Gardening calendar 1st week in April 2008
Early April, springs just around the corner already the crocus and snowdrop are already out and coming into flower are the daffodils and other spring bulbs. The pre-longed period of hard weather which was forecasted late last year has not materialized although we have now received a forcasts for a wet spring. So now is the time to get out into your garden and start the preparation for the gardening year. One of the most rewarding tasks at this time of year is sowing vegetable and flower seeds, nothing quite beats the feeling of growing your own vegetables and flowers. To help you with you gardening endervors we have lauched a new service called MyGardenteam designed to provide you with your own online gardening assistant for further detail click here
New Free downloadable Gardening guides pdf format
Stencils in the garden
Feeding wild birds in the garden
Nest boxes in the garden
Laying a circular patio
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New Free downloadable Gardening videos
Hardwood cuttings ( windows media player )
Hardwood cuttings ( Quicktime media player )
Sowing seeds ( windows media player )
Sowing seeds ( Quicktime media player )
To view click on the link above. You will need to have a broadband connection
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Jobs In the Garden This week
Garden Plants - Pruning Hawthorn (carpinus)
The ideal time to prune hawthorn is once the fruit has been eaten by resident birds and other garden wildlife, but before early spring. Most forms require minimal pruning, other than the removal of broken, diseased or crossing branches. Encourage them to form a single-leader standard tree by removing lower branches as the tree matures until there is a clear trunk about 2m high. Alternatively, cut back a recently planted hawthorn to encourage it to produce a multi-stemmed tree ideal for use in a naturalistic planting or wild area of the garden..
For further information visit:
For further information visit:
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/gardenplants/index.html
Garden Plants - Sowing sweet peas
By sowing sweet peas in late January in your greenhouse you can provide some early cut flowers for your house. Pre soak the seeds in a container of water for a day, then sow one seed into a small pot. Once they have reached 150-mm high transplant into final positions in the glasshouse in large pots or grow bags with wire frames to support the plants.
For further information visit:
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/gardenplants/index.html
Lawn Drainage
Now that the winter rains have started its a good idea to check that any outfalls from your drainage systems in your lawn are clear of any obstructions such as leaves
or soil that might have build up over the summer.
For further information visit:
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/lawns/index.html
Wildlife Gardens - Toads in the Garden
Many gardeners have slug problems during the spring one natural solution is to create some toad shelters by placing some old clay pots on there side around the garden in a shady shelter positions in borders under large shrubs or against walls to provide shelter for toads who in turn will eat a massive amount of your gardens slugs.
For further information visit:
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/wildflowers/index.html
Container plants - Clematis
Planning ahead is always the key for the best results in gardening. To produce colour for your garden later in the year try planting up a large container with some clematis in john innes no. 3 compost with a ornamental frame for the plant to climb on. Clematis love to get those roots into cool conditions so make sure your container has a good depth of compost. The large flowing hybrids make the best container plants best varieties include Multi Blue, Nelly Moser and comtesse de Bouchaud.
For further information visit:
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/containers/index.html
Recent articles on GardenAdvice.co.uk
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http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/gardenplants/bulbs/index.html
Bulbs are often the first plants to herald the end of winter and the start of the spring. Few people can fail to be cheered by the sight of a snowdrop in January, or the first daffodils in February. Carefully chosen, bulbs can keep the garden supplied with changing colour from January to December. More
White and blue borders - new article
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/gardenplants/index.html
Gardening styles come and go them seem to come back again. A few years ago blue and white borders were all the rage, the height of fashion. For the last two years they seem to have disparate from the garden writers and broadcasters view. Despite this laps in fashion blue and white borders can offer the gardener a stunning effect that is easy to achieve on the average garden soil.More
Creating colour in your garden for late summer and winter. - new article
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/gardenplants/wintercolour/index.html
Although at first it seems an impossible task when you first become a gardener, creating colour and interest all year around in a garden both small and large is an achievable project with some careful planing. More
Four Steps To Making Really Wicked Compost - new article
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/organic/compost/index.html
Making good garden compost is not as hard as it sounds, all you have to do is follow a few basic rules. In this new article the GardenAdvice team explain how to make the best compost heap so that it will smell nice and sweet and do wonders for your garden. More
Care for House Plants - new article
http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/houseplant/care/index.html
There is a lot of unnecessary worry associated with houseplants, but there needn’t be. Most of them require nothing more than watering, feeding and occasionally potting on. More
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