Choosing a Christmas tree can be quite an emotive matter. I found an interesting article the other day which set out to prove that buying a live tree was greener than an artificial alternative which can last for several years, but was distracted by other matters and now can no longer find it. However I [...]
Tags:Christmas·eco-friendly·free range·holidays·organic·pesticides·tree
However enthusiastic a gardener you are, you will surely welcome ideas to make routine tasks easier. For instance who wants to engage in double digging when the same effect can be achieved without all that physical effort. Horticulturist Felder Rushing is firmly of this opinion and has, as he puts it “worked my tail off [...]
I found this article by Brian Minter about using vines to solve garden problems. “Looking for a simple but fast cover-up to screen an old fence or wall, an unsightly building or a nosy neighbour? Why not try some interesting and attractive vines?” His review covers most of the common vines including Virginia Creeper, Hummingbird [...]
Tags:aggressive plants·climbing plants·potting soil·thugs·vines
January is the seed catalog month when winter prevents outside activities, but gives us plenty of time to plan for the coming season. All those new varieties are so tempting especially when the catalog pictures all show perfect specimens which never seem to be recreated in our own gardens. I found this article in the [...]
Tags:catalogues·raised beds·seed·winter
Decorating the Christmas tree is all part of the fun as we head towards the holidays, but hanging the lights on the tree can be quite a pain particularly if the wires are tangled. So would’nt it be handy if the tree came with its own lights built in? And I’m not talking about an [...]
For me December is a month when I have little time for gardening. What with birthdays for my wife in late November and my daughter at the beginning of December, and then it’s time to start the Christmas shopping marathon. Luckily in December the garden can mostly look after itsef. If you want a reminder [...]
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Image via Wikipedia One of a gardener’s pet hates is the common slug and of course the second is the snail. It is infuriating to find that your plants have been damaged by these pests. There are many products designed to eradicate these pests ranging from the notorious slug pellets that you scatter beside yor [...]
Controlling broadleaf weeds in the lawn has always been a problem and particularly so for organic gardeners who do not use chemical weedkillers. In my garden I have several clumps of wild promroses that self seed naturally through the borders and provide a fine display in the spring. What is not so welcome is that [...]
Tags:broadleaf weeds·Chelsea Flower Show·daisies·dandelions·lawns·organic weed control·weedkillers
This article by Jeff Lowenfels “How to grow tomatoes — starting now” is a useful reminder of the basics of growing tomatoes from seed. He takes you through all the steps from seed to plant with a reminder that tomato roots must never touch the walls of the container until they get into their final [...]
Tags:$64 tomato·plants·seeds·tomatoes
This was the title of an article that I wrote way back in December 2004 and submitted to the Ezine Articles Directory. Keeping cats, in particular other people’s cats, out of your garden is clearly a major problem judging by the number of sites that show up when you type “cat repellent” into Google or [...]