MyGardenTeam are no strangers to wear and tear, and so decided to give some of the products a test run to find out if they met their claims.

We tested two products: Organic Calendula Balm, and Organic First Aid Lotion. The first thing we tested for was the authenticity of their claims. Essential Care do use 100% organic ingredients (we could find no trace of synthetic additives), and they do undertake necessary testing measures – we checked that the product had been run through all necessary trials, to make sure by using it we weren’t going to suffer any adverse reaction. The ingredients used in the products are all non-harmful and safe to use.

The next step in our testing of these products was to test their practicality. Starting with the Calendula Balm – a moisturising hand cream – we coated our hands.

The idea behind the product is to use completely organic and natural ingredients – the main beingthe calendula herb – to soften and protect the skin. Calendula is a herb commonly used in gardening as an aid to ‘companion planting’. This means it is a plant grown alongside various vegetables and
other plants as a way of confusing and discouraging pests which could otherwise ruin the crop. But whilst this herb is incredibly useful in gardening, we wanted to know how exactly it could help us as gardeners.

Upon application, the first thing we found was that the balm had a heavy, thick and greasy consistency. This however was short lived, and after around 10 minutes of applying the balm it had absorbed very well into the skin. We found it actually provided us with a great barrier against the harsh conditions gardening can sometimes throw our way, and helped protect our skin. But what
surprised us the most, was that it left our hands notably softer – not an easy achievement for a member of MyGardenTeam!

The next product we tested was the Organic First Aid Lotion. The cream is a solution containing aloe-vera, essential oils and anti-fungal oils, and is designed to provide healing and soothing properties as well as providing anti-bacterial action.

After a hard slog in the garden, we applied some of this lotion and found that it was incredibly effective when applied onto minor cuts, grazes and particularly insect bites. After a day’s work the hands can often be left stinging and smarting, and we found this product to help relieve that. A word of warning however, we can’t see it being effective in the treatment of a major accident – so if you’ve chopped off a toe with a spade we recommend you visit the doctor.

How much light enters the garden is a major consideration. This can be effectively controlled by the
creative use of parasols as a solution in the short term, or if you want to have flexible arrangements
for different occasions. Alternatively, think of setting up an arbour as an attractive fixed place to sit,
ideally fitted out with an ironwork or rattan garden table and chairs at the opposite end of the garden
to the house, with a narrow pathway leading to it.

The joys of wood

It is important to ensure that the furniture you choose for the garden actually fits with the design of the
garden itself. Wooden seating, for example, can be quite attractive and will go with many different
garden designs; there are several different types of wood to choose from including teak, oak, pine,
and cedar.

For a hard-wearing and long-lasting, durable surface go for teak, which will keep its appearance for
many years. You can assist its graceful ageing by rubbing oils into the wood so that it always retains
that attractive teak appearance and colour. On the other hand, you can just leave it to weather and
allow it to gradually acquire that beautiful shade of grey with a silver tint that perfectly complements a
garden setting.

Another very popular choice is cedar furniture. This attractive wood can remain unfinished for a
natural look and will last for years with very little maintenance.

Whatever your tastes in wooden furniture, make sure that it is sourced from renewable forests before
buying.

Other types of garden furniture for the summer

As with household furniture, there is such a range of garden furniture now available that buyers
should be certain to take some time and shop around for a style that reflects their personal taste, and
which will enhance their existing patios, arbours, and terraces.

The decadent feel seems to be fashionable again, for instance, and this can be enhanced by the use
of a wrought iron table and chairs, which will also constitute a good investment because they will last
forever if treated reasonably well.

Wicker garden furniture is also an excellent idea if you prefer a more comfortable look and feel,
because these items are quickly and attractively accessorised by adding puffy, colourful cushions to
them – ideal for sprawling on during a late balmy afternoon with friends and a few bottles of chilled
Chardonnay.

Those who are seeking a more contemporary look – for example, those living in more urban settings
– might consider an aluminium patio set as opposed to going for the more rural, ‘green’ look with
traditional wooden furniture. Cast aluminium is generally longer-lasting and more attractive than the
cheaper hollow variety.

