Landscape Juice

It is official - the internet overtakes printed media

Using the internet is now officially as popular as reading a newspaper, says Ofcom. Some 41% of people say they now access news on websites and apps, up significantly from 32% in 2013. Forty percent say that they read newspapers to follow the news, which is unchanged year on year. Also, the internet has overtaken the radio (36%) to catch-up on the news. Sixteen to twenty-four year olds are driving the surge in consuming news on the internet or apps, with 60% doing so in 2014, up from 44% last year. Some 45% of 16-24s said that websites or apps... Read more →

Propagating Cleome hassleriana from softwood cuttings

I kind of discovered Cleome late in life. Cleome hassleriana (spider plant) is a plant that tolerates dry conditions, therefore it's a favourite here in south west France. If you're keen you can grow Cleome from seed and if you're lazy or don't have the facility, you can purchase plants. However you can also easily grow Cleome from soft/semi-hardwood cuttings. I'm so surprised that there appears to be no advice on this anywhere. Of course to take a cutting, you need a plant in the first place. I bought three small Cleome in mid-April and planted them directly into soil... Read more →

Using Twitter to gauge business activity and failures

Over the weekend I decided to conduct a little experiment. I've been on Twitter for quite a while so I thought check out some of my oldest buddies, right at the very beginning of my list. I then un-followed Twitter buddies I no longer considered to be of relevance to me. Un-clicking some of my list was easy. I knew immediately that the account I was following no longer held an appeal for me. It also became apparent that some of the people I was following had either never followed me back or had un-followed me long ago. For some... Read more →

Why not join the Great British Bee Count and help save our bees

Why not join the Great British Bee Count and help build a nationwide picture of bees’ health. There’s currently no accurate picture of the condition of bees in the UK. We know that bees are dying, going hungry and becoming homeless. One of the UK's buggest problems is the loss of vital habitat - with 97% of wildflower meadows have disappeared in the past 60 years. Already more than 20 species of bee have become extinct - and more than a quarter are under threat. We can all do something. TBees provide an essential link in our food chain -... Read more →

Modern deck - landscape ideas

Modern Deck by Boston Architects & Designers Flavin Architects Read more →

Time-lapse - record your garden's evolution

Do you hate leaving your garden for any length of time when the plants are in active growth? How many gardeners, every morning make a coffee and walk into their garden or terrace before I do anything else, look at their plants to see how they are doing? Some days it's possible that some plants have put on several centimetres of growth overnight. Thunberbia alata (Black Eyed Susan) for example, grow rapidly. Perhaps putting on 5cm or more in a single day. Thnubergia are also known as the clock vine because their twinning shoots only spiral around their support in... Read more →

The role of Kew Gardens during World War 2

Although not a primary target, Kew was bombed during the 2nd World War. Plants, library books and scientists were sent to safe areas of the Kingdom so as to protect Kew's priceless and irreplaceable plant collection. Whilst male gardeners were re-directed to other aspects of the war effort, many women were drafted in to keep Kew Gardens operational. A depletion of scientists and big changes at Kew meant big challenges. Kew wasn't just a major plant collection and many important experiments were done there to find ways of using plants and plant material in aspects of material production. One example... Read more →

Insects set to become part of our food chain

Flies and maggots might seem a nuisance and unwanted visitors to our dinner tables but in the not too distant future they could become an important part of our natural food chain. It is widely accepted that the best eggs you can eat are from free range chickens. Free range birds wander around picking up flies, insects, grubs and larvae. It's all part of natural food production. With estimates predicting that the world needs to increase its food production by 70 percent by 2050 in order to serve a global population of nine billion, insect farming on a commercial scale... Read more →