News - Page 84
Gardeners are getting a new weapon in the war against slugs and snails as the RHS launches a year-long research project into how best to tackle our no.1 garden menace.
Slugs and snails have been top of the RHS’s annual list of worst garden pests for seven of the last 10 years. The Society is now testing six different control strategies to find out which treatment – or combination of treatments – works best.
Among the anti-slug measures they’ll be testi...
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Thin carrots you sowed earlier this spring – but this year, instead of following the traditional routine of removing all the seedlings to leave those remaining at their final 5-8cm spacings, try taking a more relaxed approach.
However sparingly you sow, you'll always get a few seedlings coming up in clumps, or too close to their neighbours. But instead of pinching them out, let them grow on. You'll find that the very smallest get overwhelmed anyway by t...
Forest gardening, or permaculture as it's more technically known, is really getting gardeners talking.
Instead of replanting your crops annually and clearing the ground after harvesting, in forest gardens the bulk of the planting is permanent, keeping soil undisturbed. It's a sustainable way of growing that's more in tune with the natural world, and less work for you.
In forest gardening, trees, shrubs and perennials are planted in layers, mimicking th...
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Flaming June and the garden is really starting to get into its stride – in fact you may have to speed up to keep up with it! Here are a few of the jobs you can be getting on with this month.
General tasks:
- Tackle perennial weeds as soon as they appear, forking out bindweed, couch grass and ground elder by the roots.
- Lay leaky hosepipes around the feet of your plants and link to the tap via a timer for automated wat...
More than 80% of us have a hanging basket habit, according to new research into our favourite choices for summer bedding displays.
The survey, by seed merchants Thompson & Morgan, found red was the most popular colour for basket bedding, with nearly a quarter of hanging basket lovers using it in their display. Purple was next, with pink the third choice. Least popular were white-flowered plants. Most gardeners use two or three colours in each basket, with...
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From bold blooms the size of tea plates to delicate nodding bells adorning a garden arch, clematis are versatile and colourful climbers that no garden should be without. Whether left to clamber-up a trellis panel to cover walls and fences or trained over a pergola, clematis are a wonderfully diverse family with varieties to choose for flowers in every season of the year.
Large-flowered hybrids are some of the most impressive, coming into their own during the...
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Get the kids into the garden this half term with a host of special offers, events, workshops and activities as we’re celebrating National Children’s Gardening Week this week!
Start with a visit to the garden centre here in Thirsk where we’ve got a packed week of fun activities to keep them busy all day, from colouring activities to plant hunts, pot painting and planting and sowing workshops where they can really get their hands dirty.
They...
Slug barriers at the ready: Britain’s gardens are in for an invasion this summer according to experts predicting an unusually high number of our least favourite gastropods.
Researchers at conservation charity Buglife have predicted that the record warm temperatures this winter means slugs have not retreated for their usual period of hibernation, but have carried on breeding instead. At the same time populations of natural predators like hedgehogs are dwindlin...
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Dust off your best frock – it’s time for the gardening world’s premier event of the year! The RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens this week and we can’t wait to see what the world’s best designers have come up with this year. Expect groundbreaking designs, superb plants, drama and above all glamour from the moment it starts this Tuesday.
This year peonies are set to be the stars of the show, their blowsily romantic flowers featuring on many gardens and in the Great...
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Have a go at growing greenhouse cucumbers and you too can enjoy the slim, elegant, dark green cukes you buy in the shops.
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The Chelsea Fringe begins at the weekend, a few days before its world-famous big sister, the Chelsea Flower Show, opens its doors. The Fringe offers an antidote to all that glamour with a little quirky and alternative horticulture of its own.
Last year more than 350 Fringe events took place all over the UK, plus a few other countries too. Nearly all the events are free and volunteer-run: they range from poetry recitals and art installations, to more off...
Count your earthworms and help Oxford scientists find out more about the soil that keeps your plants healthy in the latest ‘citizen science’ project from environmental charity Earthwatch.
All you need to do is dig two holes somewhere in your garden where there are at least two different habitats – say, lawn and flowerbed - and count how many earthworms you find. Then fill in the simple online survey to record your results.
Researchers will use your res...
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