The British summer being what it is it is also wise to have protection for garden furniture readily to
hand. You should also keep appropriate cleaning materials close by for clearing up nasty stains such
as those from spilled wine and swatted flies before they permanently damage the materials. Wooden
furniture should be oiled every few months, and plastic items can simply be cleaned using a mild
detergent before being hosed down.

With all the publicity it should be clear that you can’t clean a car using a hosepipe and although 70.8% of the respondents said this was wrong, surprisingly 15.6% said it would be okay to use a hosepipe to clean a car and 13.6% professed not to know whether to use one or not.

Causing most confusion seemed to be the question of whether or not you can use a hosepipe to fill a fish pond.  The answers were split broadly three ways: 34.7% said you could, 32.9% said you couldn’t and 32.5% didn’t know.  Most water authorities do allow gardeners to fill up a fish pond with a hosepipe.

And what about a soaker hose fitted to a mains tap – can that be used to water the garden?  Nearly half thought it couldn’t be used, 24% said it could be used and 26.5% said they didn’t know.  In fact, soaker hoses or fixed irrigation systems do get the nod by all water authorities, provided that they have pressure and timer controls fitted.

When asked whether a hosepipe can be used to take stored water from a water butt, for example, to the garden, 58.8% did say yes, but nearly one in five (19.5%) said it wasn’t allowed and 22.1% didn’t know whether it could be used.  (Water that has collected in a water butt from gutters is fine but of course, you can’t fill up a water butt from a hosepipe).

Jane Lawler, marketing director at Gardman, comments, “The low levels in water reservoirs are a serious matter, even though it seems counter intuitive with continual rain and even more rain forecast for the immediate future.  Whether it’s raining or not, it’s clear that there is tremendous confusion of what the hosepipe ban actually means.”

Gardman sells water butts, water retention gels, soaker hoses and timers, pot water savers and capillary matting to help gardeners use water efficiently and it is currently running a Water Saving Promotion in garden centres.

Visit your local water authority website for further clarification of the hosepipe ban in your area.

The sight of parent birds diving in and out of a garden nest box during May is addictive viewing for householders, but for species such as the Great Tit now can be the most stressful time of year. Females will have spent much of April laying and incubating eggs, and May is when chicks usually hatch, with both parents working hard to tend to them. For fledglings, finding the next good meal is by no means straightforward but, thankfully, there are things that people can do to help. With their survival on a knife-edge, food provided in gardens could prove the difference between life and death.

Help needed!
Young Great Tits receive only a week or two of post-fledging care from their parents before they are completely on their own. While still in the nest, these birds are warm and relatively sedentary, so that they are not using much energy. After fledging they expend calories easily when they are developing their foraging skills. This is where householders can help.

The year-round BTO Garden BirdWatch survey* shows that numbers of Great Tits seen in gardens increase, on average, by over a third between April and June. Youngsters, in particular, swarm over suet-based foods and will also take a range of other morsels on offer.

Feeding habits
Great Tits are quite catholic in their tastes, eating a range of natural and human-provided foods throughout the year. Great Tit fledglings are particularly partial to suet-based products, and these will also cater for large flocks of young Blue Tits. Seed mixes with low cereal content and sunflower hearts are also popular.

Top feeding suggestions
Specific favourites are BTO Super Suet Balls in a BTO Suet Ball Feeder, which has a FeedSafe antibacterial coating and BTO Sunflower Hearts in a BTO Seed Feeder, also with a FeedSafe coating to help inhibit microbial growth. A full range of BTO wild bird food and bird feeders is available at www.ernest-charles.com.

What to look for
Great Tits are the biggest of the British Tits. An adult male has white cheeks; a black, glossy cap, extending around the neck and forming a bib; a lemon-yellow breast and belly with a wide central black stripe down the middle; and a green back that turns blue-grey towards the rump and tail and on to the wings. Females look like males but lack glossiness to the cap and have a less well developed black stripe down their breast and belly, and this does not extend from leg to leg. Juveniles have a dull black
cap, with a dull yellow colour to their cheeks, breast and belly.

For a free BTO Garden BirdWatch enquiry pack: email gbw@bto.org, telephone 01842-750050 or write to Garden BirdWatch, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

Ernest Charles, wild bird food and bird feeder on-line and catalogue specialist, has teamed up with partner the British Trust for Ornithology to select a favourite bird of the month. For May the choice is the Great Tit.

