Landscape Juice

Stuart Marler on networking benefits

Carol Miers interviews a Landscape Juice Member on a mission. Stuart Marler spent his youth at sea but wanting to put down roots led him to landscape gardening. Today he is still unable to resist an adventure so he's growing his own seven year old business and expanding into international waters. He was having breakfast but in spite of the sounds of clearing dishes Stuart managed to explain what drives his company TVG Landscaping. Currently putting a garden to rights that had been contracted out to charlatan gardeners, he is the expert called back in to put things straight: "The... Read more →

Kew Gardens - how to care for a moth orchid

Christopher Ryan, the orchid manager at Kew Gardens demonstrates how to take care of a phalaenopsis or moth orchid. He shows how to cut back the plant to encourage re-flowering and how to re-pot. The matter-of-fact tone of the commentary belies the perfect example of this orchid with the flower heads evenly spaced and of the same height. Award winning orchids should have sepals that are round full and flat and form the shape of an equilateral triangle. Read more →

The customer is always right....or is he?

It's kind of drummed into you at an early stage of business life: The customer IS always right. It is usually the customer - who has no interest in the morality of the message - who utters those immortal words. It is a kind of code, meaning, 'I've got my back against the wall here, I know I'm wrong but I'll play the "I'm always right" card' to turn a negative situation (for them) into a positive one. Do not believe it and don't succumb to playing mind games with your customer. In my experience a customer might have a... Read more →

Autumn and spring lawn care help and advice videos

Lawns: - How To Seed A Lawn Achieving a perfect lawn has baffled and dogged the amateur gardener for years and applying lawn treatments and/or remedial services to grass was a very profitable portion of my garden maintenance business. A lot of the time we were called in because the home owner had botched an operation such as scarifying or spiking, overdosed or under-applied fertiliser or selective weedkiller or was unsure of how to re-seed and top dress their lawn. The internet didn't exist when I first started in business so the only way of learning was to do a... Read more →

Tough questions before starting a garden or landscape business

I've kicked off the first post in an initial 15 week series on How to start and run a gardening or landscape business. There is an awful lot for a potential new business owner to learn and understand before making the leap and the strongest message to get across at this stage is don't let your heart lead your head. Working outside; whether that's in a private or public garden, park, golf course or arboretum, is a wonderful life. There's no better feeling than being at one with nature and watching the seasons come and go or touching and smelling... Read more →

Advice if your tree doesn't come out in leaf

What do you do if a newly planted tree or shrub doesn't come out in leaf during the growing season? It's not uncommon for buds not to burst forth with leaves after any plants is uprooted, moved and replanted but it doesn't necessarily mean that you've lost it. The photo is of a Field Maple - Acer campestre - I lifted, with bare roots, from my woodland in late winter. I planted it into an already prepared hole but the leaves never came out and now, even in late September after the growing season's all but passed, it's still alive.... Read more →

Tips on tying onions: video

If, like me, you've recently harvested your onions, you'll probably be wanting to get them dried and stored as soon as possible? Tying onions serves many purposes; a string of onions looks great in a farmhouse kitchen; saves space and keeps them from taking up valuable veg-rack space and also helps to prevent humidity causing the onions to rot before having a chance to use them. I've just tied all m onions - sorry about the colour quality. Read more →

Can I water my newly laid lawn during a hosepipe ban?

If you've recently had or are planning to have a new lawn laid, you are no doubt wondering and worrying if you are allowed to safeguard your investment during the critical stages of establishment whilst a hosepipe ban is in place? A statement from from United Utilities on the Turf Growers Association (TGA) site: "We have made a concession for the watering in of newly laid turf as per your advice which is used in the UKWIR guidance. As such the use of a hosepipe within the United Utilities region is permitted where there is a contract in place to... Read more →

Tips on using the Google search engine

Google search continues to evolve and it's almost an autonomous artificial intelligence in its own right...but not just yet; it's still just a machine (although a clever one) and it can only compute what it's told to. Searching for a topic is less complicated than it once was but there are little tweaks and tricks you can use to improve the Google search engine's performance. Here's a few you might not of heard of. But don't be alarmed, even Google admit that their own search team only use these features less than 5% of the time. If you conduct a... Read more →

Advice on sealing and caring for sandstone paving

If you have or plan to install sandstone in your garden then you'll be curious to know how's the best way to maintain your product for the long term. The Sandstone sealant topic on the Landscape Juice network discusses what products might be available to seal highly porous sandstone. Alastair Niddrie, Managing Director of - a natural stone consultancy and stone restoration business - offers up some good advice. here are the bullets: You do not need to seal sandstone outside but this is your choice. If you want it to look pristine, then you can use products which will... Read more →