Garden And Gardener » garden

Lawn damage caused by dry weather

Sarah — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:53:22 +0000

If you have lawn damage caise by dry weather then what is the solution?

Leave it alone apart from perhaps water it! In hot dry weather grass can appear very yellowed and scorched. It normally recovers well as soon as it’s started to rain again. If after a month of rainy weather it’s not recovered them it might well have died – but it does take extremes to do this – months of no rain.

If you want to help your lawn avoid being damaged then there are some hints you can use;

Don’t lay turf in hot dry drought weather.

Don’t lay turf during a hosepipe ban.

Don’t expect grass to look green during a drought.

After a prolonged period of dry weather the grass will stop growing.

Cut with the grass box off so the grass clippings can be used by the lawn as it’s own mulch.

Stop cutting the lawn in very hot weather.

Give it a water if you really must – but watering by hand is tedious and time consuming.

Autumn Lawn Care

Sarah — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:09:55 +0000

Depressing as it might seem it’s starting to feel like Autumn here. The last few weeks of rain have suddenly started getting colder and so I’ll start looking at Autumn Lawn Care.

Autumn Lawn Care

In theory cooler weather means the lawn grows less. Keep on top of it though if there’s a dry day to get out and cut it. Leaving it to go too long just makes it look terrible and it’ll stay wetter meaning a vicious cycle can start where it’ll never be quite dry enough to cut!

Autumn Lawn Fertiliser gives your lawn just what it needs at this time of year.

* Suitable for use on all lawns.

* NPK Fertiliser 4:10:5 + 1Mg + 2.5Fe + 0.5Mn

* Rolawn Lawn Foods contain:

o N Nitrogen – To promote thicker, greener leaf growth

o P Phosphorus – Strengthens the roots

o K Potassium – Strengthens the shoots

o Mg Magnesium – Protects against pathogens

o Mn Manganese – Helps roots resist fungal attacks

o Fe Iron – Promotes a greener colour

* For best results apply early Autumn, ideally just before rainfall, when the soil is moist.

* Avoid windy conditions and frosts.

* It is important that the product is spread evenly.

This lawn feed ensures your grass in a great condition to keep healthy and looking great. Essential in damp weather to protect your grass from the nasty fungus diseases out there.

If you start getting lots of worm casts them when they’re dry brush them across the lawn. The worm casts are just made of soil so are not harmful to your lawn. Worm activity is essential for a healthy lawn.

Keeping pets off the lawn – don’t let your pets foul the lawn. Supervise pets outside and ensure their mess is cleared up quickly as you would if you were on the street. A dirty lawn is unusable by humans for risk of eye damaging worms which can cause blindness.

Rake up leaves and put them in a special bin to rot down. They take longer than normal plant material so keep them separate.

Scarification is the removal of dead grass matter, roots and moss – it can be done using a spring-tine rake by vigorously pulling the rake through the grass sward. Electric scarifiers are also available for hire from local garden centres or DIY stores. It can be done in the autumn.

Not just red tomatoes

Sarah — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:21:52 +0000

The sunshine – or lack of it – has finally allowed two of my tomatoes to start turning colour properly.

I’ve been inspired to post because of this blog article which has pictures of non-red tomatoes!
It’s a nice blog too – so worth a read!

Garden Beet Voucher

Sarah — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:11:11 +0000

Garden Beet sell Garden Accessories, Planter Pots, Garden Gifts, Garden Art

10% voucher code for all items.
Type in gardenfreebies at checkout to claim your discount
Visit Garden Beet here

This voucher is available until August 2010

How to really relax in the garden with a Homedics Outdoor Massage Mat

Sarah — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:43:50 +0000

Take the massage mat, undo the velcro fastener and unroll it. Lay it out on your lounger, put batteries in and then lay down and hit the on button. You get to pick which massage type you want first. Try them all, they offer different patterns of massage and you’ll find them invigorating! Change the type and the intensity of the massage. Feel your back being massaged, your tops of your legs and your calf muscles will also benefit from the massaging action. The pulse is a regular beat of massage action that sooths your muscles. The wave goes between muscle sets and relaxes and unwinds you in a fantastically soothing way. The full massage does all your muscles at once. Relax and change the massage type using the simple control unit. The instructions are easy and simple to follow. You’ll finish your 15 minute massage feeling like you’re raring to go again!

Homedics Outdoor Massage Mat is designed to be used on your garden furniture outside. It’s a revolutionary idea! Indoor massage chairs and mats have been available for a while but using them outdoors has not been a possibility.
It’s a perfect way of relaxing and enjoying your garden! You will find that this massage is just what you need after a hard day at the office, or a hard afternoon of mowing or weeding the garden!

