GardenAdvice Gardening News

As the pests wake up in your garden its now time to consider the best method of control. Environmental damage brought about by our use of chemicals in every sphere of our lives, is being felt by every living organism on the planet. Many of us are now trying to redress the balance by using some form of organic pest control in our gardens and in our agricultural practices rather than relying on harmful pesticides. All of us with gardens no matter how small, even those with terraces and window boxes, can contribute to a healthier environment by controlling our garden pests naturally, and there are quite a number of surprisingly effective ways of doing this. Here are some examples of how to keep your garden pest-free organically More

Air Canada will be starting direct flights to St. Johns Newfoundland Canada from Heathrow at the end of May 2010 through the summer until the end of Septemeber 2010 from Heathrow airport London.  Ideal for a short break Newfoundland offers a range of local destinations for wildlife enthusiasts. Wildlife activaties cover whale watching, birdwatching and walking. For further information on whale watching click here

If you are looking for a holiday that is out of the ordinary for you and for the whole family, from snowshoeing in winter to kayaking in summer, Canada’s east coast, has a lot to offer. But for a unique experience, why not let Air Canada take you to Newfoundland and Labrador, the ‘whale and seabird capital of North America’ for a whale watching holiday – and explore at the same time one of the most unspoilt, diverse and beautiful areas not just in Canada, but in the entire world – where not only can you watch whales, but also follow the progress of icebergs, bird watch, walk, kayak and simply enjoy the warm hospitality of the Newfoundlanders. You can quite literally get away from it all More

This is the time of year when a gardener’s natural enemies such as ivy and bramble are beginning to burgeon and there is a conflict between keeping control over the garden and preserving an essential habitat for nesting birds. How many of us have fought a losing battle with both ivy and bramble – leaving us with broken backs, fingers and spirit! The answer perhaps, is to contain the war and manage the bramble back into the hedges and keep it under control and the same for ivy – but not just yet. more

Praise the bees and their small striped jumpers. Praise the bees and their ability to build a hive out of dust and their back legs. Praise the bees for everything. And then stop. Stop to consider a world without bees. No more flowers, no more fruit. A monochrome world with no food in it. Sounds bad and tastes revolting. So we’ve made a special smoothie. One that will help to save the bees (please). It sticks out like a sore thumb, so you’ve no excuse not to get it, drink it and then tell your friends about it. We call this project Buy One Get One Bee and this is how it works… more

This year’s rather harsh, cold winter has produced a few surprises in the GardenAdvice garden as many plants seem to have produced an abundance of spring flowers which seem more colourful and vibrant compared with the last few years. Perhaps it is just the hard winter that has made us view this spring display through ‘rose-tinted glasses’. However, it is often the case that when a plant becomes stressed by severe winter conditions, or other reasons, such as drought, it will produce more seed producing flowers, in an attempt to ensure survival of the species. This has been particularly noticed in the chamaecyparis group of conifers, which have become so loaded with pollen that the slightest touch or whisper of wind, will release a cloud of pollen (very often red) into the air. You will have your job cut out for you if you unwittingly park your car near a conifer on a windy day! And this spring may well produce more than its usual number of hay fever sufferers.

You can always tell when springs under way with the first signs of growth in an established Gunnera manicata. Today (12 April 2010 ) in the GardenAdvice.co.uk garden we have just seen the first signs of life this spring as the crown buds start to bust into life.

An established Gunnera manicata can grow amazingly quickly in the spring as the shoots appear from the crown, this is one reason why they need to grow in a moist soil full or organic matter to supply a steady supply of water to fuel such a high rate of growth.

On a warm spring day you can watch the amazing growth of a Gunnera over just a few hours as the leaves unfold and the stems extend.

Commonly thought of as ‘giant rhubarb’. A Gunnera needs a lot of space because it is difficult to restrict their size, the leaves can grow up to 2 metres wide. They look best as specimen plants in a damp bog garden, or beside a large pond where the reflections reveal the prickly undersides of the leaves.

We have launched a small competition for you to guess when our Gunnera reaches 60 cm from the top of the crown to the highest leaf tip. The nearest guess will receive £250 worth of plants for your garden. Just email us with your estimated guess to gunnera@gardenadvice.co.uk with the day and time in hours and minutes when you think our Gunnera will reach 60 cm.

In the event of a number of people guessing the same time the prize will be split between all the winners.

Plus 50 runners up will receive a free gardening book Bugs, slugs and other invaders

Track the size of our Gunnera on our twitter service twice a day in the morning and early evening

http://twitter.com/MyGardenTeam

As the weather starts to get a bit warmer the earlier spring bulbs such as snow drops and daffodils start to fade its a good time to apply a liquid feed such as a standard tomato feed to help the bulbs create the energy required for next seasons flowers. It should be remembered that as the bulbs die back they create the flower for next year in the centre of the bulb. This is why its important not to cut the bulbs back to early by removing the foliage but to allow it to die back naturally

New service designed to help new gardeners wishing to build a new garden. Its a new estimating service designed to estimate the materials you will need for your project and get the best price from several suppliers. Ideal for saving money on materials for hard landscaping projects on average the new service in its trial mode last summer saved an average of 15 percent for each client using the service

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