The best time to move an established hydrangea is when it’s dormant. That’s when the flowers have died and the leaves have all dropped. This ‘sleeping’ state the hydrangea is in lessens the shock of being lifted and moved to another location. It’s a different story if you’re transplanting hydrangea cuttings for the first time though. We cover when and how to do each of these in this brief article. When do I transplant hydrangea…
Building fences, installing Driveway Security Posts and planting trees is tough, hard work but using the right post hole digger at least makes excavating the holes easier. Whether you choose one of the manual, the cordless or the petrol-powered models from our review, you’ll use less time and effort than with a shovel. We review manual, cordless and petrol garden earth augers by listing their pros and cons and discussing their features and our recommendation.…
Poppies are one of my favourite plants, both the perennial oriental poppies and the Papaver somniferum varieties which are annuals. I think poppies are stunning plants, but not only that, they are so easy to grow and not too picky either about where they will grow either. One of my personal favourites is the Papaver somniferum ‘Pink Fizz’ with its grey/green lobed leaves and its absolutely stunning large, double, fringed pink and white flowers. As…
You need not be plagued with flies coming into your home. You can intercept them on the way in, trap them before they reach your doors and windows, discourage them from coming near, not attract them in the first place and put up barriers. My article gives ideas for several ways, some of which are natural, to do each one of these methods. Mix and match the solutions that work best for you. For those…
Winter pansies are one of my favourite plants for providing some autumn and winter colour when not much else is flowering. Most varieties of pansies are hardy and this means that they can be sown in summer through to the autumn and will give some colour throughout winter and into the following spring. I sowed some winter pansies in a new Super7 heated propagator so thought it would be the perfect time to show you…
If you have a number of post holes to dig in your garden – for fence posts, decking supports or planting trees – please seriously consider purchasing a petrol auger for the job. These petrol powered digging tools save you time and effort as well as do away with most aching muscles and blisters. All the models in our review come with three drill bits that create different size holes. We list each earth auger’s…
Sorbaria is one of my favourite shrubs but the variety I fell in love with was the more compact and smaller growing Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’. This popular variety only reaches around 150cm wide (5ft) by around 100cm wide. The eventual size of this shrub makes it an ideal addition for smaller gardens and borders. It is such an attractive shrub that has pink/bronze foliage in spring, eventually maturing to a dark green colour and this is followed by…
If you’re feeling a bit exposed in your garden but don’t want to put up more fences or walls, consider using artificial conifer screening. While these hedges of greenery won’t fool anyone into thinking that they’re real, they do provide you with your much-needed privacy and add some more greenness to your outside life. There’s not much difference between artificial conifer screens, so we focus on the ones with the best reviews. We give their…
Is your tarmac looking a bit tired and worse for wear? Use any of the tarmac restorers we present in this review to revive the washed-out greyish black colour that’s left and restore it to its original full black colour while adding resistance to further deterioration. Please note that these are all acrylic-based restorers and not bitumen-based paints. We list the pros and cons of each selection, discuss the best features and offer our recommendation.…
Getting a hot tub was on my wish list for a while and once I got it, I could not get enough of it. One day as I was perusing the internet for hot tub accessories I came across hot tub/spa surrounds. I took a gamble and ordered one and to this day, I do not regret it. Hot tub surrounds are a kind of furniture for hot tubs. They can be semi-circle steps or…
