Landscape Juice

Surviving on a landscape gardener's wage

Are you thinking of branching out into the landscaping and horticulture world? Do you fancy a stress free life working in the great outdoors? Thinking of giving up a well paid office job to fulfil your ambition? Before you take the leap, if you do nothing else, there's two things you should do. Firstly buy my ebook How to start a landscaping and gardening business and secondly this thread on the Landscape Juice Network: Household income - are you the responsible one? The thread has only been going for a few days but already there's been a variety of open... Read more →

Is George Monbiot a climate change denier?

I think the climate change debate has a problem and it's nothing to do with the climate. It doesn't matter whether it's a debate, marketing, PR, television or whatever, if any one entity involved becomes popular or famous then focus tends to shift away from the subject and the personality becomes the centre of attention. In terms of the global climate change debate, George Monbiot has become the game changer. So revered has Monbiot become by his followers that I fear if he suddenly said the world was flat that his supporters would believe him and fail to rationalise his... Read more →

1,250 miles to Scotland: the route

It's exactly four weeks today when I set off on my epic journey from here in south west France all the way up to John O'Groats in Scotland. I set off on the 1st October 2012. I'm extremely excited as well as a little apprehensive. It's not until I've travelled the first day that I will be sure if my daily 120 mile target is realistic. I hope to do the whole journey in 10-14 days. If I fail to meet my daily targets it will have a knock-on effect and put in jeopardy the entire project. Once the start... Read more →

Will El Niño disrupt Europe's weather this winter?

The temperature of the Pacific Ocean is set to rise as we approach the end of the year. Don't worry though. This isn't the result of global warming but the re-occurrence of a natural phenomonen called El Niño - or El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to give it its full title. What is El Niño? El Niño (EN) is characterized by a large scale weakening of the trade winds and warming of the surface layers in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Niño events occur irregularly at intervals of 2-7 years, although the average is about once every... Read more →