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September 2019

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Now that November is here, the amount of work you have to do to maintain your garden drops off significantly. Get ready to prune back herbaceous plants and some shrubs heavily, say goodbye to mowing your lawn, and plant things for winter like pansies and tulips that will flower in spring. Top jobs for November Clear up fallen leaves from your lawn, borders, paths and patio areas.Clean your lawnmower and put it away for the…

Just because it is the start of winter with the Christmas holidays around the corner doesn’t mean there aren’t things to be done in your garden. In fact, December is the perfect time to feed your birds and make things like Christmas wreaths or even bring in that potted Christmas tree you may have been caring for throughout the season. Don’t forget you can also plant indoor bulbs as well as dig over empty borders…

Begonias are wonderful flowers no matter the type of garden you have. You can grow them in a garden bed, put them in a hanging basket, or use them in containers. They will give your garden continuous colour all summer long well into the first frosts. The best part is they grow well in partial shade so you don’t have to worry if your garden isn’t full of ample sunlight at all hours and they…

Lavatera is an easy to grow, upright shrubby plant that is known for not just the attractive foliage but for the large display of flowers. These flowers can be a bright white such as that on Lavatera trimestris ‘Mont Blanc’ or a deep rose/purple like those on the Lavatera ‘Burgundy Wine’, or anything in between like the Lavatera maritima with its white flowers with purple and green towards the centre. Flowers usually manifest from the middle…

There are many types of Chrysanthemums but the hardier perennial types flower between September and October and should be planted between April and May. To be clear, even the hardy varieties only grow in milder parts of the UK and usually need to be brought indoors into a greenhouse over winter and planted out again in spring. They need a great deal of sun and at full maturity, with that sun they will span between…

Buddleia shrubs are known for their abundant spires of flowers. Flowers that bring to the garden a scent of honey and ample butterflies. These flowers are rich in nectar, so much so that they bring to any wildlife garden up to 22 native species of British butterflies. It is for this reason that the plant is commonly referred to as the Butterfly Bush. There are even compact varieties today that can be used for container…

The Cordyline is a tropical-like plant that will add exotic quality to any coastal garden or city garden and is very easy to grow. Sometimes called the Cabbage Palm it grows best in full sun but can survive in light shade, especially the coloured varieties that actually prefer a little shade. The Cordyline australis is tolerant of temperatures down to -5 degrees C as long as they are properly sheltered and in coastal areas, they…

The Cordyline, sometimes referred to as the Cabbage Palm, is a plant native to south-eastern Asia and Australia and one that grows just as well throughout the UK depending on the variety. Depending on the age it can span between 3 and 10 metres in height, however, you can often spot taller ones further down south where the winter is usually milder. Cordylines prefer full sun but will thrive just as well in light shade.…

Greenhouses are a wonderful way to help plants thrive all year round, to overwinter plants that cannot remain outside, to propagate ahead of spring, and much more. One of the must-do jobs, especially if you intend to keep your greenhouse frost free or use a greenhouse heater over the winter, is to line the greenhouse with bubble wrap because this is the best way to insulate a greenhouse. Best of all, it’s a very easy…

Chrysanthemums fall into the category of plants where the younger the growth, the better the floral production. That is why ideally you want to replace them every year and an effective way to do this is by taking new cuttings every spring instead of keeping the same plants for years and hoping their production remains as beautiful as it was the first time around, which is pretty much always never the case. When taking Chrysanthemums…