Leaves: the final bounty of the gardening year
The falling autumn leaves bring the final bounty of the gardening year: the raw materials for lovely, crumbly leafmould, one of the gardener’s best-kept secrets. Many people simply burn their autumn leaves on bonfires or dispose of them in the green waste, not realising they are throwing away one of the most precious resources in the garden. Leafmould is nature’s [...]
Dwarf winter-flowering irises
Plant a pot full of dwarf iris for a fabulous early spring display – even sooner if you bring them indoors to ‘force’, encouraging them to flower out of season. Dwarf winter-flowering irises are among the very first spring bulbs to appear and are particularly good for pots, where their intricately marked flowers and delicate fragrance can be appreciated more easily than when [...]
Install an insect hotel
Install an insect hotel in your garden to provide a sheltered spot for wildlife to take cover for the cold winter months. Gardens are increasingly important habitats for wildlife, but fulfilling their potential depends on gardeners doing their bit to make their garden more welcoming. Here are just a few ways you can help the little creatures that depend on you [...]
Lift dahlia tubers
Lift dahlia tubers as soon as the first frost strikes to store them safely, ready for you to plant them again next year and enjoy their spectacular flowers for another season. Dahlias cannot tolerate prolonged low temperatures or – worse – soggy, cold soil, so they need to spend winter somewhere dry and frost-free. However don’t be too quick to [...]
Slugs and Snails
Most of the commonly-used home remedies against slug and snail attacks don’t work, according to recent research by the Royal Horticultural Society. In the first trial of its kind, the RHS sowed 108 lettuces in a series of pots and raised beds at its John MacLeod Field Research Facility in its flagship garden at Wisley, Surrey. Each group of lettuce [...]
Helping earthworms
The Wildlife Trusts want your help in a survey to find out how gardeners are helping earthworms – and there’s a beehive compost bin up for grabs if you take part! Enter your answers to the simple survey at www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk before 21 October and you could bag the top prize. The competition marks World Earthworm Day on 21 October, an [...]