How to deal with heavy clay soil in the garden One option is to dig it out and replace the soil, or you can dig in sharp or grit sand from a builder merchant and add bulky organic matter. This will help break up the clay and make the soil workable.

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prevent the spread of snowberry in your garden, the best way to stop snowberrys spreading in your garden is to use roundup weed killer by applying it to the new sheets that appear. The round up weed killer will travel back up the stems and kill the roots. Round up weed killer is available from [...]

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Palm trees recovering from Winter damage – many of the palm trees recovering from winter damage have created new shoots from dormant buds in the lower part of the main stems often from just under the soils surface. Often the plant has produced to many shoots show you can remove all but one of the [...]

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Perfect soil for carrots – ideally the perfect soil for growing carrots should be a heavy loam improved with organic matter such as well rotted garden manure or garden compost with sharp of grit sand dug into the existing soil to a depth of about 175mm. For further information on growing carrots visit our organic [...]

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Gaps in hedges – There are a number of ways to fill gaps in hedges the fast way is to install willow or hazel hurdles which have an instant effect and look very natural. For an evergreen hedge there are a number of quick growing plants such as Bamboo Fargesia robusta or laurel or Griselinia. [...]

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Honeysuckle or Lonicera are prone to fungal diseases such as black spot and mildew in the driest of years but during wet springs the fungal diseases they suffer can completely defoliate the plants. As with fungal diseases the cure is quite difficult, the best treatment is with good hygiene clear up and removing the infected [...]

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Garden Decking a very English Summer gardening project Garden decking – for a lot of gardeners garden decking is a simple project that can be completed over a couple of weekends in the summer. It’s easy to create a simple decking over an old existing patio or in a new garden on a level area. [...]

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Garden drainage for the small garden with all the wet weather we have been having lately garden drainage has become a major issue for many people. If you are considering installing a drainage system in your garden or lawn there are a few basic rules and tips to follow. Firstly you are best to use [...]

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In a garden situation soak aways need to be at a depth of 300mm .soak away in our garden the pipes need to come into the soak away at the top of the soak away so the soak away acts as a collection point for the drainage water.Ideally the pipe and the soak away top [...]

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Fungal problems with Crocosmia – In a cold wet spring as we are having at the moment Crocosmia can suffer from fungal disease which can cause the stems to turn black. The best treatment for this is to remove the effected stems and treat with sulphur powder. This is a link to a supplier of [...]

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The reason that most people have bird feeders in their gardens is because they like to see the different species or they want to help boost bird populations, particularly during the cold weather or during the breeding season. But now there’s an even better reason to feed birds. A new study by researchers from the [...]

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How to compost fresh chicken manure – its best staked with layers of straw or other garden compost. The layers should be about 100mm thick and alternate. With each layer add half a handful of grow more fertilizer this will help to provide nutrients to the bacteria to breakdown the compost . Water the heap [...]

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Plants to produce a screen in a coastal area A good indicator to wether or not a plant will survive to windy and salty conditions near to the sea is to look for a plants with fleshy green leaves such as a skimmia japonica or and Griselinia littoralis. Both these plants have a thick waxy [...]

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UK Hardy Plants Lathyrus grandiflorus (Everlasting pea) Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting pea) Lonicera (Honeysuckle) Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Virginia creeper) Schizophragma integrifolium (Schizophragma) Solanum crispum (Climbing potato) Trachelospermum jasminoides (Confederate vine) Vitis (Grape vine) Wisteria sinensis (Chinese Wisteria) Actinidia kolomikta (Kolomikta vine) Akebia quinata (Chocolate vine) Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Turquoise berry vine) Asarina antirrhiniflora (Snapdragon vine) Campsis x tagliabuana [...]

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Flowering plants suitable for an obelisk on alkaline soil Campsis x tagliabuana ‘Mme Galen’ (Trumpet creeper) Asarina antirrhiniflora (Snapdragon vine) Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet) Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting pea) Lathyrus grandiflorus (Everlasting pea) Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris (Climbing hydrangea) Clematis jackmanii species Most of these plant would loose the leaves in winter and could be pruned [...]

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Plants for walls and fences For a sunny south or west-facing walls and fences Trachelospermum Campsis radicans Solanum cripsum ‘Glasnevin’ Ceanothus skylark Coronilla valentina Fremontodendron californicum Plants for walls and fences For a shady north or east-facing walls and fences Parthenocissus Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris Akebia quinata Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’ Rosa ‘Albéric Barbier’ Pyrcantha [...]

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