GrowHow Archives - The 3 Growbags

Thinking ahead – Grow-how tips for September

18 September 2020September 18, 2020the3growbagsLeave a comment

For most of this year, thinking about horticulture has been a blessed relief from the miserable news headlines, and this September is as crowded with grim stories as ever, so let’s turn with a sense of release and solace to some tasks like pruning shrubs, sowing hardy annual seeds, and planting bulbs amongst other things…………………. Encouraging the youngsters If you’ve planted some new shrubs in the last 3 years, early autumn is a good time to have a long look at them and do a bit of pruning here and there. This is called ‘formative’ pruning and the idea...

Autumn beckons – Grow-how tips for early September

5 September 2020September 5, 2020the3growbags4 Comments

The year has tipped into September, and the light feels softer, the evenings are chillier….A keen gardener knows that these changes signal a return to action after the less frenetic high summer months, so let’s get busy with the herb garden, harvesting veg and trimming hedges………….. Helping the herbs Many herbs are so easy to look after, it seems almost bonkers not to grow a few to brighten up the flavour of food (even my husband who has never willingly pulled up a weed can maintain a very productive herb patch outside his beloved kitchen..) You truly don’t need...

Bargain plants and parsley pickings – Grow-How tips for August

22 August 2020August 22, 2020the3growbagsLeave a comment

Here in the parched south, our gardens were greatly revived by the recent welcome rain – just what was needed! We’ve got lots of treats for you this week including a new Veg Update from Laura, and two reviews of products we have been trialling – see the links at the end of this post. Tasks for late August include taking pelargonium cuttings, watering camellias and picking up cut-price plants…………… Pelargonium cuttings Do you like the bright displays of pelargoniums (our feature picture this week) that blaze at this time of year? There’s such a hot-weather exuberance about them,...

Sizzling ideas! – Grow-How tips for early August

8 August 2020August 9, 2020the3growbagsLeave a comment

Early August means the highest of high summer! The deeply troubling events of this year can’t halt the corn reaching as high as an elephant’s eye, or the fruit ripening on the branches. Let’s be thankful for that at least, and get on with some tasks like sowing winter salads, make some new sempervivums, and assessing your garden triumphs and failures……………………. Still the season for sowing! Are you one of the thousands of folk who tried veg-growing for the first time this year? Perhaps you even joined our 3Growbag beginners’ romp through the subject in our DigYourOwnaForCorona campaign in...