Collect autumn leaves
Collect fallen autumn leavesand you can use them to make gardeners’ gold – also known as leafmould, one of the best soil improvers you can’t buy. Go round with a rake collecting your leaves once a week so they don’t build up into too thick a layer on the ground. Lawns covered in leaves struggle to get enough light to [...]
Prune your blackcurrant bushes
Prune blackcurrant bushes to encourage lots more fresh, young growth next year and bumper crops to match. Blackcurrants are among the easiest of fruit to grow, laden with gleaming blackberries to turn into mouthwatering goodies from cheesecakes and ice creams to home-made blackcurrant cordial. They fruit best on two-year-old wood, so to keep your bushes productive start to prune them from [...]
More successful breeding in the UK
Wildlife-friendly gardeners may be encouraging birds to grow longer beaks according to scientists. A team of international researchers found that British great tits have evolved significantly longer beaks than those in mainland Europe, leading to speculation that the phenomenon may be linked to the increasing number of bird feeders in gardens. They studied a population of over 3000 great tits in [...]
Plant of the week: Cornus Alba
Of all the winter-stem dogwoods, Cornus albashines out for its reliability, easy-going nature and sheer brilliant vibrancy. Prune the whole shrub hardback in March and it responds by sending up a thicket of young shoots covered in brightly-coloured bark, revealed in its full glory after the leaves fall at the start of winter. They look particularly gorgeous when placed so [...]
What to do in the garden in November? 2017
November is the season of cosy evenings gathered around the bonfire, toasting marshmallows and watching fireworks sizzle in the cold night air while warming your hands against the flames. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to do in the garden though: so here’s our list of jobs to do this month. General tasks: Gather autumn leaves to make rich, crumbly [...]
Autumn and perennials
Divide congested clumps of perennials during autumn and you’ll give them a new lease of life, rejuvenating them and improving future flowering. Perennials are among the most useful plants in the garden, coming back year after year to give you a long season of brilliant colour for minimum effort. Look out for perennial favourites like hardy geraniums, hardy salvias, astrantias, daylilies, [...]