4 top tips for combating slugs this year

I have a very laid back tendency towards my garden – if things don’t do well well ‘it was not meant to be’ and I generally have quite a hands off approach believing that plants need to survive for themselves rather than be molly-coddled.  But the one thing that drives me bonkers is finding new plants, or baby plants, or seedlings that I’ve sown eaten by slugs!!  They love fresh new growth, and can decimate a plant over night!

I once read that of someone who had carried out an experiment on Snails in her garden!  Apologies for not remembering who.  She collected a number of snails in her garden and then painted nail varnish on their shells.  She then took the snails away from her garden and distributed them in various places, at various distances.  And guess what?  they only made their way back home!

There are various ways to combat slugs and starting now, today on Valentines Day will get you ahead of the game.  As right now baby slugs are being born, their parents have been breeding in their hidey-holes and about now is when they will start to appear in the dead of night!  There are many Garden Myths about slug trap techniques  but here’s my Top 5 Tips:

  1. Encourage other wildlife into your garden.  The slug has many predators: birds, frogs, toads, hedgehogs and some beetles so by encouraging these into our gardens will help with natural predation.  To do that, don’t be too tidy and leave some scruffier parts for them to inhabit.  Provide a water source and a wide variety of planting to offer a variety of food and pollen sources.
  2. Protect new growth on plants and repel the slugs from them!  Be it barriers or materials to dissuade this can give you a feel-good feeling of action.  Pots, gravel, copper rings, egg shells, coffee granules, cornflour are all suggestions to try that different gardeners will swear by.
  3. Nighttime recces with a torch and a bucket – can you pick up a slug?  I find it hard to in my bare hands but I’m fine wearing gloves.  Slugs and snails are active at night time so forays outside with a torch mean you can literally pick them up and remove them – its totally up to you what you do with them next!
  4. Traps – if you’re organic use beer or salt to lure them to their death or if chemicals don;t bother you use slug pellets.  but here’s a trick – use a tall, slender jar (one that had olives in is a good shape and size), put the slug pellets in and lay it on its side on the soil under planting.  That way it still creates a trap for the slugs but no other birds and animals can accidentally get trapped.  Do it today and have your own Valentine’s Day Massacre!

Happy slug hunting!

 

 

 

How to make Blackberry Vodka

It is Blackberry Season and there are lots and lots this year!  So we are ploughing through  Blackberry and Apple Crumbles, I’ll be making Blackberry and Apple Jam like my Nan always used to but I’ll also be making Blackberry Vodka this year as its such an easy recipe and it will make gorgeous Christmas Presents and I’ve been saving some beautiful glass-corked wine bottles just for this!!!   All you need is:

350g Blackberries          250g Caster Sugar          625 ml vodka

Wash the Blackberries and remove the stalks, put them in a wide-necked jar (a kilner jar is perfect) and sprinkle with the sugar. Pour the vodka over and seal the jar. Shake it gently every day for 2-3 months  (the longer you can leave it the better)!

Sit a plastic funnel into a sterilized bottle and place a sieve over the top, strain the liquid through.  Label it up and there you go!

Its great neat over some ice or you can use it as a flavouring in Prosecco or Cava!

Let me know how you get on!

Renée x

 

 

Top Six Plants for attracting Insects to your Garden

We’re told time and time again how important our gardens are in keeping the country green and that our plots are a mecca for pollinating insects.  The trick is to provide a wide variety of flowering plants as they are often designed with particular insects in mind. Taking this into account here are my Top Six Plants to attract insects into your garden:

Harvest Daisy (Inula) – typically we want to be planting simple flower shapes, and this Harvest Daisy provides that. Simple Daisy shapes that don’t have a double set of petals are easier for pollinators to access and their wide-open shape makes it easier for insects to use as a landing pad.

 

Lenten Rose (Hellebore) – these flower from Winter to early Spring so provide nectar and pollen early in the year. Choose the single flowering versions to best attract pollinators and enjoy their beautiful flowers at a gloomy time of year.

 

Ivy (Hedera) – we’re encouraged to keep a corner of the garden untidy as this provides a great habitat for insects and wildlife to use as home! Ivy is a great plant to leave or plant in such an area as it provides a safe haven of nooks and crannies for wildlife to live in and its flowers over the Wintertime provide nectar and pollen at a time when there’s not a lot around!

