Category: Gardening

Now that the daffodils are all but faded and we head into the warmer months, it’s time to give your garden that spring clean you’ve been meaning to do for the past few weeks. To start with shape your hedges to give them nice crisp lines. This is best done before you mow ur lawn, so any fallen leaves will be picked up by the lawnmower. Take a look at your flower borders. Go gentle with the weeding as there may be summer bulbs starting to emerge. Trim borders to give them sharp clean edges. Flowers pots filled with pansy will add an instant splash of colour whilst you wait for your summer flowers to bloom. Finish off with a fresh cut of your lawn.  

Now your garden has had a spring clean, it’s time to clean and position your garden furniture ready for daytime socialising and relaxing summer evenings ahead. 

For some of us, we want to grow flowers but for others, it’s our dream to provide ourselves with our very own, homegrown vegetables. After our previous discussion on all, you need to grow a flower garden. This post is going to be all about all you need for a vegetable garden!

Greenhouse
After our experience growing vegetables in our garden, we have discovered it is so much easier to grow them in a greenhouse. We have only invested in a small greenhouse but it has been a lifesaver, and you can already see the difference in our plants.

Research Your Plants
When you are wanting to grow vegetables in your garden, you really need to research them. Some will grow underground and require limited care. Whereas others may need a trellis to climb up and lots of watering and sunlight. Knowing these facts about your crops will help you to provide them with the best location.

Calendar
A must-have for any vegetable garden is a calendar. This is perfect to help you to know when to plant them in your greenhouse, when to move them outside and when to begin harvesting. With all crops having different timescales, it can get fairly confusing. Having a calendar especially for your plants will help you to stay organised.

Peg Labels
Now, this may seem silly, but I can’t tell you how many times we have forgotten what we planted where. With all crops looking fairly similar when they begin growing, it is important to know what is where. By investing in simple peg labels you will know where all your crops are and what stage they are at. Ensuring you do not confuse any of them.

These are 4 things you need to do and should consider having before you start your vegetable garden. Keep yourself organised and growing vegetables will be a breeze.

In our children’s lives, it is important that we allow them to experience many different things, this includes gardening. But, it can be difficult to get children to sit down and take part in gardening with it being a slow process. But it is important for children to truly learn about gardening and where fruit, vegetable, and flowers truly come from. So, how can we get children more involved in gardening?

While it is easy to get children involved in gardening, with near enough all children enjoying getting messy, it can be difficult to keep them engaged. The best way to keep children engaged is by keeping it fun and keeping them involved. The moment you start telling them they can’t do something, whether it be because it is dangerous or you don’t want them to do it wrong, they will lose interest. To keep children engaged they need to be involved, not just watching. Parents need to understand that children learn through doing, so maybe the first time they will drop compost all over the floor but it isn’t the end of the world. You have more and they are learning from their accidents.

If there are parts that your children really shouldn’t take part in, another option is setting them up an activity. Bring in some home learning worksheets. These will allow your children to write down or draw everything they have learned. This process will help them to remember what they were doing with you, whilst still keeping them engaged in the gardening aspect.

With children, it is important that you keep them engaged no matter what they are doing. All they want to be is involved in the project. If you allow that to happen their engagement will stay and you will see they learn more every day.

Most of us have our very own gardens, with some of us wanting to take the leap into creating our very own flower garden. But what are some things that we need to start creating our own flower garden?

A Plan
Firstly, you should always begin with a plan. Do not just head out buying loads of seeds, plants, and tools. You should always create a plan before you begin. This will help you to see what area you are creating into a flower garden. As well as what flowers you may wish to purchase. Helping you to look into colour choices and what will work well together.

Hand Tools
One of the first items you should purchase when creating a flower garden is your very own hand tools. This makes creating your area and planting the flowers easier. Some good hand tools to invest in are a fork, trowel, and rake.

Seeds or Bulbs
You will also need to decide whether you want to plant seeds or bulbs, as well as then going to purchase them. They both produce very beautiful plants, but the amount of care each one needs differs. You will need to decide your preference before purchasing any items.

