Author name: cristina

There is nothing more disheartening to the vegetable gardener that returning to your crops to find them devoured and infested with caterpillars and other pests.  Unfortunately, you are not the only living organism who likes to eat home-grown fresh organic vegetables! Insects, and even other greedy creatures such as wild rabbits or deer, will gladly […]

Growing vegetables in containers, whether inside your home, a conservatory or green-house, has many advantages when compared to an in-ground veg patch garden. Maintaining the soil is easier but perhaps the biggest advantage is that pest control becomes far less of a problem also. There is also more flexibility for re-locating your vegetable place to

During early Spring, you will largely be growing your plants on from plugs or seeds. Here are a few tips for this time of year: Check your plug plants or seedlings every day – fluctuation in temperature and moisture can effect small plants much more than more established plants. Spring bedding plant plugs should be

Sometimes in the winter, we seem to live our lives in the dark and the grey. Having a little winter colour in the garden can be a lovely mood booster, and choosing a selection of annuals and perennials can attract wildlife to make you smile, and remind you that there is still life in the

Growing plants from plugs is incredibly satisfying. You take them when they are still so small, and grow them on until they can spread their wings into your pots, baskets and flower beds. Not only do you see the fruits of your labours grow, but you can make big savings buying early and growing them

If your over-wintered Fuchsias are beginning to shoot, they will need to be stopped (pinched out) to make nice bushy plants.  Why not use this freshly stopped foliage to create more Fuchsia plants by using them as cuttings! Here’s how: Using 3½” pots filled with seed and cutting compost (multi-purpose compost will do), prepare your

Due to the long-term nature of training standards and subsequent costs, Fuchsia Standards have become harder to find.  However, it is very easy to grow your own and much cheaper too!  Here’s how: Start with an un-stopped cutting with three sets of leaves.  Grow the cutting until it reaches the desired height and support the

By using these simple tips you can have a lovely splash of colour throughout the winter months. Depending on your taste you can mix up colours, height, trailing plants and make them as busy/vivacious or simple/elegant as you like. A nice mix of some trailing, some upright and some bedding plants, with a couple of