Gardening

Step-by-Step Guide to Brick Border Edging

Brick Border Edging

One of the projects that I (when I say I, I actually mean my far more practical other half) want to tackle this summer is the edge between the lawn and the borders. 

Our strimmer seems to run out of strimming
line roughly every two minutes and I end up
on my hands and knees using our blunt garden
shears to hack at the edge of the lawn.

With sunken bricks, you can just mow straight over them and the borders look tidy and stay contained. Overall, this gives a really neat finish to the garden.

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Easy homegrown tomatoes for British Tomato Week – no greenhouse required!

Seasonal Garden Ideas

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Easy homegrown tomatoes for British Tomato Week – no greenhouse required!

I can still conjure up the sweetly acidic fragrance of ripening tomatoes in my Grandad’s rickety old greenhouse.

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Top tips for a gorgeous garden in National Gardening Week

National Gardening Week

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It’s National Gardening Week – a chance to have a nosey around beautiful gardens and get inspiration for your own plot, big or small.

For events near you visit http://www.nationalgardeningweek.org.uk/Events.aspx.

My two favourite British Gardens
are Bodnant in North Wales and
Coleton Fishacre in Devon.

My own plot may only be a fraction of the size but these wonderful places provide so much inspiration to create a serene and stunning outdoor space.

I must admit my gardening strategy up to now has been: visit garden centre, choose something pretty, throw it in anywhere, hope it survives. For obvious reasons, this technique does not always work!

Inspired by this feature in the 2015 Dairy Diary, this year I am going to be much more scientific and have produce proper plan. I’m going to sketch out the design first using inspiration from Pinterest (see the Dairy Diary Gorgeous Gardens board) and then work out where the sunny/shady spots are and the soil type before deciding on the planting scheme.

Using the Dairy Diary guide, it’s pretty simple really!

 

Make the most of your garden

Make the most of your garden

One of the challenges of gardening is to get the best out of your entire plot, whatever the differing types of soil or changing light conditions, and however sheltered or exposed all or part of it may be. If you can get the basics right, you’re on your way.

Have you ever wondered why some plants thrive in the garden and others seem to give up, no matter how much attention you lavish on them? One reason may be that the location just doesn’t suit. While some plants are adaptable and tolerant, others are extremely fussy, so although you may be eager to get down and dirty among the hardy annuals and the weeds (they always seem to survive!), first things first – before lifting a trowel or opening a nursery catalogue, cast an eye over the soil and light levels throughout your garden. Take note of the differences and think about how to take advantage of, or combat, them. Not every section of the garden may be subject to the same exposure, or shade. Plan according to the specific conditions of each area.

Soil

If you can identify the type of soil you have in your garden, you can choose plants that have a fair chance of succeeding. See the box on page 39 for a guide to soil types, and take a good look at what’s under your feet. For instance, chalky soil may be obvious if it contains chalky particles, but sandy soil isn’t yellow, so don’t be fooled by initial appearances! And bear in mind that although it’s a good idea to try to improve your soil – with organic matter, for instance, and adding grit to clay will improve drainage – it is often a heartbreaking waste of time to try to alter it fundamentally. Much better to adapt and work with what you’ve got.

“Adding plenty of organic matter
before planting will help, whatever
the soil type.”

Acid or alkaline?

The acidity or alkalinity of your soil affects the nutrients contained in it, and so is hugely influential in whether the plants you have chosen will thrive or struggle. An acid-loving plant, such as a camellia, will not do well in alkaline soil and may not even survive, and likewise an alkaline-loving plant, such as a wallflower, will not do well in acidic soil. However, although some plants grow in acid soil only, and some in alkaline, there are degrees – many have just a slight preference and can adapt to soils that do not veer too much one way or the other.

So how can you tell what sort of soil you have? The technical way to express it is as a pH number and you can buy easy-to-use pH testing kits in garden centres. Neutral – the level at which most nutrients are available – is pH 7. A higher number shows an alkaline soil, lower is acidic. Most plants do well in soil with a pH of 6 to 7.

When testing for pH, it’s a good idea to take samples from different parts of the garden, because it’s quite possible for soil to change within a small area, especially in urban gardens or where building or landscaping work has previously taken place.

