What We’ve Missed with an Extended Winter Usually by February I’m dashing outside ready to take in the limited sunshine. In previous years, occasionally, February has thrown up some unseasonal days where the sun has shone brightly leaving gardeners feeling pretty smug. Unfortunately this didn’t happen this year and just as we thought it was […]
Category Archives: Garden How To
How to Rear Your Own Turkeys
How to Rear Your Own Turkeys By Martina Mercer A month ago we invested in lavender ducks and chickens for our small holding as although we’d kept hundreds of birds before, we’d had a break of a few years and so wanted to start again small. Instead of the incredible layers of Aylesbury ducks or the […]
How to Encourage Children into the Garden
Encourage Children to Step Outside In this day and age with electricity taken for granted many children choose media as a form of entertainment; whether it’s YouTube, Facebook or gaming online it all burns energy while frazzling brain cells too. Here are some ideas for how to encourage children into the garden and away from […]
The Sun has Got his Easter Bonnet On
The Sun has got His Easter Bonnet on! As everyone tucks into their chocolate eggs, and proud children display their handmade bonnets, we’ve realised that a chicken is afforded with a sense of fame at this time of the year. The tiny fluffy craft chicks that adorn each Easter cake litter supermarket shelves making us […]
The Benefits of Bedding Plants
By Martina Mercer I used to avoid bedding plants as much as possible as the annual nature made me believe they were not great value for money. However over the past few years I’ve been converted and now as well as bulbs, herbs and perennials, bedding plants have pride of place in all of my borders. […]
Mixing Flowers and Veg for a Stunning Sustainable Garden
By Martina Mercer Many of us love the idea of having a huge vegetable patch that we can spend hours in producing food for the family, however time can be a common constraint, as well as space, making it seem like a daunting prospect to grow your own, and although your pansies and primroses always […]
Gardening in a Cold Climate
Knowing how to make the most of gardening in a cold climate can not only allow those who live in the coldest spots in Britain to enjoy fresh vegetables and lush green foliage, it also helps those of us who would like to spend more time with our plants over winter. After the autumn harvest […]
Your Essential Fruit Tree Care Guide
Victoria Plum Tree (Prunus Domestica Victoria) Best time to plant:Late winter – early spring. Best place to plant:A sheltered, sunny spot with well-drained soil. Pruning: Victoria Plums can be pruned anytime from late spring to the end of summer—avoid pruning in winter as plums are vulnerable at this time to infection by bacterial canker and […]
Vegetables for Border Beauty
Vegetables for Border Beauty I started planting vegetables in my flower borders when I had a tiny garden and wanted to maximise the space. However I now have a rather large acre with a substantial vegetable patch yet I still choose to integrate vegetables into the flower borders. Nothing beats the thrill of watching a […]
Gardening on a Grand Scale
Gardening on a Grand Scale Week one in the Manor House and already we’re quite frazzled. It seems our favourite telecommunications company have lost the ability to communicate between themselves leaving this flummoxed journalist with no broadband for days. Panic does not cover the first twenty four hours, however after this I decided to use […]