Gardengirl are now supplying beautifully handmade floral arrangements, specialising in displays for all occasions, we are offering new concepts in floral art and are striving to produce innovative and cutting edge designs.
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Examples below...
AUTUMN ARRANGEMENT FLOWERS IN A GLASS
Gardening at its best!
Oooh I just love a bit of September sunshine! What a welcome change to the cold and wet weather we have recently been subjected to!
This week I have been hard digging borders over ready for a nice layer of mulch, all those micro organisms will enjoy take it down into the soil so no need for me to dig it in. I must say, there is a great feeling when you spread what was a large collection of leaves last year, into what is now created, a nutritious feed for the borders!
As you continue your dead heading look out for dried seeds among the flower heads. Collect and store them for sowing next year, its a time consuming job but but very satisfying and a great money saver!
Among the seeds I’ve saved this year are foxglove, helleborus, snapdragon, calendula, lupin, cerinthe.
7th September
A recent trip to Belgium, Bruges in fact, just gave me some wonderfully exiting ideas for garden goodies as well as unusual annuals for next years planting schemes. Some truly amazing nurseries and shops. So quaint and picturesque!
Jobs for June!
Well as I look back at last years diary, this certainly was not the weather we had then. It just shows you that our chores in the garden really do vary each and every year according to the weather! This month I am focussing on essential plant staking and tying up to help prevent damage from strong winds and heavy rain.
May...glorious bursting colour to see!
Bursts of colour everywhere in the garden, I just love this time of year...wisteria, bluebells, iris and laburnum!
April calls with bright yellow daffodil cheer!
You may well have already made roads into attending to the lawn, if you haven't...now is the time! The first cut should be kept reasonably high, and edges can be neatened up with the strimmer. A nitrogen based fertiliser will provide structure and strength, as well as a glossy green colour.
As the days now get longer and warmer we can watch many plants unfurl and make an appearance, look out for climbing plants that may need tying in, new trellis or vine eyes and wire.
Easter is the traditional potato planting time. Cover your soil with clear plastic to warm the soil in preparation, gather up some homemade compost/manure to provide nutrition to get them off to a good start.
March brings breezes loud and shrill, to stir the dancing daffodil
Well folks, at last the sun and blue skies have made an appearance, and in the world of of gardening that certainly puts a smile on our faces! I see many people out in the garden, tidying, planting and preparing for the year ahead.
I like to give my borders and beds a good lot of care at this time by digging over, adding organic matter/compost and generally taking out any of those perennial weeds- this all saves time later on and is far easier! If you haven't got any organic matter then go for seaweed, blood, fish and bone, or pelleted chicken manure any of which will add great nutrients to the soil.
Now that the days are lengthening, try and get out into the garden and complete those pruning and tidying tasks before spring growth really takes off. Pot up your stored dahlia tubers in fresh compost. If you have any heavy hedge cutting or tree pruning to do make sure and get out there now before the little birdies start nesting. Prune Buddleja now taking down to a new shoot/growth. Lastly turn some of your attention to your lawn, a light rake to remove any moss that has grown over the winter will be beneficial.
February brings the snowdrop show!
We approach this month feeling a little more like spring might be around the corner...with the sights of tulips, daffodils and snowdrops all popping their heads through the soil! This month you might look towards dividing and re-plant perennial plants that have been undisturbed for a few years. This job will encourage healthy growth and encourage them to produce more and better blooms, also giving you many new plants at no extra cost!
January, new year, new garden...
Wising all fellow gardeners a very successful years gardening for 2011!
Perhaps you feel its time to revive your garden, maybe its a new border or adding/re-creating a new planting plan in an existing border. Collecting information from seed catalogues, gardening books, taking a trip to local library and surfing the net will prove in-valuable, whether it be a small planting scheme or a large scale border!
December...
