Gardening Explained

Get to grips with simple techniques and you'll be able to get the most from your garden. It's really easy once you what's what!

Learn the Lingo
It's easily taken for granted, but your soil needs a good feed if it's going to produce blooming spring and summer displays. Most soils need improving, and they're a greedy lot. You need to dig in organic matter such as garden manure or compost and give it a good helping or fertiliser.

Dig in plenty of organic matter on newly laid borders and beds, and for beds already planted, top with a generous layer of mulch in the winter. Add fertiliser just before sowing or planting.

Fertilisers are concentrated plant foods and an essential supplement to bulky manures. A good inorganic fertiliser is Growmore. Some plants are fussier than others and roses like their own special rose fertiliser which contains more potash and magnesium than a general purpose feed. For most gardens, compound fertiliser, which has a good mix of all nutrients, hits the mark for most other uses.

Many plants are able to scale the heights without support, but others will be crying out for help. There are two types of plants that need a helping hand: climbers and varieties with weak stems.

Trellis is one of the most attractive supports for climbers such as clematis and honeysuckle. Fix these lattice work wood frames on to walls and fences or erect free standing panels.

To make more of a feature of your climbing plants, you could choose a permanent structure such as a pergola, arch, gazebo or pillar. The plants you grown on them will probably need tying in to the structure at intervals, but they will have free range to spread at will.

Use bamboo canes for individual plants. Delphiniums will appreciate this sort of support. Tie in the stems with soft garden twine at intervals.

Removing Lawn Weeds
Dig out persistent weeds before they make themselves at home in your lawn. No one minds the odd daisy, but it's best to root out the less attractive visitors once you spot them.

1. Use a hand trowel to dig out perennial weeds. Remove every bit of the root, especially the long tap root of dandelions.
2. You will have a hole in your lawn where the weed had settled. Level this by adding a little potting compost, which will also enrich the soil. Mix it in well.
3. Sprinkle the grass seed over the bare patch. Mix it into the soil surface to ensure it is evenly spaced and just covered with soil. Water with a fine hose.
4. To speed up germination and keep the birds off, spread a sheet of clear polythene over the patch and peg in place. Remove this once the seedlings start to emerge.


Pot Up Rooted Cuttings
Root cuttings you've been nurturing on the windowsill should now be in prime condition for potting.

1. Remove cuttings from their pot to see how well rooted they are. If a strong root system fills the pot then it's ready, steady, go!
2. Gently ease the cuttings apart. Don't worry if some of the roots get broken, as long as each cutting finishes with its own rootball.
3. Replant each cutting in multi purpose compost in a 7.5cm (3in) pot. Push the compost down around the roots and water well.
4. Keep the plants well watered in a frost free greenhouse or other warm, light position. Feed weekly after about six weeks. Plant outside once all risk of frost is past.

Perk up Your Pergola
It's hard to beat seating under a perfumed filled pergola in the summer. If you can make an Ikea bed, you'll have no problems assembling these. You can buy kits from a garden centre. But you will need someone to help you position the pieces plus a few tools - spirit level, hammer and drill.

Once in position, you can either woodstain it with a natural colour or paint it a bright cheerful colour. Smaller, but just as pretty when covered in roses are arches that lead from one part of the garden to another.

What To Grow
When it's been built, create an attractive feature under your pergola using pots and grasses. Striking blue-grass Elymus magellanicus looks lovely in terracotta pots.

In summertime, when most climbing plants come into their own. For a summer stunner, it's hard to beat Clematis 'Albatross'.

If you don't want your pergola to look bare in autumn and early winter choose a winter flowering honeysuckle, like the creamy white and fragrant flowers of Lonicera and standishii.


Container Dressing
You'll already have planted your spring bulbs, but there's nothing to stop you smartening their pots by covering the earth with gravel, flint or silvery stones. It looks stunning and stops the squirrels helping themselves to lunch!

Brighten up your garden

Okay, so when it comes to the time when it's chilly outside it does not mean your garden can´t look cheery. Spend a few hours potting up winter flowers and you cna enjoy them from the warmth of indoors all through the winter months.

It's a good idea to place containers in a sheltered spot away from the wind. Stack them and they will also be safe from ground frost.

Universal Pansies are the number one choice for winter, and pot them, forking in plenty of nutrients into a quality potting compost and add a slow release fertiliser.

If the weather is frosty, move pots into the garage or shed to protect them. Terracotta and ceramic pots can crack if the compost inside them freezes, so protect them with a layer of bubble wrap.

Choice plants for winter pots in sheltered areas are the dense purple Aster x frikartii `Monch`, but once the frost sets in take the post indoors. The one plant that can survive, frost, rain and snow though are Cyclamen coum - they thrive in the coldest weather conditions.

And if you want a good climber when every other plant in your garden has gone to sleep, your best best is Clematis cirrhosa ´Freckles´, which is pale yellow with brown specks - perfect for that dull fence.

Herb Gardens: A Must Have!

Whether your garden is 10 acres in the country, or you have to make do with a window box in the city centre, herbs ought to be at the top of your plant wish list. Not only are they useful in the kitchen, but they are among the most decorative plants in the garden, and often the most fragrant!

A herb garden should be designed with as much thought as any other part of your garden. The foliage and flowers of herbs are beautiful and varied, and will provide lots of interest and colour right through the year. Even their seed heads are attractive to look at and fabulous in the frost.

If you have th space plant a separate herb garden, arrange the herbs in regular shaped beds, edged in the box with brick paths between. As the herbs grow, they will spill over the box, so that as you pass by you'll experience the fabulous aromas.

Herbs are also extremely easy to grow. There are annual varities, like coriander that need to be grown each year from seed. But the vast majority are perennials, which will come up year after year, without much interference from you, and supply you with years of culinary pleasure.

