Building DIY Gardening

Water in the morning, if required. Especially water any newly planted shrubs, plants etc. If anything is getting too overcrowded, separate out (bulbs etc). Plenty of growth and flowering going on, have to take off the dead heads when needed. Add supports for any tall growing plants. Vegetable gardens going strong. Keep an eye out […]

The weather has been very variable this year, from hot sun to snow! Spring bulbs are dying back and flowers are appearing. This year there have been many heavy rain showers, so the ground is more wet than usual. Butterflies brighten up your garden. Your garden can start to look like a proper garden at […]

What to do in the garden in April A lot of rain arrives – April showers – yesterday I cleared a small area for turf, and all night it rained, before the new turf has been laid. Weeds are on the march in April. So get busy. Mulching is a good idea, lay mulch between […]

Spring has more or less arrived, although still cold on some days. Buds and blooms are out and now is the time to get busy on the garden. Sills needs repairs or repainting. Outdoor fittings should be checked, cleaned, oiled etc, and any work needed done now, before the start of the proper garden season. […]

Weather in February can range from sunny warm days to ice and snow in large qualities. Rain also, wind too. Early sign of spring continue. With England getting warmer, these just continue from early buds in January. SOme don’t die back now, I have a buddleia in the garden which never died back at all, […]

This advice is for England and Europe, or anywhere there is a cold sometimes snowy winter. Bad weather can keep you indoors, especially when ground is too wet or waterlogged, or frozen and too hard. Remove any weeds, and get rid of mouldy or rotting vegetation such as old leaves, twigs etc. This is not […]

These are some photos from a recent lawn laying session. The small lawn was killed by overhanging trees provding too much shade, and neglect by tenants in a rented property. Autumn is a good time to lay a lawn as rain will make it bed in better. Laying in Spring is also possible but you […]

My recent visit to the Barnes Wetland Centre in London also included visitis to the hides for watcghing birds. There are many of these scattered around the lakes, which are from an old clay woirkings, next to the Thames. There is also one large hide which is multi story. These are the photos. You could […]

Research by HTA – actually a sponsored Phd – shows that planting against external walls increases insulation by a big factor. The vegetation ‘buffers’ the wall environment against cooling, and behind the plants it can be anything up to 6 degrees higher. Of course, in the summer, vegetation will also shade the walls, making them […]

Today we look at biochar, which could change the way organic waste is got rid of – and also provide useful by products. When I was a child, I used to take potato and vegetable peelings to a big box for the local pigs – this was in a small English town. Nowadays of course […]