What to do in the garden in October 5
The trees are burnishing red and gold, there’s a nip in the air and the smell of bonfires on a blustery wind: autumn is here and it’s time to tuck the garden up snug before winter arrives. It’s one of the busiest times of the gardening year, so here’s a list of the jobs you can be getting on with: [...]
European Tree of the Year
Vote now for your favourite tree and it could go forward to stand against trees throughout Europe for the coveted European Tree of the Year title. The shortlisted trees have been chosen for Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and now it’s over to you as the public have the final say in which ones are crowned Tree of the Year [...]
A boost of cheerful colour for spring
Plant bulbs now to naturalise in lawns and long grass for a quick and easy way to add a boost of cheerful colour in spring, while also providing valuable early nectar for the season’s first pollinating insects. Choose a site near the edge of the lawn, or under a tree where you can allow the grass to grow a little longer [...]
Celebrating your apple harvest
Celebrate your apple harvest at one of the many apple days happening all over the country throughout September and October. Look out for apple festivals at gardens, orchards, village centres and National Trust properties across the country. The biggest of them all is the Apple Festival on October 13thand 14that the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale Farm in Kent, home to [...]
Planting wallflowers? Yes!
It’s time to plant wallflowers ready for them to spring into brilliantly colourful flower from spring onwards. Sweetly-scented wallflowers have been a favourite for centuries, prized for their robust constitution and their generous flower displays. They’re incredibly good value: buy them now in bare-root bundles from the garden centre and plant them straight away in beds, borders and containers. Wallflowers appear [...]
Plant of the Week: Solidago
Colours this late in the season are look-at-me bright: a last ditch flourish to remind you how fabulous a plant can look before you sink into the sepia tones of winter. Solidago is one of the flashiest of them all, a fireworks explosion of yellow that erupts from a hot-coloured exotic border like so many rockets. Upright and sturdy, with [...]