6 massage motors make this mat perfect for a relaxing and invigorating massage. Just think of the possibilities – relax after gardening, chill out after work, lay back on the patio lounger and enjoy the summer sunshine, all whilst having an invigorating massage! Doesn’t that sound perfect?

The Homedics mat comes in it’s own bag. It is very easy to carry and light too. You’d certainly not mind carrying it with you on short trips! Take it round to friends when you’re going for an afternoon so you can show off your fantastic massage mat!

Make sure you read the instructions, but it’s so simple to use after you’ve put in batteries you will find the simple controller easy to understand and use. It’s got lights on, so you can lay back and relax without the need for your reading glasses – you can see the intensity indicator easily. It defaults to the middle setting when you switch it off, so you might want to adjust it to full or more gentle. You will feel your muscles after using this – it is quite invigorating and you’ll feel like you’ve got some more energy to do some more gardening!

You do need to use this on a chair or on a sun-lounger ideally. It’s perfect for unwinding after a hard day at the office, or a hard day gardening! Relax and unwind and let the gentle massaging action sooth your shoulders and back muscles with a variety of actions. The pulse option works in pulses in a rhythmic fashion. The wave goes between locations offering you a brief massage before moving on the the next set of muscles. The full option does it all at once! Try them all out! They are quite different sensations and you might find you prefer one over another. The full is relaxing but leaves you feeling full of energy! Adjust the mat if it doesn’t feel like it’s in the right place.

Homedics have designed this outdoor massager to work on AA batteries! This is a remarkable achievement when you find out how good the massaging action is. There are certain rules to follow – firstly, don’t use it in the wet! This is only sensible advice – after all you wouldn’t be outside in the rain, but also wipe down any seats if they’ve got water on them before you put the mat down.

Strapping it to your seat is done with it’s built in strap and then you can lie down and relax. The controller has it’s own holder attached too so it won’t dangle or tangle when you’re putting it away. You can use the massager for up to 15 minutes at a time.

Testing the massage mat out is a pleasure! It’s very relaxing to lay back and feel the intensity of the massage change on the wave option – up and down your body, you can hear it pulsing away but in a relaxing way! Shoulders, back and legs all take their turn on this setting. There are three different settings. Pulse, wave and all. With three speed settings too it gives you plenty of opportunity to find the perfect settings for your ideal massage.

The Homedics massage mat is made from a strong fabric that will resist water and mould, whilst still being comfortable to lie on even when not using the massager. It’ll fit your outdoor furniture whatever style of lounge you have. It’s light enough to take away with you on holiday too – and that means you can relax on the beach or by the side of the pool whilst enjoying a lovely relaxing massage.

Having a massage from this homedics mat will relax and unwind you, making you forget the cares of the day. It’s a fantastic way of relaxing and getting some time to yourself. Once you’ve chilled out for the maximum 15 minutes you can switch it off, and carry on relaxing! This is a great gift for someone who loves a massage and spending time in their garden! They can take it on holiday with them and enjoy a holiday packed with relaxing!

Enjoy your garden – relaxation time!

Sarah — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:34:53 +0000

Relax and unwind after your hard work with some excellent beer from Young’s called London Gold.

Young’s London Gold is a light refreshing beer that can be used in recipes
to add a new and exciting flavour to your food. Young’s have created this barbeque
recipe that you can just as easily cook indoors if the weather isn’t good. Simple
make and marinate the chicken and then cook indoors on a grill or in the oven.
Serve with a glass of refreshingly cool London Gold!

Ingredients for BBQ Spatchcocked Poussin recipe with beer and ginger marinade.

4 poussin (buy ready spathcocked if prefered)

Marinade
1 bottle Young’s Bitter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp paprika
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 star anise, crushed
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp cornflour
Method

To prepare the poussin, place a poussin breast side down, on a board for raw
meat use. Using poultry shears or strong kitchen scissors, cut along each side
of the backbone and remove it. Either snip the wishbone with the shears, or
push down on the wishbone to snap it. Snip of any excess bits of skin, the wing
tips and any other ragged bits.

To keep them in shape insert wooden or short metal skewers through the bird,
diagonally in a criss-cross shape. Place in a large glass or china dish.

For the marinade, pour the Young’s beer into a large jug, once it has
settled, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk together. Pour half of the
marinade over the poussin reserving the rest for the sauce. Cover and marinate
in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Bring the poussin out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Pour the marinade
into a pan, boil rapidly until reduced to about 100ml, this will be used to
baste the poussin while cooking.