December in the garden may bring shorter days but there is still plenty to do…dependant on whether you are snowed under or not! Potted shrubs should be protected in an unheated greenhouse otherwise may die from dehydration or root death when it is severely cold. This is the perfect time to plant any hedging trees or shrubs, try and do this before the ground hardens if it has not already. If outdoor gardening is at a complete loss then why not go for some bulb decorations indoors, I have now beautifully sprouted hyacinths ready for planting. This morning I collected some moss, and have found some old glass vars and glasses to plant them in and around the moss. As they begin to flower I will push in some birch twigs to provide a stake to hold them up. They do look pretty! Why not tie a bright red ribbon around your vase or decorate the moss with some bright red berries from the garden!
November...remember, remember!
Such a beautiful, crisp morning full of sunshine and blue sky's...but it couldn't stay for long. Hit again by heavy dark clouds and awful rain brought in the afternoon...yip this is Scotland. This month is the best time to protect your clay pots by either wrapping them in horticultural fleece of lifting them off the ground using bricks or feet. If your are planning to plant any hedging this is the best time to do so, by adding good manure or well rotted compost the hedging plants will get a good start. A wide variety of bare-root hedging is available at very reasonable prices, take care when making your choice, to be sure that you have researched the conditions and soil type for that particular plant. Plant tulip bulbs, if you live in fairly windy spot, why not try the shorter varieties, these will be less likely to get blown over.
October, grey October brings the fruit the sportsmen then begin to shoot
The first day of October, a sunny and crisp day!…A good gardening day! This month in the vegetable garden be sure to lift beetroot, carrots and if you have any left, potatoes, store in a frost free, dry spot. It is also a good time to divide rhubarb crowns. Dividing many herbaceous plants is also on my list, this will not only help the plant, but it will provide you with lots of multiples to either replant and keep continuity running through the border or you might like to give a little bit to your friends. Pick remaining apples and pears, store in wooden trays. I would probably expect to get a last lawn cut around the end of the month, a high setting will ensure no damage is caused. If you are going to be planting any hedging plants, then now is the time to start researching the best plants, sizing, calculating the number required and preparing the area. If you have not already started planting your bulbs then now is a good time, narcissus and crocus should really be going in as soon as possible. Enjoy this October and keep warm!
September time!
Will it rain or will it shine…we just never know. One minute I am working away quite the thing, the next I am running for cover. Late September is the perfect time to turn your attention to the lawn. Renovate established lawns by scarifing vigorously to remove debris/thatch, spike to allow air into the soil and allow surface water to drain away.
Clear away faded summer bedding plants and plant out pansies, wallflowers and other spring bedding plants, bulbs are now available in the stores so if you fancy, underplant your pots with tulips. Look out for the shorter varieties for the pots, this is a good choice rather than the taller varieties which often get blown about especially in these strong Scottish winds! When cutting back your herbaceous plants, why not think about what you can save, dry out and then spray with a coloured spray to create original interior decorations!
It is at this time that I see the garden slightly begin to flag. As many plants have been blown about with these heavy rain showers and winds or their job for this year has been done. Well not to dispare, keep watch for your ripening fruit, plums, apples and late raspberries all fruit heavily, and at this time may be more rewarding. Keep checking the vegetable patch for pests and treat accordingly, with this heavy rainfall the ‘slug attack’ could be on. Why not take a look at your favourite summer plants, take a few cuttings to grow over winter in the greenhouse or on a warm windowsill, increasing your plants for next spring at a fraction of the cost! Now is a great time to access your lawn and take the necessary action. My top tip is to keep dead heading roses as they will bloom until the first frost appears.
July brings cooling showers, strawberries and gully flowers!Rain, rain go away come again another day! We all were needing rain for our gardens but thats enough now thank you very much. This is a time which presents opposite problems to the start of the year, when gaps are all too apparent. Now many plants are fighting for space. This is a great opportunity to take note of what will need moved and where it could be moved to, in Spring. Take photographs of the borders to help create a plan. With dry spells water lawns to avoid stress on them. Continue to cut back and dead head herbaceous and bedding, encouraging a second flush.
June, brings tulips, lilies, roses fills childrens hands with posies
What a fantastic month we have had so far, clear bright skies and sunshine! June is a particularly exciting time of the year as we now watch our herbaceous borders fill up with blooms that add colour and interest.
Some of jobs the jobs for this month include keeping an eye on growing plants and staking or tying up when needed.
