Plant a lasagna bulb pot for fantastic spring colour
You may or may not have heard of a lasagna bulb pot but I assure you that they are fantastic. For a little bit of work in the autumn (fall) you can guarantee weeks and weeks of spring colour in your garden / porch /patio/ etc. The idea is that you plant your various types of bulbs in layers (kind of like a lasagna) so that your pot will have a succession of bright flowers throughout spring. So easy but incredibly effective! This year I am also doing it with an old wheelbarrow so a little bit of upcycling too. There are no rules about what you can use as…
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…
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…
Tasks for the garden in late March
Late March is when it starts to get busy in the garden. It is not obvious when you look but I am very busy. I have been making pots, planting on seedlings/plug plants, moving snowdrops and tidying up a bit. Biodegradable Plant pots Firstly, I have been busy making newspaper plant pots which I have explained in detail in an earlier post. They are great for seedlings as the plant’s roots do not get disturbed when they get planted out into the garden. I plant the whole thing out. Summer Bedding During the week the first of my plug plants arrived by post. I was expecting them by the end…
Top 5 Early Spring Garden Flowers
In my opinion these are the top 5 early spring garden flowers in the UK. I will explain why I have included each flower. Daffodil Who could fail to love daffodils? Daffodils are so bright and cheerful and so early in the year. They cheer up many a dark corner in spring where nothing else will flower this early in the year. They look beautiful planted ‘en mass’ on a banking or in a flower bed but they can look just as beautiful in a small clump. I particularly like the dwarf varieties as in my own garden the full size varieties often suffer a lot of wind damage and…
Spring in the garden – yes, officially
Yes, it is officially spring so it must be in the garden too. In case you are not convinced Gardener’s World is back on the BBC on a Friday evening. These are a few photos from my garden this week. There are a few more flowers than there were in February so spring must really be here. I have included the hyacinth as I really think it represents the beauty to come. It is not much to look at now but you know that it promises great colour and fragrance later in spring. This week I happened to be in Aldi when…
Dovecraft Felt Ornament Kits
In my ICHF craft show post I mentioned that I had bought two small Dovecraft kits. Well, at the weekend the weather was appalling so I tackled them both. These are the results. I really enjoyed making them. Partly this was because they were quick to make. The butterfly took the longest at just under an hour but the hearts only took about half an hour each. If I had never done any sewing before I suspect that they would have taken longer. Each Dovecraft kit contains everything you need to make two spring ornaments. One kit contained two butterflies and the other…