Lime haters

These include rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, summer-flowering heathers, pernettya, the calico bush, some ferns, blueberry and dogwood. They are known as ericaceous plants, and in a chalky soil their leaves tend to turn yellow and chances are they will die. If you have set your heart on one of the lime-haters but your soil is alkaline and limey, try planting it in a suitably sized container filled with ericaceous compost (this has a pH of between 5 and 6). Remember to keep the soil moist – ericaceous plants are often shallow-rooted and tend to dry out easily.

Light and heat

Whether your garden is north or south-facing, or somewhere in between, will dictate what areas are in full or partial shade, or full sun, and when. Hosta, cyclamen and magnolia do well in dappled shade while mesembryanthemum just loves the sun.

Buildings, walls, trees, hedges and any other shade-throwing obstacles located nearby will also have an effect, of course, on both light and temperature. Sunny walls, for instance, reflect heat, and the soil at their base may be dry. Plants grown here will need a lot of watering, especially if the soil is sandy or chalky and thus free-draining. Adding plenty of organic matter before planting will help, whatever the soil type, and mulching with bark chippings, gravel or pebbles helps retain water, and looks attractive.

Salt and wind 

If you live by the sea, you will have to consider salt-tolerance, as well as everything else, when choosing plants – but there are plenty to choose from, and a plus point is that in coastal areas the risk of frost is much reduced.

In exposed gardens, wind can be a problem – cold in winter, warm and drying in summer, and high winds are always damaging. Trees and hedges can be used to slow down the wind, giving your plants a fighting chance of survival. As well as on the boundary, where hornbeam is a good choice, you could use bushes, such as a compact rose, within the garden to cordon off small areas where you can grow more susceptible plants, athough as a rule, it’s best to choose hardy varieties.

If your garden is exposed and by the sea, holly, blackthorn, Griselinia littoralis, hawthorn, sea buckthorn and willow are all good windbreak choices.

Alkaline lovers for clay soil

  • Aconite
  • Anemone
  • Aster
  • Buddleia
  • Campanula
  • Clematis
  • Cotoneaster
  • Crocus
  • Delphinium
  • Forsythia
  • Geranium
  • Hebe
  • Helenium
  • Hosta
  • Hydrangea
  • Lavender
  • Lilac
  • Mahonia
  • Pyracantha
  • Vinca
  • Alyssum
  • Berberis

Hardy and salt-tolerant plants

  • Calendula
  • California poppy
  • Dianthus
  • Fuchsia
  • Hebe
  • Mallow
  • Montbretia
  • Pyracantha
  • Rock rose
  • Sea pink
  • Sedum
  • Viburnum
  • Lilacs, cornflower, aubrieta, mock orange and perennial sweet pea are all hardy enough for exposed sites, but are not salt tolerant.

Shade-loving plants

  • Bluebell
  • Cranesbill
  • Lenten rose
  • Lily of the valley
  • Periwinkle
  • Stinking hellebore

Plants for a sunny spot

  • Anthemis
  • Berberis
  • Hibiscus
  • Pelargonium
  • Poppy
  • Salviapot

Soil types

Clay: feels smooth and will roll into a sausage shape; holds nutrients and water; takes a long time to warm up in spring and bakes hard in summer, often cracking; heavy and sticky to work; mostly alkaline.

Sandy: feels gritty and falls through your fingers; drains quickly and so is low in nutrients, which are washed away by rain; light and easy to work; warms up quickly in spring; often acidic.

Silt: just about holds together in a ball but will crumble if rolled thinly and is not sticky; fertile, drains fairly well but holds more moisture than sandy soil and is easily compacted. Garden soil is not often of pure silt.

Loam: mixture of clay, sand and silt; has many variations, tending towards either clay or sand; fertile, drains well, easily worked; probably the best soil for gardens.

Chalky: lime-rich and may be light or heavy; free-draining and very alkaline.

 

Useful websites

rhs.org.uk

bbc.co.uk/gardening

 

 

#nationalgardeningweek

An easy way to brighten up the garden | Fiery Winter Pot

Fiery Winter Pot from Seasonal garden Ideas

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An easy way to brighten up the garden

 

Fiery Winter Pot

How gorgeous would this look next to the front door?

Just because winter is approaching, it doesn’t mean the garden needs to look lacklustre and brown.

Plant up this pot now and you’ll
have a gorgeous display come winter.

Use it to brighten up a dull spot in the garden. We have an expanse of unexciting grass in front of our house and so I am going to place it right in the centre to add drama.