Remember to tie in climbing plants, this will encourage bud growth along their length. Spraying roses with a systemic fungicide/insecticide to eradicate blackspot, powdery mildew and rust. Puting out hanging baskets and continually watering – even when we have had a spell of rain. A good boost for the flowers is to feed weekly with tomato food. Congested clumps of irises can be lifted, divided and replanted, plant the rhizomes fairly close to the surface of the soil. Lupins and delphiniums can sometimes provide a second flowering period so cut away the dead flower stems and hopefully this will introduce new flowers. You can prune spring-flowering shrubs when all signs of flowering have finished, take out any woody stems and keep controlled in size and shape.
May’s a month of happy sounds, the hum of buzzing bees…my spring garden!
Gardening during the month of May, I feel, is rather exciting! We have sown many seeds in the veg garden and we watch with excitiment to see what pops up out of the soil...if you have chosen to start some of your veg indoors prior to planting, start to gradually harden off and then plant out. At all times keep watch for slugs and snails...they may nibble all your hard work over one day if your not careful, put in place some traps filled with beer and use pellets scattered around plants. Make up hanging baskets and tubs with seasonal bedding, herbs, or even strawberries in a basket work well too. Keep indoors if you can, until the end of the month and by that time they will have filled out beautifully!
April sunshine, April showers, April gardening is such fun!
April is really such a busy month in our gardens, lots of sowing means lots of crops to harvest and enjoy not only in the vegetable garden but for cut flowers too. This month all seed potatoes must be put in with earlies going in now and maincrop nearer the end of the month. If you have not sown your own tomatoes, why not pop along to you local garden centre and pick up a plant or two; take care though, keep indoors until May if your greenhouse is unheated. Plant up dahlia tubers, I like to start mine in pots, then either take from the pot and plant out, or just sink the pot into the ground. My experience with dahlias is that that the slugs love them and just giving the tuber a wee head start in a pot helps so much. Now is a good time to divide early spring flowering bulbs. Improving the soil with compost and well-rotted farmyard manure will do the world of good in borders and beds.
March, March wonderful March! Spring is jumping up all around. Narcissi, hyacinths, tulips and wallflowers are beginning, at last just pushing into flower. This is the perfect time to be in the garden, so listed below are some essential jobs for this month; if the weather stays cold, start veg seedlings off in trays and modules undercover. As the ground warms up plant onion sets and shallots. Complete rose pruning, removing any deadwood. Now is a good time to cut back ivy especially from around gutters and windows. Dividing and replanting overcrowded perennial plants. Early potatoes can be planted – but protect from frost. If early crops have been sown in the greenhouse, keep an eye for damping-off. Well I do hope the sunshine continues, but remember it is still very cold so take care if you decide plant outdoors…frosts might still be lurking around!
January brings snow, ice and sparkling covered trees…Chilly, chilly!! Right now my gardening outdoors has taken a back seat whilst in the greenhouse I have been tidying up. If you have had heavy snowfall, carefully brush it off conifers and evergreen plants to prevent the weight breaking any branches and continue looking forward to longer, warmer days! If like me, your garden is covered with snow and frost then it is best at this time, to try to keep off the beds as walking over them can easily destroy the soil structure. If you require to walk on the beds try using some old planks. When the time for getting outdoors arrives again continue planting dormant shrubs and trees in January/February, and check that any newly planted shrubs have not been lifted up by the winter frosts. Happy New Year fellow gardeners!
I look outdoors to a wet and dull day…but my spirits are lifted as I spot a little robin nibbling at the feeder. Many of us like to cut back our herbaceous plants and fruit trees at this time, but I like to leave all this to the spring as it provides the birds with seeds to nibble on during the cold winters and gives us something to look at especially when the frosts land on them. A good job to do at the moment is to bring in any planters that may not survive the cold winters, put them in the greenhouse or shed and if they cannot be moved wrap them in bubble wrap. Winter is not all doom and gloom…plant out bright winter bedding, such as ornamental cabbages, pansies, cyclamen and heathers. These can be made up in hanging baskets if you have a sheltered position to hang them.