Raised or In-ground
You will also need to decide if you are creating a raised flower garden or one in-ground. Both of these will require different tools which need to be purchased. For example one in-ground you will need a larger shovel to help you create the border you require. Whereas for a raised border you will need to purchase items to create this border. Including wooden panels, weed control, and compost.

These are some of our needed items for anyone who is planning to create a flower garden.

When people think about gardening, their first thought is always flowers, plants, and greenery. But this is not the case. You do not need to be a flowery person to enjoy gardening. Another aspect of gardening you could consider is a wildlife garden. Today, we are going to share with you some ways to make your garden animal friendly, attracting wildlife to your garden.

Bird Feeder
A bird feeder is an excellent way to attract wildlife, in particular birds, to your garden. A bird feeder can be made from objects at home, such as old milk bottles or other plastic bottles. Alternatively, you can purchase these from local shops and garden centers. These help to not only bring wildlife to your garden but also care for them.

Bug Hotel
Another option is to simply create a bug hotel. Again these can either be homemade or brought from your local shop or garden center. But these will provide a home for smaller insects that may not survive the colder months.

Bird Bath
Another option is a simple birdbath. This provides an area for birds to not only have a wash but gain a water source. This water source will also attract other wildlife who may be struggling to find a source of water when they need one.

Flowers
I know we said that flowers were not always needed, but if you are someone who likes flowers but also wants wildlife in your garden, then you are ok. Flowers will also attract wildlife to your garden due to the bright colours.

These are some of our favourite and cheap ways to bring wildlife into our gardens. Remember gardening doesn’t always need to be about flowers. It can also be about protecting our wildlife, helping them to survive.

With the looks of 2021, it seems unlikely that we will want to head out to purchase seeds from our local shops. The next option is to purchase seeds online. Today, we are going to share with you a short guide to buying seeds online.

Firstly, you should ask your tursted gardener friends where they may buy seeds online. Going to places which are recommended by other gardeners will help you to know you are getting the best seeds possible.

When purchasing seeds online you will also need to consider delivery dates. You will need to order these ahead of time to ensure that they arrive in time to be planted.

A common mistake when purchasing seeds online is overbuying. Spending more money than necessary. You need to remember that your garden is still the same size, you may not be able to use all the seeds you desire.

What Is A Garden Designer?
A garden designer is someone whose role it is to design and create a suitable plan for a garden or other landscape. Including, what flowers to use, raised borders and features.

Necessary Skills
Some of the skills which you need to become a successful garden designer include:

Communication skills are extremely important in this role. With you needing to be able to communicate your idea to the client as well as contractors working for you.

Listening skills are also important due to you needing to be able to listen to what your client wants and any issues they may have. Being able to include their needs within your designs.

You will also need to have a love for the outdoors. With most of this job being based outside, you can understand why this love is a must.

Finally, you need to have a good eye for colour matches. Being able to match colours will help the area your working in to pop.

Raised borders are one option for your garden. Today, we are going to discuss with you the benefits of having a raised border in your garden.

One of the main benefits of a raised border is the impact it will have on your back. Having a raised border in your garden will help to ease back pain as it is a lot less work to maintain. This is due to the soil being prepared for plants beforehand.

With a raised flower bed you will also have fewer weeds. This can either be due to them having a long way to grow before they become visible. Or if you use weed control, they will not be able to enter your raised flower beds from below.

The final benefit of using a raised border is that it can be temporary. It is much easier to move and change these than ones that are made into the ground.

Gardening is one hobby which people either associate with older generations or are just put off of taking part in. Today, we are going to share with you some reasons why we should all uptake gardening.

Firstly, gardening offers us many benefits which we may not even consider. When gardening a lot of time is spent outdoors, meaning you are in the sun for a lot of time. This means you will be gaining a lot of Vitamin D which offers a range of benefits for your body.

Gardening, surprisingly to some can also help to build up muscles in your body. Digging soil, lifting heavy items and moving plants all use your muscles. Helping to build up your own strength.

Finally, gardening may seem like an easy hobby for some, but it can be extremely relaxing. Getting outside with just the sounds of nature can help you reduce stress, allowing you to relax.