Large numbers of greenfinches are dying of a disease called trichomonosis

Since summer 2005, trichomonosis, a disease caused by a microscopic parasite has been reported in finches in gardens. Since then, outbreaks have been seen every year during the late summer and autumn.

They have been studied by the Garden Bird Health Initiative, of which the RSPB is part (see below). Greenfinch populations have been recorded dropping by a third, and chaffinch populations by a fifth in those parts of the country that suffer the most serious outbreaks.

Research published in September 2011 shows that the disease has since spread to finches on continental Europe, most likely with migrating chaffinches.

Which birds are affected?

Greenfinches are reported most frequently, but other finches and house sparrows are also susceptible to trichomonosis. Formerly, it was seen in pigeons and doves and some birds of prey. This is a disease found only in birds – it does not pose a threat to the health of humans, cats or dogs.

What happens?

The trichomonad parasite lives in the upper digestive tract of the bird, and its actions progressively block the bird’s throat, making it unable to swallow food. The bird dies from starvation.

Birds with the disease show signs of general illness, for example lethargy and fluffed-up plumage, but affected birds may also drool saliva, regurgitate food, have difficulty in swallowing or show laboured breathing.

Finches are frequently seen to have matted, wet plumage around the face and beak, and uneaten food in and around the beak. In some cases, swelling of the neck may be seen from a distance.

How is it passed on?

The trichomonad parasite is vulnerable to drying out and cannot survive for long periods outside the host. Transmission of infection between birds happens when they feed one another with regurgitated food during the breeding season, and through food or drinking water contaminated with recently regurgitated saliva.

What can I do?

If trichomonosis is suspected, it is recommended to temporarily stop putting out food, and leave bird baths dry until sick or dead birds are no longer found in the garden.

This is to discourage birds from congregating together, which may increase the potential for the disease to spread between individuals.

Wild birds can suffer from a variety of diseases from time to time. Good hygiene practice, specifically the regular cleaning of all feeders, bird baths and feeding surfaces, is an essential part of looking after garden birds and will help to lower the risk to birds of diseases in general.

No effective treatment can be administered to birds in the wild, because it is impossible to ensure that the infected individuals receive an adequate dose and that healthy birds do not pick up the medicine. Also, a positive confirmation of the disease is needed prior to starting any treatment, and this can usually only be obtained by a post mortem.

The Garden Bird Health Initiative

The Garden Bird Health initiative (GBHi) was set up as a UFAW (Universities Federation for Animal Welfare) Working Group in 2003, including among others the RSPB, the BTO, and the Institute of Zoology.

In 2005, the GBHi was extended to become a major research and surveillance project studying garden bird health and disease outbreaks. This unique combination of scientists, conservationists and wildlife vets has proved to be a very successful partnership.

The group develops and publishes guidelines about how to best feed garden birds in order to maximise the benefits for their welfare and conservation, and minimise the risks from infections. It also researches into the impacts disease outbreaks can have on bird populations.

How you can help

If you are finding sick and dead birds in your garden, please help us monitor the spread and intensity of all disease outbreaks in garden birds by telling us what is happening to the birds visiting your garden. You can access a recording form by clicking on the link to the right.

Thanks for your contribution to this valuable piece of monitoring work. We’re sorry, but when we receive a lot of enquiries, we may not be able to respond to each one personally.

Diagnosis of disease, including trichomonosis, in wild birds relies on post mortem examination. The GBHi recommends following sensible hygiene precautions as a routine measure when feeding garden birds, and to avoid handling sick or dead wild birds directly.

If you require further information or advice, please e-mail our Wildlife Enquiries team at wildlife@rspb.org.uk or call 01767 693690 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm).

Gardeners go for Gold
There has been a phenomenal increase in the numbers of these striking birds in gardens over the past two decades. Improved foods and feeder designs used by garden birdwatchers, coupled with foraging pressures due to agricultural intensification, have encouraged Goldfinches into more urban areas.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch survey* shows that numbers of this colourful finch soar at this time of year as seed availability in the wider countryside is depleted. Goldfinches are also partial migrants to overseas wintering grounds, typically in France or Spain. During April, many of these winter wanderers return, swelling numbers that drop into gardens.

Only 12% of BTO Garden BirdWatchers were visited by Goldfinches during a typical week in April 1995. Last year, this figure had rocketed to 58% and shows no sign of levelling off.

