Top Gardening Jobs for January
Top Jobs this month Prune birches and maples, to avoid problems with bleeding as the sap starts to rise very early in these trees. Check stored fruit and vegetables, plus corms and tubers from ornamentals, such as gladioli and dahlias. Dispose of any that are showing signs of pests or diseases and try to improve … Continue reading “Top Gardening Jobs for January”
Top Five Winter Food for Birds
The Top Five Winter Food for Birds Providing winter food for birds is important as it will all help keep them going through the hard winter. These are our top five recommendations of winter food for birds: Fat Fatballs and bird cakes can be great winter foods. You can make your own by melting suet, … Continue reading “Top Five Winter Food for Birds”
Growing Salad and Rhubarb
Baby Salad Leaves If you have any tiny beetroot, too small to eat when you lift them, tidy them up by cutting off the tops Leaving about ½ inch on the root. Then plant them in pots and put in the windowsill, or anywhere light and warm, and water often. They will begin to sprout … Continue reading “Growing Salad and Rhubarb”
Small Trees with Autumn appeal with Blue Iris Landscapes
Small Trees with Autumn appeal with Blue Iris Landscapes As autumn gets underway, the changing colours in many leaves can leave your garden with character and quality. Here are just three small trees that are favoured by many including Blue Iris Landscapes Cercis Canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ An eastern redbud with dark, rich purple, heart-shaped leaves. … Continue reading “Small Trees with Autumn appeal with Blue Iris Landscapes”
Growing Umbelifers and Planting Garlic
The Week Ahead Growing Umbelifiers This plant family is commonly known as ‘cow parsley’ and its many relatives, fine-textured ferny plants with showy spring and summer flowers that grow wild in woodland and meadows. They are ideal for a naturalistic planting as they are easy to grow. Try the late spring perennials Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’. … Continue reading “Growing Umbelifers and Planting Garlic”
Plant Forum for December
Plant Forum This month’s plant forum includes introductions to new plants and the latest plant news. Here are four which Blue Iris found intriguing: Acacia bailyana ‘songlines’ Pear ‘Humbug’ Tiarella ‘Appalachian Trail’ Euphorbia martini ‘Ascott Rainbow’ In 10 years this ideal wall shrub can reach between 8-10m (26-32ft). It prefers a sunny, sheltered position. … Continue reading “Plant Forum for December”
Growing Corylus colurna
How to grow Corylus colurna ‘Te-Terra red’ This small hazel tree grows to around 20ft. In the spring the foliage is wine-red but, like all purple-foliage hazels, the leaves fade to green. A two-tone effect appears in the summer when the wind blows and ruffles the more mature green leaves amongst the youthful purple foliage. … Continue reading “Growing Corylus colurna”
Lawn Care
Lawn Care Many lawns around this time of the year are looking barren rather than having a lush green finish they are worn and brown; making your garden look unattractive and needing a bit of attention. Whatever the problem you are probably wondering what sort of grass seed would be the best to revitalise your … Continue reading “Lawn Care”
Common Garden Plants
10 minute Gardener – Storing Agapanthus, Lilies, and Succulents Large containers of agapanthus need time to dry out to improve their chances of endurance over winter. Once they are dry, they can be placed under the bench of an unheated greenhouse and left alone until spring. If they need to be stored outside place them … Continue reading “Common Garden Plants”
Fruit and Vegetable Storage Problems
Fruit and Vegetable Storage Problems To prevent the spreading of disease, check fruit and vegetable storage areas regularly and dispose of any affected. Most fungi enter in wounds, but some spread by contact; handle produce carefully and keep fruits apart from each other. Brown rot Attacks apples and pears on trees and in storage, spreading … Continue reading “Fruit and Vegetable Storage Problems”