Harrod Horticultural have these cane tops to stop you hurting yourself on canes in the garden as well as a range of canes in different sizes.
Some people prefer making wigwams of canes for beans and some people like a tunnel. To make the tunnel you need to make like a tent frame shape with two canes and tie them at the top. Firm them in well and put another two in a foot or so apart. At the top do the same and then put a cane across the top. If you have long canes you can go across several sections. FIx this top cane on as it stablises the structure. Runner beans will race along the top. There are often discussions about which makes it easier to pick the beans but it’s down to personal preference I think.

If you’re using them for tomatoes make sure they are sturdy enough as tomatoes weight a lot!

Cane
Caps (pack of 10) – £2.75
Simple but very effective these Cane Caps will protect your eyes from the tips
of the many bamboo canes used in the garden for plant support purposes and are
one of those little greenhouse and garden essentials you just can’t do without!Made
from rubberised plastic the cane toppers plastic will fit sungly over bamboo
canes of all sizes and the dark green colour ensures they blend into the garden
surroundings but still offer eye and facial protection. Use the bamboo cane
caps year after year and even though they’re supplied in a handy pack size of
10 cane caps you can never have enough of them!

Read the rest of this entry »

This is very neat and you could try this in the garden this bonfire night!

Fab competition on Facebook to win a bramley apple tree! You have to like and share the tree2mydoor page!

Too bizarre to be made up. Chicken leads so you can take them for a walk and nappies…

Go on have a giggle! I’ve heard of cats who like being on leads but never thought about chickens until I saw this link!

I’ve moved one of my plastic compost bins in the garden today. I emptied out the compost and barrowed it to different parts of my vegetable patch to rake it out later.
It was amazing stuff for the most part apart from a layer of thin twigs that hadn’t rotted down completely. It’s probably the best compost I’ve ever made – pictures will follow shortly!

I’ve had 4 barrows of compost out of the bin which is great. I’ve moved the bin slightly and started filling it up with the dead pumpkin and courgette plants that have been fading in colour and vigor this week due to the weather change.

In the compost bin I found a few potatoes too – there’s always a potato plant that manages to grow in the compost and I always leave them. They rot down or in this case produce potatoes! I’ve got about three pound of potatoes for my tea. I also found a courgette when I cleared them too!

I’m going to clear up the patch, weed the strawberries and maybe take some more runners off.

My allotment needs strimming. The big section I have left to do looks very overgrown.

We had a plotholder use the rotavator yesterday and they tried to force it through tree roots and it’s broken the drive belt. They’ve also managed to lose the bolt and split pin that holds the depth leg on. Which means I have to shop around for the best place to get replacement parts. The genuine article drive belt costs £17 at Merry Tiller supplies – but my dad says if it’s just a “V” section belt you can replace it for a couple of quid with a car fan belt. That of course means going to the local parts shop at some point in the next day or three to see how much it costs for a new one rather than just ordering on the internet. The plotholder has offered to pay for the new parts though.

With the winds threatening to bring all the leaves down you’ll have to start thinking about clearing them up. It’s well worth putting them in a separate leaf container to rot down. Leaves take longer than normal weeds so it’s best to compost them on their own and leave for a couple of years.
Clear up using a rake and some leaf pickers that make scouping them up easier.

Leaves are slippy when they rot so it’s a good idea to clear them off pathways and drives.

These leaf tools are available at Tooled Up

Draper 550mm Head Plastic Leaf Rake £6.95
23 tooth rake with head securely fixed to varnished natural wood handle….

Read the rest of this entry »

Order seed catalogues for reading material during the winter months

Every gardener looks forward to getting seed catalogues fall through the letterbox. They’re always exciting to read through to see what’s new and exciting.

Marshalls Seeds Catalogue
Really Wild Flowers eNewsletter
Thompson & Morgan Seeds Catalogue
Unwins Seeds Catalogue
Vine House Farm Bird Foods Catalogue
Wiggly Wigglers Catalogue

WIGGLY WIGGLERS CATALOGUEore than just worms! Wiggly Wigglers is an award-winning, natural gardening company based on Lower Blakemere Farm in Herefordshire. We supply everything the budding Tom & Barbara (or even Jerry & Margo) needs, straight from our farm

My main advice is to stay in. Walking on wet ground compresses it and damages the soil structure.

Order some gardening catalogues instead

There are loads to pick from
Agriframes Catalogue
Harrod Horticultural – Garden Catalogue
As passionate gardeners like you we appreciate how important it is to have quality garden products at your fingertips and the comprehensive range on our website ensures that you have a useful companion throughout the gardening months. Quality products built on over 50 years of Manufacturing Expertis . . .

LBS Garden Warehouse eNewsletter
Sign Up and receive weekly emails informing customers of discounts, offers, new items, tips and advice. – Everything for the gardener at down to earth prices. LBS has been trading for over 40 years, serving all areas of horticulture with ‘everything for the gardener at down to earth prices’. . . .
Marshalls Seeds Catalogue
Britain’s Premier Fruit and Vegetable Seeds and Plants Catalogue – supplying both vegetable seeds and plants, together with the very best seed potatoes, onion sets, top and soft fruit. The first choice of Prize Winning Gardeners and Lovers of Real Food.
Unwins Seeds Catalogue
A comprehensive range of flower and vegetable seeds, young plants and bulbs. In fact everything that the keen gardener will need to create stunning displays.

Known as Lewiston cornsalad, lamb’s lettuce, fetticus, field salad, mâche, feldsalat, nut lettuce and rapunzel, lambs lettuce is a great overwinter salad vegetable.
Sow from July onwards

Corn Salad ‘Cavallo’ – 1 packet (650 seeds) from Thompson & Morgan £2.29
Corn Salad Cavallo keeps on producing a mass of fresh flavoured, deep green ‘lamb’s lettuce’ leaves. A late summer sowing will guarantee winter salads.