Landscape Juice

September heralds the start of Autumn

I bet we all have out own little events in the year that tell us that Autumn has arrived? Maybe it is the kids going back to school or the Swallows getting ready for the off or maybe the first dew on the golf greens on a Sunday morning?

Weathermen say, that from a meteorological point of view, the start of September is the start of Autumn which will last for the next three months.

A tale of two gardening blogs.

The established world of journalism seems to be falling apart and probably becoming too big for it's boots.

Here I highlight the difference in quality, execution and delivery of two very different approaches to gardening blogs.

The first on the list is a blogger from the US who is clearly passionate about his subject and has managed to roll his passion into a well presented and thoroughly knowledgeable and interesting blog.

The second is a British institution that has seemed of late to have lost it's way and to my mind has failed the gardening public with it's gardening blog.

Chelsea sponsor gives Glee a miss

The official sponsor of the International Chelsea Flower Show has decided that it will not be exhibiting at Glee exhibition this year.

In a statement, Gemma Chappell, Domestic Marketing Manager of Marshalls Plc said "we did notice that the footfall seemed much lower than previous years. To try and clarify this we did ask the event organisers for visitor numbers and profiles but unfortunately they did not provide any"

Pitchcare bemoans turf industry coverage

In a recent post on the Pitchcare website, Dave Saltman - the site owner and turf advisor to Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club - berated newspaper editors for their negative reporting of sports turf facilities.

The piece, 'Bad Press' accused the Daily Telegraph of a 'hatchet job' in their article Ruining our green and pleasant land, although Dave Saltman did not elaborate on why it was inaccurate.

Designing gardens with Google Sketchup

If you posses a creative mind and you feel capable of designing your own garden then Google may have something that you might find useful. The Google Sketchup software is free to download and according to Google, very easy to use.

The great thing for you (and me) is the ability to plan and build several combinations of terrace or pergola and be able to save the file to your computer - no need for rubbers or draughtsman's magic tape for erasing or masking mistakes.

Just save the file 'as' and continue working and if it all gets too much then start a fresh.

British Bee population decimated by Asian Varroa Destructor mite

The UK Honey Bee population is fighting against an Asian parasitic mite called Varroa that has infiltrated the European Bee - Apis mellifera - colonies. It is feared that up to half of the UK's bees could be lost.

Every gardener needs bees to pollinate his plants, trees and shrubs so that reproduction can take place. The spread of Varroosis means that if a colony becomes infected and is not treated it will die out leading to environmental problems and it may upset the ecological balance.

How a man and his 'class' was judged by his car and hedge.

There once was a time when you could put an geographical area and a social class together by the car a man drove and the hedge that he kept.

Those of us who grew up in the fifties (before me) sixties and seventies, may remember that council housing schemes were common and I myself grew up on a council estate (and proud of it).

One thing that stood out on the estate was the uniformity of the hedges. Everyone who had a hedge, bar two out of the thirty five houses, was Privet and you were sure to see a Cortina Mark II as well.

Champignon de Paris Blancs - grow your own

Quite by chance yesterday afternoon, after a very non French MacDonalds burger I popped into Gamm Vert in Villeneuve to get some soft cushions for the outside patio seats.

You know what it is like, you just cannot wander in and not look around and it is great to meander through the isles.

It was with a somewhat great coincidence (after only writing about foraging for mushrooms this morning) that I should spot four packets of grow your own mushroom at the end of the vegetable seeds.

Foraging for Mushrooms this Autumn

Have you noticed that the mornings are becoming very dewy and the atmosphere is changing and giving you that a mellow feeling? Late summer time, just before September is probably my most favourite time of year.

It was always a pleasure to go to work, maybe scarifying a lawn or preparing the soil in readiness of broadcasting grass seed or laying some turf.

One thing I always romantically fantasised about was wandering the woodland with a basket and my trusty dog Hector in search of wild fungi. We get a rather tasty fungi that grows on old Willow and Poplar wood - I wouldn't have dared to eat them until Mr Bertrand our neighbour showed me what to look for.

The Pool Frog given another chance

A species of Frog known to have been around since at least 1000AD has been given protection under Habitats Regulations - it will now become an offence to kill, take, injure, disturb, own or sell, or destroy the resting or breeding places.

The protection for the Pool Frog was announced by Minister for Wildlife, Joan Ruddock on the 15th August and will come into effect on the 1st October 2008.