Professional Gardening Tips
This is the practice of encouraging plants to flower or fruit early. The simplest form of forcing is done by inverting a tub over rhubarb crowns to encourage etiolated growth. Similarly rhubarb, sea-kale, dandelion and chicory can be forced under […]
Garden Path Design and Planning Paths in the garden The actual layout of a path should take into consideration the time and amount of money which is available. The garden may be a new one, where paths are to be […]
In the early days of gardening in the British Isles, garden designs were based on geometric patterns, always emphasizing regularity of form. During Elizabethan times topiary and terraces with heraldic beasts as ornaments, and quiet lawns were the order of […]
These are low-growing plants used for the front of flower beds, either annuals raised under glass and bedded out in the spring, or sown in the open where they are to flower or perennials. Although they are seen more often […]
There are thousands of species of beetles and weevils (Coleoptera) in our garden world. They vary greatly in size, appearance, and habits. A number of them are garden or household pests, but others are useful predators on other insects and […]
Garden critters are every gardener’s, or homeowner’s, nightmare. Whether daytime or nighttime, there are always animals and insects waiting to munch through your flowers and crops. Knowing how to keep these pests out is important for all gardeners. This blog […]
This is a valuable division of garden plants, for by the biennial habit of storing up in the first season a reserve which is expended wholly in the second season, a much greater quantity of blossom is possible than with […]
There are several ways in which garden rubbish can be disposed of. Waste material may be incorporated in the compost heap or it may be dug into the ground during the autumn and winter soil preparations. There are, however, many […]
Lime and liming Lime is strictly defined as a white caustic alkaline substance—quicklime; chemically, calcium oxide (CaO); made by heating chalk or limestone. But in gardening, lime means any calcium-containing material which is capable of correcting soil acidity. Why lime […]
Aphids There are many kinds of aphids and they vary greatly in color and in general appearance, e.g., ‘greenfly’, ‘blackfly’, `woolly aphid’, etc. Often the pest is not noticed until large colonies have built up, which can happen very quickly […]