Landscape Juice

Autumn lawncare tips and advice

Phew, what a scorcher. The Met Office promised us a good summer and I think, generally, it has been good and mainly dry, what a bonus to be able to enjoy warm sunshine right up until the beginning of November. If you have not already started tackling your lawn renovation programme you had better start pronto before the soil starts to cool down. Germination of grass seed can take as little as ten days to two weeks when the soil is still radiant, but as the day length gets shorter and the night air cooler, the chances of getting grass... Read more →

Plant Virginia Creeper for dependable Autumn colour

I have had rather a busy week and struggled this morning to find something topical to write about. About five minutes ago I popped out to get a breath of fresh air in the extremely warm Autumn sunshine - it was there it hit me. I bought a small Parthenocissus tricuspidata Veitchii in April 2007 at about 75cm in height. My idea was to cover over the end wall of our Gite which is covered in rather a drab grey rendering. I couldn't have begun to imagine it two and a half years later absolutely smothering the wall. The leaves... Read more →

Read Hort Week magazine online for free

Do you pay to subscribe to Hort Week to be delivered to your door? It might be time to ditch your subscription and read the magazine online for free. Now you can read all of the in-depth content that is in the magazine and not miss a thing - I wonder if they will link to the pages? Higher printing costs, postal strikes and tumbling advertising means that magazines have to find a solution for the future and as search engine technology improves, these interactive magazine formats are become more compelling, both for advertisers and publishers. I recently mentioned that... Read more →

Daniel Thurlow talks to Landscape Juice

I spent fifty five minutes on the phone to Glee show director, Daniel Thurlow yesterday in a conversation about the show's future. Dan was refreshingly frank about its [Glee] perceived failings, put his side of the story and listened to what I had to say. The conversation started with an apology. Glee say that they have rather neglected the blogging corner of journalism and it is something they now intend to address. Indeed, do a Google search on 'Glee review 2009', it is not Hort Week, Garden Forum or Landscaper that returns the results - chances are, Landscape Juice will... Read more →

A roundup of horticulture news

The 2010 landscape and horticultural show scene has been hotting up recently and it appears that two heavyweights, Glee and new kid on the block Garden Expo, are shaping up for a straight head to head fight. Had an email from Glee show director, Daniel Thurlow, who wrote, "I have been reading your website with interest and am interested to talk more about your views on Glee, share mine with you. I am always open to feedback about the show and ways we can make the event stronger." Talking to Dan this week and look forward to what he has... Read more →

The Hard Landscaping Show is filling up

Event organiser Steven Callaghan tells me that they are launching the Hard Landscaping Show (HLS) Landscaping Project of the Year this week. Landscapers wishing to enter must pre-register for the event and attend the show to be in with a chance of winning. The awards will be split into job value categories to ensure that it is just not the largest or the job with the most lavish budget that wins. Talking of the imminent awards launch, Steven Callaghan said, "There will be actual prizes plus a range of "medals" in RHS style and all entrants as well as the... Read more →

Should business be anonymous?

The Landscape Juice philosophy is simple - be honest, yourself and remain transparent in your business. All of our network members are encouraged to put their full names above their business doors so that potential clients can make a measured judgement when choosing to engage or not. Sadly, some businesses are reluctant to follow this route - imagine Helen Gazeley's anger and frustration after a call to her local council. By the time I got off the phone I was furious. Not only had the employee at Shepway District Council shown no real understanding of my problem, but we’d had... Read more →

Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor Scheme

I notice that the Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor Scheme (AAAC) is having a rethink and has launched a consultation. The AAAC hopes to raise awareness, increase membership and make it more accessible to smaller companies. I don't usually follow tree surgery that closely and it is not the fact that the AAAC are doing this review that interests me, but more about why they are doing it? The AA says that their Approved Contractor Scheme's principal aims are: • To provide a credible industry benchmark for arboricultural contracting • To provide a highly desirable status for companies to achieve that... Read more →

Mulching trees and shrubs with horse manure

Did you get out and enjoy the warm Indian Summer sun over the weekend? I did and spent all of Sunday afternoon wheeling manure about - I worked it out that I probably walked about two miles to and from the manure pile. In February of this year I lifted ten self seeded Acer campestre from our woodland and replanted them as an avenue on the second track that leads up to our farmhouse. Apart from a few buckets of water as the leaves were opening, I didn't really have to do anything and all but one established (the one... Read more →

Thank you to my advertisers

I want to interrupt my normal service for a moment to thank my Landscape Juice advertisers for supporting the site - without their help, the wine cellar would remain empty. No seriously, if you have enjoyed the last three and a half years of Landscape Juice, please consider using one of the companies who have helped pay my wages whilst bringing gardening and landscaping tips and advice as well as latest consumer and industry news and opinion. Graeme Mann runs BGS domestic and commercial garden maintenance services based in Berkshire. BGS covers Hampshire, Berkshire ans Surrey. BGS is a member... Read more →