If you are short of time, or just can't wait to start your collection, pick up pots of herbs from the supermarket to plant out straightaway in sunny spots.

In hot weather, herbs will be particularly thirsty, so give them a good watering in the late afternoon as well as first thing in the morning.

Herb Growing Tips
If you start from seed on the windowsill, rotate the tray each morning, so they all get a fair share of light.

Water the compost and not the seedlings every morning to stop them rotting. Thin out the seedlings using tweezers if the tray gets overcrowded. Pot up in compost and don't press or firm it too much as you want air to reach the roots. Choose a shallow pot or the plant will concentrate on growing deep roots rather than a healthy plant.

Lettuce Leaf Basil
Annual
This Italian basil with its crinkly leaves is just the ticket for salads and making pesto sauce. Its easily grown from seed. Water in the mornings; it's not keen on a soaking throughout the day.

Garlic Chives
Perennial
Evergreen, not difficult to grow and looks stunning in pots. This chive has mild garlic onion flavoured leaves while the flowers taste of sweet garlic. Both are good in salads and make attractrive garnishes. These are easily grown from seed, but be sure to plant out in a sunny spot, in well drained soil.

Buckler Leaf Sorrel
Hardy perennial
The compact leavesof the sorrel have a sharp lemon flavour. This herb is a great addition to salad or use the older leaves to make a sauce for chicken or fish. This herb loves the great outdoors, so plant out as soon as it's established. It will lose its vigour and flavour on the windowsill. Grown easily from seed.

Broad Leaved Sage
Perennial
This evergeen and aromatic herb with grey-green leaves displays purple flowers in summer. It prefers a sunny spot. It has an affinity with meat, especially pork and poultry, but is just as divine with a tomato salad. You might get better results from this herb if you grow from cuttings

Small Gardens: Transformation Tips

The small garden problem:
How to turn a nightmare of a tiny overgrown garden, dominated by a shed over run with climbing plants and filled with junk, into a lush haven for you and your family?

Small garden solution: Determine exactly what you have to work with, design your layout, choose your plants and most importantly get the area cleared before!

Small is beautiful!
The best thing about small gardens is that they are often secluded or private, or can be made to be with climbing plants (my personal favourite). They probably won't have grass to cut or flower beds to weed. Most of the planting can be in pots which can be shifted around as you like.

Buried treasure:
Turning out your shed can produce a heap of 'junk' and assorted hoarded wood, ripe for imaginative recycling. An old wooden palette can be set down alongside the shed to make an instant deck area. Poles at each corner with cross bars fixed to them at the top, to create a pergola! If you have a scrambling bush or vine, untangle and tie to a frame for support, to eventually create a green canopy. If you really want to get sensual and relaxed you could introduce a mattress, bells and wind chimes for a calming effect - the perfect place to practice Yoga!

To distract attention from an ugly concrete floor, line the space with big pot plants, this will create a nice feeling in the space and take the eyes away from the floor, also a good talking point.

Do not barricade small areas by choosing upright plants vs spreading plants. You can always trim back your plants if they get a bit big for their roots ;)
Well worn garden tools and even an old barrow from the shed can be lined up in a proud row to create a gallery of garden antiques, put summer bedding plants in pots beneath the climbers and foliage plants.

Plant up containers with plae flowers such as Verbena and Cosmos which has a fluffy fern like foliage which can lighten dark areas.

If you want to create a harmonious contemporary look with your windows then introduce hanging baskets consisting of white and yellow flowers. For a full, soft focus, use Tolmiea, which is often called 'The Mother of Thousands', plant, and Plectranthus, both of which have attractive trailing variegated foliage. If you want some drama then add Ophiopogon negrescens.

Tip: Add water retaining crystals to the compost, they turn to a jelly which keeps the compost moist. Add pellets of plant food at the same time. They release their nutrients slowly into the compost over the growing period.

Weed Control: In a small garden you may be lucky and only have a few patches that need constant weed control but if you really do not want to deal with any weeds then to create a pathway, for example. Cover with special weed supressing membrane. It stops weeds from getting the light and water they need to thrive. A layer of gravel can then sit on top, if you want edging then add this higher than the gravel and stones will not be kicked into your planting areas.

The Edible Garden:

1. Strawberries: Put stones in the bottom of pots to improve drainage, add compost up to the first holes, wrap each strawberry plant in paper to protect it, thread them through the lower holes from the inside.
2. To ensure even watering, drill holes in a short length of plastic pipe, stand it in the pot and continue planting
3. Fill the pipe with gravel, set two or three more plants in the top of the pot. Cover the surface with gravel. Put in a sunny position and water thoroughly, via the gravel pipe
4. Water regularly, then enjoy the fruits of your labours - with cream!

Gardening, Presents & The Credit Crunch

We all know about the credit crunch and effects it has on the economy and of course this affects our spending habits.

With Christmas just around the corner there are many families out there struggling to find good/cheap gifts to give to family and friends.

I like to give presents because I enjoy the pleasure I get from giving to a friend or family member, because of the current economic climate I have been finding ways to give presents that won't break the bank.

I came up with an idea of herbs in a terracotta pot for my friends who like to cook or do gardening, rather than giving something I just bought because it looked nice I decided I could get away with giving these presents because there was also some love and labour that went into it Smiley



I have taken images of the pot I made for a friend today.

I included lemon thyme, thyme, mint and rosemary, in a separate pot I potted some parsley seeds which will grow slowly over the Christmas period.

What do you think a good present or not?

Take our poll and vote about this christmas gardening gift

Even better why don't you come and join our forum and discuss your Christmas credit crunch present ideas!