 

Fiery Winter Pot

A few garden shrubs have a special display they reserve for winter – dogwood is a prime example, with bare stems that turn a blazing orange and red colour. Here they contrast spectacularly with delicate pure white snowdrops. The dogwood is a long-term occupant in this pot. Plant the snowdrops in September for a display in January-February.

Pot up the dogwood at the same time, or in spring. Included here is a fringe planting of black Mondo grass. Plant it at the same time as the other items.
Allow a couple of hours for the whole pot.

What you need

Plants

  • 20 or more snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis ‘S. Arnott’) bulbs.
  • Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ shrub.
  • Four to six plants of black Mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ ).

Equipment

  • Large terracotta pot
  • Soil-based potting compost.
  • Broken crocks for drainage.
  • Trowel.

1 Place the pot in the position it is to occupy – a container of this size, once full of compost and plants, will be too heavy to move easily.

2 Line the pot with broken crocks for drainage. Fill about half-full, then place the dogwood, in the container it comes in, into the pot to check for level. Adjust the compost as needed, then tip the dogwood out of its container, place it in the terracotta pot, slightly to the back rather than centrally, and firm in with more compost.

3 The snowdrops need to be about 10cm (4in) deep, so put these in next at the appropriate level, spreading them all round the dogwood in the centre of the container. Cover with compost.

4 Finally put in the black Mondo grasses, setting them all round the edges of the pot to form a fringe falling over the rim.

5 Top up the compost to within 4cm (1½in) of the rim of the pot and water in well.

Tip
The colour of the dogwood stems does best – and shows to best advantage – in full sun and can be brilliant when caught in early morning or late afternoon winter sunshine.

Notes
The snowdrops will need to be lifted and divided or replaced every three years or so.
For a notable spring and summer display in the container, choose Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’ which has cream variegated leaves; the stems do not turn quite so bright a colour as the ‘Midwinter Fire’ variety, but are still an attractive dark red in winter.
If you are interested in the Ophiopogon, bear in mind that it goes under various different common names – black Mondo grass, black lilyturf and black dragon grass are just three.

Aftercare
The dogwood has attractive mid green leaves which turn orange-red before falling in autumn.
The brilliantly coloured stems only come into their own in late autumn and winter.
To ensure a good display, the stems must be hard pruned in spring – cut to within 7.5cm-10cm (3-4in) in March.
The black Mondo grass bears tiny spikes of pinkish white flowers in summer.

 

Seasonal Garden Ideas £3.99Project taken from the super
Seasonal Garden Ideas
which is available for just £3.99!

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Also available
Dairy Diary 2015
Fantastic Food For Less
Dairy Diary Set
2015 Pocket Diary Set
Dairy Diary Cover
Address/Reminders Book
Recipes just for you

 

 

 

 

 

Fabulous Patio in One Weekend

Seasonal Garden Garden

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Fabulous Patio in One Weekend

We seem to have inadvertently created a bog in our garden by taking up some horrid old flagstones, so next weekend we plan to tackle this gorgeous project from our Seasonal Garden Ideas book.

 

I may even paint the bench too.
Doesn’t it look fabulous?

 

Granite Setts Paving

Make a private little patio corner for yourself – a perfect place to retreat to in the garden for a few quiet moments. A circular area gives a feeling of completeness and repose.
This project can be carried out at any time of year. Allow 1-2 days to complete the work.

 

What you need

Plants

  • A purple/mauve/pink colour theme has been chosen for the planting, with purple-leaved Heuchera, mauve-pink thrift (Armeria maritima), black Mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’) and Aeonium ‘Schwarzkopf’.
  • A spot planting of scented pink ‘Stargazer’ lilies makes a bold summer statement.

Equipment

  • 60-100 granite setts.
  • Builder’s sand to cover the patio area to a depth of at least 15cm (6in).
  • More sand to brush over the complete patio to fill in between setts.
  • Wheelbarrow, spade, rake, piece of batten, mallet, trowel and garden broom.

1 Measure the area you want to cover (total circumference), then plan out how many granite setts you will need. Order these from a garden centre or builder’s merchant.

2 Dig the entire area to a depth of 15cm (6in) PLUS the thickness of the granite setts you are using. Ensure the site is level, firm and solid. Even out any bumps with a spade, then firm the soil by treading.