 

 

Lavender – the quintessential British Garden Shrub, Lavender is a great plant for insects and especially Bees. They love its nectar and pollen and it flowers for a long period over the Summer.

 

 

Crabapple (Malus)– a small Crabapple tree is a brilliant garden tree but not only for us! It provides beautiful Spring Blossom and Autumn Fruits which we enjoy but also the wildlife in your garden.

 

Ice Plant (Hylotelephium spectabile) – This succulent looking perennial flowers for ages from Summer onwards. This means there is nectar and pollen available for a long period but also it looks great if you leave the flowerheads on over Winter and therefore provides seed and shelter for birds and insects.

 

 

General planting tips for attracting insects into your garden are:

  • Avoid the use of chemical weed killer and pesticides
  • Plant a wide variety of colours, scents and shapes of plants
  • Plant a variety of plants that flower all year round
  • Avoid plants with double or multi layers of petals

For more information The RHS do a great guide to Plants for Pollinators and you can find their campaign logo on plants they recommend for insects at Garden Centres across the country.

Have you got a favourite insect-friendly plant?  Let me know in the comments below. Or if you want help to make planting choices for your garden drop me a line.

Renée

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7 reasons to go to a local Plant Sale

The season of the Plant Sale is upon us!

Local Gardeners and Groups will be sharing details of these sales about now and I urge you to go!  Not only will you pick up plants that have been lovingly grown in your local area you’ll probably meet some of the nicest people there are!

Here’s my seven top reasons to go to a Plant Sale:

  • You will pick up locally grown plants that like the conditions of the soil in your local area – if it liked it in your neighbour’s garden I’m 80% sure it will like it in your garden!
  • You’ll meet gardeners and gardeners love to talk plants and gardens and are usually super helpful and lovely!
  • Plants bought this way are blooming good value for money and are usually being sold in aid of a good cause
  • Questions are actively encouraged so if you’re new to gardening and aren’t sure what things are or what to do with them … always ask!  There’s never a stupid question!
  • Plants you buy this way haven’t travelled hundreds of miles to get to their destination and are usually in a recycled pot!  Gardeners are great ‘make do and menders’ and if you get to see inside anyone’s shed or greenhouse you will find highly creative ‘Heath Robinson’ solutions for all sorts of occasions!
  • Sharing of ideas.  Your new idea for your garden has probably been road-tested by someone else so this is a great place to share your ideas and get gardening tips from those who have been doing it for a while.
  • There is usually also cake on offer at a Plant Sale and for me there’s no better way to spend a Saturday morning than talking plants over tea and cake!

I have also been making new friends and sharing ideas online this year.  It definitely feels like the year of collaboration and although social media gets a lot of criticism the folk I have met online continues to astound me.

Most recently I joined an online Group that supports Mums who run their own businesses – its been invaluable and Laura that runs Power of Mum has created a virtual place where it feels like you’re sharing ideas over tea and cake.  I’m hoping to get to one of her events soon to eat cake in person but in the meantime you can read a bit more about me as she kindly featured me in her ‘A day in the life …’ Blog

 

Keep your eyes open for new of Plant Sales in your local area and let me know what treasures you find in the comments below.

Renée

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Flowers to make you change your mind about yellow!

Early Spring seems to be the season of yellow: Daffodils, Winter Aconites, Primroses, Crocosus but lots of people have a thing against yellow flowers in their gardens, and I have to admit I was one of them!  I’m not sure why it is, perhaps yellow was unfashionable, a bi too ‘in your face’.  But  I think I was won over to yellow by orange!  It took me to yellow and I have started to love it now, especially with orange!!  Yellow also looks great with reds and blues and really zings infront of dark foliage or even a black fence!  Here are a few flowers that might win you over to yellow!

Primroses – Quite a delicate shade of yellow to get you started!  These hedgerow favourites are a great source of colour during Winter right through to Spring.  They selfseed really easily and so will multiply for you.  I love them planted in my gravel path, so they have a really natural look and once SApring is here you can transplant them to where you want so is the time of year to ask if you can have a couple from any rfiends with them in their garden!

Inula This was a gift from a lady I gardened for.  Her garden was on the North Downs so very chalky and alkaline, I’m on very sandy soil which is rather neutral in acidity and most of my garden is quite shady.  These Inulas seem to love both conditions and from a couple of bits I dug up they have now formed a patch which flower from Summer through to Autumn.