Feeding habits
Goldfinches are particularly partial to small, oil-rich seeds, such as nyger and sunflower hearts. Nyger seed is very fine and so a specialised nyger feeder is required. Gardeners can also help Goldfinches by fostering a number of plant species, mostly in the family Asteraceae (e.g. groundsels), which provide alternative ‘natural’ foods. Teasels are another favourite, with Goldfinches being the only UK finch with a long enough beak to be able to extract its seeds. Like other common finches, Goldfinches appear to favour gardens that have large trees nearby, which help them to survey an area before dropping down onto feeders.

Top feeding suggestions
For the best chance of attracting Goldfinches, choose BTO Sunflower Hearts provided in a BTO Seed Feeder, which has a FeedSafe antibacterial coating or BTO Nyger Seed provided in a BTO Nyger Seed Feeder, also with a FeedSafe antibacterial coating.  A full BTO range of feed and feeders is available at www.ernest-charles.com.

What to look for
Adults have red, clown-like faces with buff breast and shoulders. Their wings are mainly black, with white spots but are characterised most obviously by a broad, gold wing-bar on each wing. Recently fledged birds do not have a red face, which moults through during late summer and autumn, helping them to stay concealed from predators and reducing the likelihood that adult Goldfinches will see them as a threat. Goldfinches are slightly smaller than Chaffinches and Greenfinches.

For a free BTO Goldfinch Factsheet: email gbw@bto.org, telephone 01842-750050 or write to Goldfinch Factsheet, Garden BirdWatch, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

Ernest Charles, wild bird food and bird feeder on-line and catalogue specialist, has teamed up with partner the British Trust for Ornithology to select a favourite bird of the month. For April the choice is the Goldfinch.  To enter our competition to win a bird feeder click here 

The three bedroomed detached house even had ivy growing inside it as the creeping plant had penetrated the walls. It was left without power, and the windows were covered, making it impossible to let daylight in.

Its former owner had left the creeping plant to grow for 20 years before it received its much-needed “haircut” from a new buyer. Although this case is extreme, it does highlight the importance of keeping any creeping or climbing plants under control.

If creeping plants are left to grow out of control, they can cause cracks in the walls which can leave them vulnerable to frost damage. Your Home Insurance policy will usually state that you’re responsible for keeping exterior walls in good condition so that frost damage doesn’t occur.

Here are some tips to keep your creeping plants well maintained:

Some plants will grow of their own accord, whereas others will need tying to the wall. If you don’t want the hassle of tying them in, choose ivy or Virginia creepers, which don’t need support. A clematis, on the other hand, will benefit from some support.

If you opt for ivy plants, plant them away from direct sunlight and make sure the soil is always moist. Plant them on the shady side of your house if you can.

Prune regularly, getting rid of any leaves that have turned brown or yellow. If your creeping plants are young, move them indoors in cold and frosty weather.

Cut back your creepers regularly, and don’t allow them to get out of control as they can work their way in between roof tiles, take hold on bricks and ruin flashing.

Never allow a climbing plant to grow in your roof or gutters as not only can it cause damage, but can help mice and rats enter the property by acting as a climbing frame for them. If the plant makes holes, flies and wasps can easily get in.

If you’re thinking about buying a house that’s covered in a creeping plant, take notice of what the survey says as this can highlight any problems or pitfalls.

About John Lewis Insurance:

John Lewis Insurance offers a range of insurance services selected by the John Lewis Partnership. These include car, life, travel, wedding, event, pet, building and contents insurance products.

For more information about John Lewis Home Insurance please visit the website here – www.johnlewis-insurance.com/homepage/home-insurance.html.

John Lewis Insurance is a trading name of John Lewis plc. John Lewis plc is an appointed representative of AXA Insurance UK plc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions and eligibility criteria apply. A full copy of the policy wording and the insurance complaints procedure are available on request.

The GardenAdvice.co.uk courses are being held thought the U.K, North America, Canada, and Barbados and cover such basic skills as pruning, correct digging methods, growing your own shrubs/organic vegetables and creating the perfect lawn. They are held in a garden and involves both practical demonstrations and short talks aimed at giving your an introduction To all the basic skills you will need in the garden.  More 

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