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Seedlings – how to transplant
Once you have sown your seeds, kept them warm and watered them you need to move them on to the next stage in their development. You need to prick your seedlings out into their final planting place or a larger pot. This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a commission if you use those links at no cost to you. I only recommend brands I use and trust. You will need: Tray of seedlings Multi purpose compost Small pots or seed tray containing inserts or tubes from toilet rolls Small stick or similar Step 1: Fill some plant pots or seed trays with inserts with multi-purpose compost ready to transplant…
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September Gardening – Top Tasks for the Garden
The summer is coming to an end. Everyone has the back to school feeling. The garden, however, can still look stunning. These are a few tasks that I think are really important for September gardening. This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a commission if you use those links at no cost to you. I only recommend brands I use and trust. Dead-heading Flowers If you want your plants to carry on producing beautiful blooms (and why wouldn’t you?) then you need to keep dead-heading. Make sure that you look around the garden every couple of days and take off all the faded blooms. You need to cut them of…
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Seed Paper – How to make
In this tutorial I will show you how to make seed paper really easily and inexpensively from items that you probably have at home already. Feel free to adapt what you do have to make your paper. For example an old picture frame makes an excellent frame especially if you want larger pieces of seed paper. Instead of cheesecloth you could use door screen or any fabric that will allow water to pass easily through and stay taught in the frame. You can use the paper however you like but I think that it makes beautiful, original gift tags or bookmarks. Just make sure the person you give it to…
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Successful Seed Sowing
Do you love flowers in your garden. Well, you can enjoy hundreds of flowers for very little cash. Grow your own from seed. Of course, this also extends into vegetables and ‘growing your own’. Best of all sowing seeds is really easy to do. I am going to show you a step by step guide using annual lupin seeds: This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a commission if you use those links at no cost to you. I only recommend brands I use and trust. You will need: Packet of seed. I recommend Suttons Seeds for reliability. Seed tray Seed compost (or multi-purpose compost) Propagator lid or clear plastic…
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May Top 5 Tasks for the Garden
May is a really busy time in the garden and it is looking fantastic. The variety of greens is spectacular and there are many flowers to enjoy. So get outside and enjoy it! My top five jobs to do this month are: This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a commission if you use those links at no cost to you. I only recommend brands I use and trust. 1) Plant hanging baskets and pots in May May is the time to plant up your hanging baskets and pots if you are doing your own. If you are anything like me you have lots of tender summer plants waiting to…
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Tasks for April in the garden
Top 8 jobs to do in April in your garden to maximise your enjoyment throughout the summer. April is a busy and exciting time in the garden. So, weather permitting, get out there and enjoy it. 1) Weeding Yes, weeding is number one as it is the most important. The weeds are just getting going really well. As the weather warms up and all our favourite plants start to grow so do the weeds. At the moment they are small and come up easily as the ground is wet. Also, they have not had time to flower and seed (and multiply). It is not a very exciting task but you…
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Free Biodegradable Plant Pots from old newspapers
Free biodegradable plant pots sound good but is it too much effort? I don’t think so and I will show you how to make them and I will convince you of their merits. If you have concerns about you local newspapers and their ‘green credentials’ then consider reading this article by permaculture news. If you are still concerned contact your local newspaper to ask about their dyes and bleaching agents. This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a small commission if you use those links at no cost to you. I only recommend brands I use and trust. It is that time of year when we all need lots of…
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Start of March – sowing sweet-peas
There really is not a lot to report in the garden this week. Firstly it was snowy and then everywhere was frozen. This was followed by a lot of heavy rain, definitely not conditions for gardening. So, I have been doing something indoors that is sort of gardening. I absolutely adore sweet-peas. In the summer, I love cutting some for the house and enjoying the scent. I have planted some sweet-peas that I found in a kit form in Home Bargains. I have included a link to their website but I bought the kit in an actual store rather than online so it may only be useful in finding your…
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Gardening in February – updated for 2019
February is well underway and I want to keep you up to date with what I am doing this month. Not a lot is the short answer! It has been far too cold and rather wet for being out there. I have managed one day out there just cutting off old growth from last year and generally tidying up. However, I have been enjoying the glorious spring bulbs and flowers, mainly from the window. These pictures show some miniature daffodils with snowdrops, a striking red hellebore and a pink camellia. These are from 2018. …