Landscape Juice

Sedum Autumn Joy

Coming into a world of its own from early September until the first hard frosts is the Sedum 'Autumn Joy'. A strong turgid plant that can flourish in very dry conditions but needing full sun. Too much shade tends to make the stems grow leggy and saggy. It will grace any herbaceous border with its strong colours and it is as reliable as the day is long. It is easy to propagate too. Just break a little away from the root and pot it up and it will multiply very quickly. Apart from the glorious strong colours in late summer... Read more →

Hozelock in crisis!

Is there a genuine problem or has Hozelock conveniently used the current water shortage as a scapegoat for an ailing business? A newsflash alerted me to this item carried by Aylesbury Today HOZELOCK TO CLOSE AYLESBURY FACTORIES BLAMING HOSEPIPE BAN (BREAKING NEWS: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2) AN AYLESBURY firm is closing two factories, it was revealed in the early hours of this morning. A check on Hozelocks registered Press Site has no mention of this so thankyou to Aylesbury Today. How does the water situation affect you or your business, email me Continue reading HOZELOCK TO CLOSE AYLESBURY FACTORIES BLAMING HOSEPIPE... Read more →

Jane Perrone's organic allotment and garden blog

In my quest to find the most useful, informative and well run websites on the net I think I have come up with a little gem with 'Jane Perrone's organic allotment and garden blog' Jane has got the balance right with her blogging and she certainly looks like she knows here onions too. Jane has also been very clever by linking into other blogs which she calls her allotmenteers where you can flick over and see another organic gardeners delights and failures alike. I actually feel with these down to earth sites an interaction that I do not get with... Read more →

Student brings Tokyo craze to UK

A Welsh student, inspired by the eccentric Japanese fad culture has become an importer of tiny plants which are suspended from key rings in tiny plastic pots. Andrew Cargill who is a graphics design student and a fan of entrepreneur Richard Branson, was looking for something to bolster his student loan, and came up with the idea after looking for 'the latest Japanese craze’ on Google. Andrew is hoping that the craze will now catch on in the UK and become a fashion accessory. To assist its ease into mainstream British fad culture he has set up Pocket Plants (now... Read more →

Penstemons

One of my favourite plants in the herbaceous border is the Penstemon. Just generally searching on the subject I came across this very interesting article in the Falkirk Times written by Sandy Simpson of the Polmont Horticultural Society. Browsing through the list of prize-winners at Polmont Horticultural Society’s Annual Show held on 2 September 1853 … no, that’s not a typographical error, I really was looking at the prize list for 1853 … I read that James Don, the gardener at Haypark, had won a prize for his penstemons … a competitive class that doesn’t feature in the Polmont Horticultural... Read more →

The Drinker by David Goode

Many moons ago I was charged with creating a plinth for a Bronze Sculpture. I wasn't told exactly what it was until I arrived at the property in Haslemere Surrey, but I knew it was quite expensive. When I first laid my eyes on 'The Drinker' I was bowled over. The sculptor David Goode has a reputation that goes before him and has had a glittering career although still only 40 years of age. Here is an extract from his biography on the Goodeart website. "In 1988 David became a portrait sculptor at the London Studios of Madame Tussauds. At... Read more →

BBC National Village Show

There is still time to enter your prize vegetables or best baked Apple Pie into the BBC National Village Show. Whilst some regional events have already been held you have a chance if you live in Wales or Yorkshire. The two remaining heats are: WALES REGIONAL HEAT SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER, DYFFRYN GARDENS NORTH REGIONAL HEAT SUNDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER, NOSTELL PRIORY With the Grand Final taking place on Monday 2nd October at Highgrove the country seat of Prince Charles. The show is presented by Alan Titchmarsh and more details click here Read more →

The importance of garden worms

Any garden will tell you how important it is to have good aeration in your garden and it is something that can not be achieved properly without the use of worms. Wormeries have become immensely popular and in time I think it is something that all gardeners should be prepared to consider. Not only for aeration but recycling in general. Almost anything organic can be recycled using worms and the bi product hugely beneficial for the garden. The re cycle works website offers a rich seam of information regarding buying worms, building or buying a wormery and issues concerning their... Read more →

Autumn lawn care tips

Your lawn is tired and extremely parched after the record temperatures of the summer. Getting it back into healthy shape can be frustrating, time consuming and expensive but a job that has to be done. For the domestic gardener finding the right advice is hard and extremely frustrating. Anyone you talk to will seem to conflict with the last one but it is fair to say that any one piece of advice, will not be viable or relevant to all lawns as conditions, budget and geography affect many things. Sisis, a name that everyone in the commercial grass care business... Read more →

The Garden Writers Guild

Trawling through the web I chanced on a visit to the Garden Writers Guild. I am afraid, I have to put their website into the 'duffers' category - it does not inspire me nor reflect the level of creativity that I would expect from a garden broadcaster or journalist. The vivid colours conjure up a feeling of illiteracy and violent head banging you might expect at a rave, yet the calmer, more thoughtful news page, is serene. I can picture a garden writer, sitting at a bureau with a lit pipe, slippers on, listening to radio 4 with old faithful... Read more →