News - Page 106

Plant of the week: Bellis Perennis (Daisy)

Published on 2 May 2017

If you ever made a daisy chain as a child, you’ll already be familiar with the charms of our favourite wildflower, Bellis perennis. Daisies are the ultimate low-maintenance plant, easy to grow from seed and often treated as weeds – especially when they pop up in the middle of your lawn. But they are invaluable in any wildlife-friendly garden as they’re great favourites with pollinating insects like bees, butterflies and hoverflies which love their nectar-rich, open...

What to do in the garden in May

Published on 2 May 2017

There are few better months to be in the garden than May, when blossoms are bursting, bees are buzzing and it’s good to be alive. Here are a few of the jobs to get on with this month:

General tasks:

Mow the lawn regularly removing clippings and adding them to the compost bin. In dry weather let short clippings stay on the lawn to reduce drought damage.

Install water butts to make the most of r...

The Flower of the Year for 2017 is the zinnia

Published on 28 April 2017

The Flower of the Year for 2017 is the zinnia, a glowingly colourful Mexican beauty that lights up your garden right through the summer. Sow from seed, or just drop by the garden centre here in Pickering and pick up young plants to grow on and plant out in your garden.

Zinnia flowers

Zinnias are real head-turners, in shades from cream to magenta, scarlet and gold. Butterflies adore them, so they’re ideal for adding a splash of colour...

Create a plant ‘theatre’

Published on 26 April 2017

Create a plant ‘theatre’ to show off your collections of choice seasonal treasures at their best.

Creating a plant theatre

Plant theatres became popular in Victorian times, often to show off the spectacular markings of dainty auricula primulas, but you can create a plant theatre out of any special plant from alpine bulbs and herbs to pelargoniums, violas and bonsai trees.

Raise your plant collection on shelves and you can bett...

Plant of the Week: Erysimum

Published on 25 April 2017

Wallflowers (Erysimum) usher in the early summer with a flourish of brilliant colour and, often, rich, spicy scent. They are often treated as spring bedding and make a perfect partner for tulips – choose contrasting colours to add zing and excitement, or match the colours more closely for a more harmonious combination..

They’ll keep flowering long after the tulips are gone, though, and even into a second year if you give them a haircut after flowering. Or you...

Fill grow bags with salads right now

Published on 24 April 2017

Fill grow bags with salads right now for a steady supply of delicious leaves throughout the summer. It’s easy to grow the freshest salad leaves yourself even if all you have is a patio: all you need is a grow bag or two from the garden centre here in Pickering plus a selection of your favourite salad seeds. Ideal crops for growing bags include lettuce, rocket and radishes but also more unusual salad ingredients like beetroot, chard, coriander and re...

Mowing the grass could be on the way out

Published on 20 April 2017

Mowing the grass could be on the way out after a survey showed the public is overwhelmingly in favour of leaving grass longer in parks and roadside verges to allow wildflowers to grow and help Britain’s beleaguered bees.

Should local councils reduce grass cutting?

Over 80% of the public agreed that councils should reduce grass-cutting to encourage nectar-rich flowers to grow, with over 90% in favour of planting more wildflowers and o...

Plant of the Week: Clematis

Published on 18 April 2017

Dainty-looking yet tough, and smothered with flowers over a long season, there are few climbers to beat a clematis. Grow them over pergolas, walls and fences; train them up a tree; cover an eyesore or provide a pretty partner for climbing roses.

There’s one in flower every month of the year, from the blue bells of alpine clematis in spring to the big, look-at-me flowers of the summer belles and deceptively delicate-looking evergreen clematis, fl...

Now is the perfect time to sow French, climbing and runner beans

Published on 17 April 2017

Now is the perfect time to sow French, climbing and runner beans into pots under cover. It’s a great year to do it, as 2017 has been declared Year of the Bean, so there are loads of new varieties to try plus old heritage favourites returning to our shelves too!

Sow runner beans

Most climbing beans are frost tender, so it’s worth waiting till late spring to sow as the risk of late frost is much lower. Sow about 5cm deep in small pots...

Create a bed of hardy annuals

Published on 13 April 2017

Create a bed of hardy annuals for a splash of colour that costs pennies. It’s a great way to fill a patch of spare ground quickly and cheaply, as annuals grow quickly from seed, flower enthusiastically all summer then die out – leaving the space free for a redesign next year.