Homes & Gardens has so many interesting articles, we really should steal them more often. This pair of articles about outdated back garden trends and outdated front garden trends are nice for fertilising one’s thinking about one’s garden, its compartments, and the ancient “what I want” VS “what I, or my husband, will work or… Continue reading Homes & Gardens Outdated Garden Trends
November Forecast Mild at First
With nights mostly over 7C (the temperature under which plants generally stop growing) until the middle of the month. As we mentioned in last month’s warm October post, many dahlias, repeating roses, and late flowering perennials are still doing something, and the stalwarts will squeeze out their last, valiant, undersized flowers in this warm start… Continue reading November Forecast Mild at First
Restoring Scottish Montane Flora & Bees for High Altitude Fruit Trees
Montane habitats are at the top of and above the treeline, below the even colder alpine habitats above, where the last wind-blasted trees and shrubs grow. Being high on a mountain may be pleasant, but going up a hundred feet is like taking giant strides towards the North Pole in terms of the temperature decrease.… Continue reading Restoring Scottish Montane Flora & Bees for High Altitude Fruit Trees
Mowing Your Lawn & Autumn Leaves
Autumn leaves on your lawn have to be dealt with, or they will ruin it. Likewise, your lovely stone, brick, and concrete areas will get slippery and require more frequent cleaning if leaves cover them for long. If you have a small garden with some trees around it, it’s likely that you won’t reasonably be… Continue reading Mowing Your Lawn & Autumn Leaves
Flower Bulbs in Winter Hanging Baskets
Long-suffering visitors to this website may remember that we gave selling hanging baskets a whirl a few years ago. We stopped because they turned out to require a lot more work than our meticulous business planning on the back of an old envelope had indicated: c’est la vie. From that experience, we learned that there… Continue reading Flower Bulbs in Winter Hanging Baskets
First Frost Dates Start End of October!
According to the Liverpool Echo, which is naturally Somerset’s favourite weather news source, if you live in Glasgow, you can expect the first frosts from the end of October, only two weeks away. It’s not clear to anyone where that information came from, but it’s in a newspaper from Liverpool, which is good enough for… Continue reading First Frost Dates Start End of October!
Dollar Spot Fungal Disease Devastates Golf Course Turf
Playing golf has been a big part of several lives here at Ashridge, until things like hip replacements and families and enthusiasm for gambling forced us to move on with our lives. It is a tribute to golf course greenkeepers that I had never heard of Dollar Spot Disease, being blissfully unaware of the battle… Continue reading Dollar Spot Fungal Disease Devastates Golf Course Turf
Free Plants Forever: Pay With Your Lives!
The garden centre industry is a wonderful one, full of great people working in it and great customers intent on making their street that much more beautiful. But maintaining a lush border of beautiful plants, penguins, and a specimen polar bear does not come cheap according to HortWeek: I know what you all are thinking:… Continue reading Free Plants Forever: Pay With Your Lives!
Cut Hedges in October
Cut cut cut: that’s what it’s all about being a hedge owner. With a typical hedge plant such as Hawthorn, Beech, or Yew, you are fundamentally maintaining a plant that wants to be a tree as a bushy shrub by cutting it regularly. One of the most common questions we get asked is when to… Continue reading Cut Hedges in October
Fine Dining al Fresco: Shrubbery for Two
The other day we mentioned Cornwall’s Million Pound edible hedge project, and, we assume in response, the RHS updated their list of edible flowers, along with a Country Living article adding a few more on top. We know that most garden owners are not breakfasting in the bushes, brunching off branches, or dining on their… Continue reading Fine Dining al Fresco: Shrubbery for Two