Mexican Satin Flower (Sisyrinchium striatum) – This perennial forms clumps of vertical sword-like leaves and in the summer straight stems shoot up with clusters of the tiniest pale yellow flowers.  It loves being in the sun on really well drained soil and is so delicate and gorgeous.

Rosa banksia ‘Lutea’ – A beautiful rambling rose with sprays of small double, deep yellow scented flowers in April and May. Pros: its thornless and great for covering an arch or pergola. Cons: it only flowers once!

Lupin ‘Chandelier’ – Lupins were all the rage last year at the Flower Shows and they come in a wide range of colours; some bright and gaudy but some a bit more toned down and pastelly.  I love this yellow Lupin with its geometric spire of flowers.  They like it sunny and look great in a border of other plants, and remember to deadhead once its looking scruffy as it may well flower again for you.

I hope that gives you some ideas, I’m almost certain that yellow makes us feel good, it does bring a smile, so have a go at injecting some sunshine into your garden!  Have a look at my board The Yellow Planting Edit on Pinterest for more inspiration.

Renée

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Oh Christmas Tree

In January this year I posted about how sad I felt seeing all the used real Christmas Trees left outside homes waiting to be collected by our local council to be recycled.

It made me wonder about the environmental Pros and Cons of real trees and fake trees.  Having a fake tree in the loft and having used this for over 10 years interspersed with real ones, made me want to find out which was best.  There are 3 options if you want a tree inside this Christmas:  Fake, a cut real tree or a pot grown real tree.  Below I try to lay out the pros and cons of each.

Carbon Footprint:  The Carbon Trust state that ‘An artificial tree needs to be used for 10 Christmases for it to have a lower carbon footprint than a real one’.  But to keep their carbon footprint down ‘real trees need to be properly recycled, either by being chipped or burnt’.  It seems that how the tree is disposed of is more significant that where it came from when it comes to offsetting the production.  They have some great advice on how to reduce your carbon impact generally over Christmas here.

Food Miles: Most fake trees are made in China and shipped all over the world.  A locally grown or sourced cut or pot-grown tree is the kindest route when thinking of transportation and there is nothing nicer than going out to choose your own tree.  It’s also good to know that you are supporting local businesses and the communities around them.  You can find a registered Christmas Tree Grower local to you on the British Christmas Tree Grower’s Association Website

Cost: One of the greatest benefits of an artificial tree is you can use them year after year.  I love this article from The Daily Mail about a tree that has been used by the same family for over 120 years.  Not sure my tree from B&Q will make it as a family heirloom!

Recycling:  So, it appears from the comments from The Carbon Trust above that how recycling a real Christmas Tree is more important than the production process.  So firstly, yes, my local Council take Christmas Trees from those registered with their Green Waste Scheme in January and compost them and I believe many other Councils offer this service in January.  Other organisations also take them and recycle them for different purposes including The National Trust to support the dunes at Formby beach near Merseyside.

Most organisations agree that the best tree to buy is a locally gown tree in a pot with its roots.  You can then plant it outside after Christmas: no need for recycling and you will add to the winter interest in your garden.  I would say add that it’s best to plant the tree in the ground, rather than leave it in the pot as pots are pretty high maintenance to look after and it will much prefer to get its roots in the ground!  Or another solution is to see if you can rent a pot-grown tree for Christmas and hand it back in January to be planted elsewhere!  Locavore is a social enterprise based in Glasgow which helps build a more sustainable local food system including the provision of a farm shop, veg box scheme and other initiatives including a Christmas Tree Rental Scheme!

 So, in summary:

·         If you’re buying a real cut tree, it’s best to buy from a local supplier.  Most cut trees take about 8 years to grow to the size most of us want and are cut in November ready for sale.  TOP TIP: run you’re your hands through the branches.  If its fresh the needles will look bright and green and shouldn’t fall off. 

·         If you buy a potted tree it will likely be much smaller as it may have only be growing 1-2 years.  It can be planted in your garden (or someone else’s) after Christmas.

·         Keep your tree watered when you get it home as your central heating will zap it.

·         Recycle your tree! This is the most important bit – it mustn’t end up in landfill – take advantage of any recycling schemes run by your local Council or chip it up for use as a mulch in your garden.

·         If you’re opting for a fake tree, choose something you’re going to be happy to use for at least 10 years if not longer!

Let me know what you think and what you’ll be doing this year.  I’m not sure what we will be using – I think my little girl usually as the final say, so we shall see!

Have a great Christmas

Renée x