3 Spread sand over the entire area to a depth of 15cm (6in), then rake it smooth and level.

4 Start laying the outermost rings of setts, butting them up to each other as closely as you can while still maintaining the circular shape. Lay the batten on top as you go and tap the setts into place with the mallet.

5 Continue with the pattern, offsetting each ring of setts slightly for stability and using the same batten and mallet technique. Again, position the setts as close together as you can but not touching.

6 When the pattern is complete, spread a layer of sand on top and brush it into the crevices between the setts with a broom.

7 To complete your secret little corner, make a narrow circular flower bed around the patio – here, garnet-coloured decking has also been installed behind the circular setts area.

 

Tip An alternative to granite setts would be a pattern of bricks.

Note This isn’t a patio for heavy usage – if you require a firmer base for your granite setts, then lay a footing of ready-mixed concrete.

Aftercare If any of the granite setts settle down unevenly, lever them out, adjust the level of sand underneath, then replace. Remove any weeds that spring up in the sand between the setts.

 

Seasonal Garden Ideas £3.99You can buy Seasonal Garden Ideas
for just £3.99 (plus P&P).

It’s packed with fabulous and practical
projects that be tackled in less than a day.

Easy homegrown tomatoes for British Tomato Week – no greenhouse required!

Seasonal Garden Ideas

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Easy homegrown tomatoes for British Tomato Week – no greenhouse required!

I can still conjure up the sweetly acidic fragrance of ripening tomatoes in my Grandad’s rickety old greenhouse.

They were the sweetest most delicious tomatoes on the planet, though everything my Grandad grew or cooked tasted wonderful to me as an adoring granddaughter!

As this week heralds British Tomato Week, I thought I would attempt to grow my own. As I don’t own a greenhouse, this project from our book, Seasonal Garden Ideas, is perfect.

Fingers crossed, I can grow those sweet little morsels that Grandad excelled at.

 

Seasonal Garden Ideas.

Tiny Tomatoes in Terracotta

The taste of a sun-warmed tomato picked straight from the bush is leagues removed from anything you can buy in a shop.

Container-growing is easy and you are rewarded with a succession of tasty toms beyond compare.

  • Pot up young tomato plants in late spring or early summer when all danger from frost is past for cropping throughout the summer.
  • Plant in full sun.
  • Planting four to six pots shouldn’t take more than an hour.

 

What you need

Plants

  • Four to six (or more) young bush tomato plants – a wide range of different varieties is available from garden centres – including red, yellow and even purple ones. ‘Red Alert’, ‘Pixie’ and ‘Tiny Tim’ are all good small-fruited varieties with excellent flavour. ‘Roma’ is a plum-shaped variety.

Equipment

  • Terracotta, plastic or ceramic pots with drainage holes in the bottom.
  • Soil-based potting compost.
  • Broken crocks for drainage.
  • Trowel.
  • Liquid tomato fertiliser.

 

Instructions

1 Line the containers with broken crocks for drainage. Three-quarters fill with potting compost.

2 Plant the tomatoes, one to a pot, firming them in well and topping up with more compost.

3 Place the pots in a sunny, sheltered site – water well.

4 The tomato compost needs to be kept just moist at all times. Try to water regularly, little and often – an irregular regime could cause the tomatoes to split. Feed regularly with a liquid tomato fertiliser to ensure consistent development of the fruits.

 

Tips

As an alternative to pots, try raising tomatoes in growbags – the advantage here is that the bags come complete with just the right soil conditions. You can grow bush or cordon varieties in growbags. Cordons needing staking and you have to pinch out side shoots to restrict the plant to one main central stem.

 

Notes

For successful tomato growing in containers, make sure you buy an appropriate variety. Check that it is a bush variety AND check that it is suitable for outdoor cultivation – many are bred for growing in greenhouses and won’t thrive outside. Take care, too, to choose as sunny and warm a site as possible.

 

Aftercare

Bush tomato varieties don’t need any pinching out of side shoots. Pick the tomatoes as they ripen. If there are still some green tomatoes on the plants when frost seems likely, pick them all and bring them indoors to ripen.

 

Project taken from Seasonal Garden Ideas.

 

Seasonal Gardens Ideas

Seasonal Garden Ideas £3.99Seasonal Garden Ideas

A beautiful book packed full of easy little projects like this and is available for just £3.99 (plus P&P).

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