To finish the sauce, strain the reserved marinade into a clean pan, add the
tomato ketchup and sugar, bring to the boil. Blend the cornflour with a little
water, stir into the sauce and simmer to thicken.

Prepare the barbecue, lightly oil the rack and place the poussin bone side
down first. Grill for 5 minutes, turning every 3-4 minutes and brushing with
the baste. Time to cook through will depend on size of the birds and intensity
of the heat from the barbecue, should be approximately 15-20 minutes. Test by
inserting the point of a small knife. Transfer to a serving platter.

Reheat the sauce before serving.

This dish has a lovely chinese flavour from the Star Anise with a gentle beer
background that adds an extra dimension to it. Try it!

I’m sure London gold can be used in many other recipes too – where you’d put
beer in a stew for instance, you could use a bottle of London Gold. For steaming
muscles you could use a dash of London gold rather than wine. As well as using
it in food it’s a lovely tasting beer that you’ll enjoy drinking in the summer
sunshine!

Find out more about London Gold here – or buy it at your local supermarket.
Young’s London Gold is available in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Booth’s, Ocado, Morrison’s, Budgens and Londis with a RRP of £1.89 per bottle.

It’s a lovely beer made from only four ingredients – barley, hops, water and yeast, and because it matures in the bottle it’s got a great fresh taste.
Next time you want to relax in the garden why not try a bottle or two of London Gold?

Potato flowers

Sarah — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:30:23 +0000

Some of the potato plants are flowering! For new potatoes this should mean they’re ready. You don’t have to empty the whole bag out – just have a root round in the compost and see what you find.
Main crop potatoes which you want to be bigger can be left until the foliage dies back.
Don’t forget to have a sniff to see what potato flowers smell like!

Gorilla Glues and tape

Sarah — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:05:13 +0000

Gorilla Glue have a whole range of glues and sticking products designed to help you whatever you need sticking.
I’ll stop monkeying about now and tell you a bit about the glues I’ve tested!

Glue is something everyone needs from time to time. It’s great for the environment and your budget to repair items in your home rather than just chuck them away and buy new – so Gorilla Glue’s range can really help you.

They have a wide range of products including Gorilla Super Glue. Just as you’d expect it’s a fast drying but it’s also thicker than conventional superglue which means it stays where you put it! This is a fantastic product that means you can now glue on upright things. If you’ve been putting off a repair because you’re worried about glue going everywhere then use Gorilla Super Glue! It’s viscosity means it’ll stay where you put it and it’s always going to be there for you. It’s got a unique design to the cap so that it ensure the nozzle stays clean. The anti-clog tip has a metal pin on it which ensures when you need your glue it’s going to be of use to you! This is such a good idea – as any one knows who’s used superglue in a normal contain it’s likely to gum up and you can’t get any out! That’s not going to happen with this!

It’ll stick a wide range of materials including wood, metal, ceramics, and rubber. It will glue some plastics too! Because it dries quickly it doesn’t need clamping – you can just hold things in place! It’s got rubber in the glue which means it’s not as brittle as other super glues and can take more knocks to it meaning your repairs will last longer. It’s got a blue lid so you can easily identify it apart from the other glues in the gorilla range!

The Gorilla tape is designed to stick to uneven and rough surfaces! This means it has more uses than standard duct tape which requires a smooth surface! It’s been designed so that it sticks rough, uneven surfaces such as like wood, stone, plaster, and brick! It achieves this by having an extra thick layer of adhesive so that it can fill the gaps on uneven surfaces. It’s very tough stuff and you’ll find plenty of uses for it in the garden from patching up damaged plant pots, to repairing lids on your compost bin. Anything that needs holding down or onto something else can be fixed together with this tape.

The tape can be used for repairs as well as fixing together items.

Gorilla Glue can be used for sorting out all those little jobs around the house like loose chair struts or legs and even for sticking bits of concrete back together! I’ve got a great test for this! When our back step was put together the top flag ended up having a bit chipped out of it. We have kept the chip intending at some point to find a way of fixing it back on! Well Gorilla Glue promises that it can do just that so it’s going to be put to the test! You can use the gorilla tape to hold things in place whilst the glue sets. This is a great use for the tape and is considerably easier than trying to get a clamp on things!

