well as windswept.  Oh well, it’s still far too early in the year to curl up in front of the fire with a copy of Gardeners World magazine and a glass of red, so let’s […]

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Is your garden Autumn-ready? – Growhow tips for Sept

How unjust is that! Most of our poor schoolchildren (and their teachers) have had to tolerate wet weather all through their summer hols, and then we get a heatwave when they’re all back in their classrooms. But before the rest of us get too happy with our BBQs and sun hats, remember there are jobs […]

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Bagging bargains – Gardening tips for late August

Here we are at the August Bank Holiday and no one can deny that the glorious explosion of summer garden colour is behind us. But early autumn has its real joys too! Don’t forget to savour them as we get on with tasks like sowing some parsley, nurturing self-sown seedlings and picking up bargains……. Cut-price […]

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Keep the summer colour glowing – Grow-how tips for August

The middle of August? No way! The year is slipping by too quickly as usual, and there is still so much to be done! Let’s at least keep the summer alive as long as possible with lots of dead-heading, chive-division and judicious propagation of tender plants……. A short discourse on dead-heading The harsh fact is […]

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Primping your evergreens: Grow-how tips for August

Many of our gardens have certainly appreciated the very changeable weather so far this summer. Even if it has meant that accurate planning for social events has been largely thrown out of the window! With water-butts full, and lush green growth even in August, we can get on with other summer jobs like pruning some […]

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Keep on top of the summer jobs! Grow-how tips for July

All our water butts have been filled to the brim in the last few days of downpours – relieved about that, at least!  The garden is bursting with colour and growth, and a daily wander around is essential – deadheading this, tying in that….but there are some specific jobs to be done as well, like potting […]

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Growing geraniums? Act now! – Tips for July

Flamin’ June? It certainly was round here. If last year’s drought made lots of folk re-think their plant choices, they’ll be feeling a touch more complacent than many, I daresay. I know that much of the north of the UK has had a wetter time of it, but most of us have been praying for […]

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Making free plants! Grow-how tips for June

Oooft, it’s been proper hot this week round here! Things are bearing up well….so far, but I’m keeping a very wary eye on plants that may struggle, particularly anything planted this spring. In the meantime, how about making easy free plants, cutting sweet peas, and sowing lettuces amongst other jobs… Free plants The price of […]

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Summer’s arrived! Grow-how tips for June

Flamin’ June – and isn’t it exciting!  Fresh beautiful flowers opening every day, and longer evenings to enjoy them in.  But there are jobs to get on with, when you are not floating around in loveliness – shrubs to prune, basil to nurture, tulip bulbs to dry…..so let’s stir our stumps….. Early summer shrubs Call me […]

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The Chelsea Chop v 2.0 Grow-how tips for May

All of a sudden the days just aren’t long enough for all the intense gardening jobs pressing for our attention! I keep making lists, losing the lists, making new lists, going outside to do something on the list, and getting distracted by at least five other jobs on the way.. But I won’t miss out […]

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Time for celebration! Grow-how tips for May

HURRAY, IT’S MAY!  We 3Growbags are in celebratory mood – not only for the Coronation of King Charles III (it just HAD to be crown imperials for our feature pic this week, didn’t it), but also because we started our blog together seven years ago this weekend! If you haven’t already, do sign up to our […]

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Bursting out all over! Grow-how tips for April

Everything in the garden has grown about a foot in the last week!  The great spring push is definitely on now, even in the far North of Scotland where I spent a lovely few days with the youngest Growbag 🐣 in her new Highland home and garden.   The Natural World is surging forward, and so must […]

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Easter in the garden – Grow-how tips for April

Happy Easter everyone!  Time to welcome in one of the most joyful times for anyone interested in horticulture or indeed the whole natural world.  Let’s quietly give thanks for all the emerging beauty of spring while we go about our many gardening tasks, such as dealing with the daffodils, hardening off seedlings or sowing cucumbers……………….. Hardening them […]

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Sooooo much to do! Grow-how tips for March

The clocks go forward this weekend and we’ll have lots more time to be in the garden – WONDERFUL!  A million jobs are now clamouring for our attention out there. It’s just a question of which one is the most urgent.  Some shrubs need cutting back. The grasses need some TLC. And we mustn’t forget those money-saving […]

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Get your summer bulbs started! Grow-tips for early March

Whoa! It’s been a chilly week! We got back to pulling on the woolly long-johns even here in the balmy south, and Caroline has been sending us daily videos of snow and ice in the Scottish Highlands. Still, spring WILL arrive for all of us soon, and meantime there is much to be done – […]

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Let’s beat the shortages! Grow-how tips for February

Plenty of welcome signs of approaching spring all around now – about time too! But with those tiny new shoots come a wealth of gardening jobs like sowing veg, cutting down autumn raspberry canes, and prepping your pot collection… Veg shortages? Whoa! Have you seen the headlines about salad and veg shortages for the next […]

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Gardening Tips

Potting on the plugs – Gardening tips for February

Yes, yes, yes!  A walk round the garden in early February may not give you the flamboyance of full-on spring, but oh boy! It’s so heartening to see the rosy noses of peony buds breaking through and bright aconites studding the ground…. You feel that familiar frisson of anticipation for the coming garden season. Coming into […]

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Planting beans and oiking weeds – Grow-how tips for January

Arggghhh, January can seem such a long month, can’t it!  It feels particularly so when the weather has been as unpredictable and damaging as it has been recently. Spring still seems quite far away.  But it WILL come, and in the meantime let’s cheer ourselves up with some jolly little tasks to prepare for its arrival, like […]

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Jobs for a great 2023 garden -Grow-how tips, January

January is not generally famed for beauty in the garden, but do have a look at our 3Growbags list of Brilliant Winter Plants (link is below). There are some real crackers amongst them! For me, this month is mostly about anticipation. Can you feel the thrill of a new gardening year? What will we grow? […]

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Tending to tools and saving citrus – Grow-how tips for December

Wow! We all know it’s bleak midwinter now, don’t we?  Even in my sheltered southern garden, ‘snow has fallen, snow on snow’ and the earth is definitely ‘as hard as iron’.  At least, I won’t have to do any digging for a while! There are still some gardening jobs to give you a break from making […]

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Thrifty tasks – Grow How tips for early December

How can it be December again! Cliché alert, but where did that year go?  It feels as if it was just last week that we took down the Christmas tinsel. Never mind, we can do this. Let’s just make sure our festive to-do lists include some gardening tasks like planting tulips, bringing plants in for decoration […]

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Make those leaves work for you! Grow-how tips for November

Arrgghhh, it’s becoming harder and harder to duck and weave around the juggernaut that is The British Christmas! But while we’ve still got some modicum of sanity, let’s get on with some pleasant little gardening jobs like making leafmould, choosing some shrubs for screening and making more lovely oriental poppies………. Leaf-mould for a lovely garden […]

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Peas, trees and bees -Grow-how tips for November

November can be rather a miserable month, but we’re not miserable, are we! We can enjoy the relative calm in the garden as it settles for winter. The pressure is off, and we can quietly start preparing for an EVEN better horticultural year in 2023. So how about sowing some peas, pruning some branches or […]

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Let’s get planting! Grow-how tips for October

It’s planting time!  Trees, shrubs, roses, wallflowers, garlic…….there’s a myriad of things that you can plant out now. Do it before the ground starts to freeze or become too waterlogged to attempt it.  It will give them such a headstart next spring when everything starts to move again………. Wonderful wallflowers One of my major joys in spring […]