Landscape Juice

Garden photography - choosing a digital camera

Do you ever get the feeling that being a commercial gardener you are expected to be a master of all trades and skills?

You might be pruning the roses when your client asks if you could mend the leak in the irrigation pipes or re-set the paving stone on the edge of the patio?

I know, it is always hard to stay focused on the job you qualified for and there is always the temptation to take on too much.

Galanthophilia - Snowdrop collecting

Hearing the news that a single Snowdrop bulb has sold for £150.00 makes me wonder if the plant world has gone mad.

This time of year, when the Snowdrop emerges from beneath to brighten a dark and dingy corner with its star like twinkle, you will find many galas and auctions dedicated to selling them.

Aerating your lawn after snow and ice

As it was getting light this morning my daughter excitedly looked through her bedroom window and told us it had snowed.

It is a magical time of year when even the most neglected gardens look wonderful when snow covered and just for a brief moment in the gardening year everyone is equal.

At some stage this winter wonderland must pass us by and return this equality to its normal ornamental order.

Beware late frosts can kill bedding plants

Just as we all began to think that spring had arrived we have been given a shock by old mother nature.

Listen to me she is saying, I am in control, and do not forget it.

Bedding plants, yes bedding plants will be in the garden centres very shortly to tempt you with a bit of subterfuge to buy buy buy. Just remember one thing, buy in haste pay at leisure.

Stolen Garden Ornaments

You only have to turn on the television these days and you are bombarded with programs about antiques and garden statutory.

It all started with the long running and popular Antiques Roadshow but now there is a list of programs as long as your arm.

Of course if these items are valuable to collectors then they are equally valuable to thieves.

Wentworth adds Huxley to its grass species

'Huxlus sytheticus'  perhaps a new strain of grass for Green Keepers to identify as it spreads rapidly across Great Britain.

It is a relatively new strain of grass but it has already proved a hit with Ground staff and committee members alike for its resistance to wear, very low maintenance and its all year round colour.

Of course, what I am describing is not a natural grass but Huxley Golf's All Weather turf product  Premier Tee Turf 2 (PTT2) which has been installed at arguably Golf's second home.

Controlling worms in a lawn

I wish I had been given a pound for every time I had been asked how to deal with worms in amenity turf.

Worm casts are the curse of every ground care professional and amateur alike - they are unsightly and messy and provide a superb seed bed for weed germination.

Of course, if you have a worm problem in the first place you should feel complimented because it means you have a fairly active soil with good aeration and humus content.

Hartlepools toxic waste nightmare at Seaton Carew

One hundred garden owners who live at Seaton Carew in Hartlepool have every right to feel aggrieved after it was discovered that the soil is contaminated with arsenic and lead.

Although Hartlepool Council says the risks are very low, they have received £4million from the government to assist in the operation.

The site was formerly used to treat pit props and it is thought the chemicals were seeped into the soil.

Devenport Park Plymouth, lost gardens to be restored

An old Victorian Rose garden is perhaps enjoying the influence created by the huge success of the Lost Gardens of Heligan after it was awarded a £36,000 grant from the Devonport Regeneration Company Partnership.

Gardening videos on the web

As the Internet evolves into an even faster super highway the content available just gets better and better. Gone are the days of waiting for a page to load and video or even television has become another way of using the net to its full potential.