This first picture shows everything together that is needed to sort the step out. It’s important with all DIY projects to get everything to hand at the start of the job, especially where glue is involved. The gorilla glue requires surfaces to be damped down – so the chip and step area to be fixed have been damped using the water sprayer shown.
Gorilla glue is applied and the chipped piece of concrete put in place. It’s fixed down with some gorilla tape so the glue can set. As the glue sets it exapnds, so firmly fixing together the pieces is a good idea. On their website they show you how to do this when repairing various things like chair legs and stone cladding!

Tape removed and the chip is now well fixed back on the step and you can barely notice that it was ever gone! This glue is remarkable stuff enabling you to repair more things than you can imagine! It’s simple to use too and will repair just abouts anything! The Gorilla Glue website is well worth a look for ideas and projects you can use the glue for!

Adding Gorilla Glue to your tool kit and you won’t regret it! It’s got a wide range of applications and you’ll find that it does everything and more than you could want from a glue or tape!

Hanging Baskets

Sarah — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:06:50 +0000

Don’t forget you can also grow strawberries in hanging baskets! You can have hanging baskets in summer and in winter but you’ll need different plants! You can grow any trailing plant in a hanging basket and it’ll look fab! Nasturtians are cheap and colourful or you could go for some more exotic plants!

Voucher Code

Code – BLOOMING5
Promotion – 5% off
Expires – 31-12-2010

Hanging Baskets

Rustic Hanging Cone

From one of our best selling ranges of hanging baskets, this is made from natural
rattan on a strong wire frame. Prelined, it comes in an attractive cone shape.
Diameter 30cm (12 in).
Price £7.95

Rattan Hanging Cone

From one of our best selling ranges of hanging baskets, this is made from natural
rattan on a strong wire frame. Prelined, it comes in an attractive cone shape.
Diameter 30cm (12 in).
Price £7.95

Bacopa Snowflake White – pack of 5 plants

Bacopa plants are one of our favourites for hanging basket and container planting.
With masses of delicate white flowers and a naturally compact and trailing habit
these Bacopa are a real must have plant for this year.
Price £8.95

Fresh Sphagnum Moss

Harvested from renewable sources in New Zealand. To be used for traditional
green moss hanging baskets, extremely long lasting and highly water absorbent,
natrually free from weeds and insects.
Price £6.95

Pansy Plentifall Trailing Mixed – tray of 16 super jumbo plugs

Blooming Direct are very please to be able to introduce this wonderful new Pansy
for this year. Ideally suited to baskets and containers and sweetly scented.
Forming a nice mound of foliage and flowers this Pansy will also trail making
it an absolute must have plant for your garden. This is a hardy perennial producing
an abundance of flowers from Autumn to Winter.
Price £12.95

Lobelia Cascade Fountain 16 Mixed Plants

Lobelia Blooming Fountain make a fantastic addition to your bedding planting
scheme. Lobelia are versatile plants and work very well in hanging baskets,
beds, containers and borders. Offered here is larger garden ready plugs with
up to 10cm of foliage.
Price £12.95

Trailing Begonia Illumination Apricot x 10 plants

Trailing Begonia Apricot Shades is a simply stunning variety. With a colour
range of yellow to bronze this unique trailing Begonia is ideal for a wide range
of situations but particularly effective as a basket and container plant. It
will produce small tubers after the first year of growth. These can be dug up
and kept for the following year.
Price £9.95

Dichondra Silver Falls x 5 plants

Create a breathtaking display for your baskets and containers with Dichondra
Silver Falls. Cascading silvery flowers resembling a waterfall can be effective
when planted on its own or as part of a mixed basket.
Price £9.95

Onions going to seed?

Sarah — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:15:04 +0000

Your onions shouldn’t go to seed but they they will if they’re stressed! Plants can be stressed by lack of water or sudden temperature changes. Going to seed is natures way of trying to ensure there’ll be plants to grow next year – so they put their energy into producing a flower and seed rather than growing.
Obviously this is useful sometimes – when you want to collect the seeds of the plant – but during a gardener’s normal harvest it’s not sensible to allow plants to go to seed.

If you remove the seed head then the plant should carry on growing as normal – without making seeds.

Onions send out bud shoots that can flower – the flower can be quite pretty but does sap the onion of it’s bulb!
Rhubarb can send out a flower stem when it’s stressed. You should remove this too!

Some types of onions can be more prone to going to seed. Sometimes red onion sets or the japanese onion sets are worst.
In theory you can buy heat treated sets that shouldn’t go to seed.

Going to seed is also known as bolting! Some gardeners think that bolting is caused by fluctuations in temperature rather than water problems.