News - Page 93
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Essex Police have drawn up a list of plants that help deter burglars by creating impenetrable barriers of thorns to keep out the most determined of intruders.
Garden Security
Among the natural security barriers in the list are prickly customers like holly, blackthorn and pyracantha (firethorn); but the police also recommend strong, impenetrable thickets of creeping juniper, bamboo and giant rhubarb.
The force’s ‘Secured by Design’ show garden...
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Happy National Poinsettia Day! Gardeners around the world celebrate our favourite Christmas flower each year on 12 December, paying tribute to this exotic beauty that for many encapsulates the essence of Christmas.
National Poinsettia Day
December 12 is the Dia de la Virgen in the plant’s native Mexico, where poinsettias have been used to celebrate Christmas since the 17th century and are known as La Flor de la Nochebuena, or Flower of the Holy Night...
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Grow microgreens on a bright windowsill indoors and you can keep your green fingers busy right through the winter as well as providing yourself with some really scrumptious freshly picked and home- grown salad greens even when the garden outside is frozen.
Microgreens
Microgreens are veg eaten at seedling stage, when they’re extremely tender and the flavour is fiercely concentrated into a little taste explosion, It’s the very latest in cutting-edge c...
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On a brisk, clear December day there’s nothing nicer than working up a warm glow outside in the garden. Here are the jobs you can get on with this month:
General tasks:
Clear out old seed packets to make sure you aren’t sowing seed that’s past its best next spring. Treat yourself to new replacements from the seed racks in the garden centre.
Avoid walking on the lawn on frosty mornings as you can end up damagin...
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A new pop-up ‘White Garden’ at Kensington Palace is to pay tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Inspired by memories of the Princess’s life, spring planting will include tulips and scented narcissi emerging through a carpet of forget-me- nots. In summer, containers of English white roses will bloom around a reflective pool, set off by gently swaying ornamental grasses.
White Garden At Kensington Palace
The garden is being planted in the 100-year- old...
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It will soon be Christmas, and what better way to celebrate the season and bring festive cheer to your garden than with two traditional Christmas favourites – Holly and Ivy. Countless cards carry their image, often with leaves touched by frost or covered with a crisp layer of snow, and your garden displays will have even greater appeal.
These are perfect garden plants, and they’ll provide material for indoor arrangements and table decorations too. What better...
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Ambassadors for gardening are setting out to enthuse a new generation with the joys of getting your hands dirty, with the aim of encouraging more young people to take up horticulture as a profession.
A New Generation of Gardening
Award-winning garden designer and Gardeners’ World presenter Adam Frost and young horticulturist Jamie Butterworth are on tour around the country, helping judge the Royal Horticultural Society’s national ‘Green Plan It’ scho...
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The National Allotment Society (NAS) says it is ‘very disappointed’ about a High Court ruling to allow closure of an allotment site in Watford, near London, to make way for a health complex and housing.
National Allotment Society
Farm Terrace Allotments had become a landmark case in the fight to protect allotment sites from the pressure to build more housing, attracting support from concerned gardeners around the country. However, a judge ruled that...
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The RHS is calling for keen amateur garden photographers to enter their best snaps in the RHS Photographic Competition, open until the end of February.
Calling All Garden Photographers
Among nine categories you can enter are one specifically for youngsters under the age of 18, and the Greening Grey Britain category to support the charity’s campaign to transform neglected spaces into flower-filled havens. There’s also a category for wildlife in the ga...
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This year’s autumn colour display has been pronounced ‘beyond spectacular’ by one of the country’s leading autumn gardens, the Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire.
Autumn Colour
‘The arboretum always colours well, but this year I’ve noticed certain individual trees that are looking beyond spectacular with intensely bright colour,’ said director of operations Stuart Priest.
At Stourhead in Wiltshire, famous for its autumn displays, acers, tul...
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Store your surplus maincrop carrots to keep them in good condition for eating later in winter.
Store Carrots for Eating Later in Winter
Seasoned veg growers sow two types of carrot: sweet, tender early carrots which mature in double- quick time to pull fresh and eat straight away, and slower-maturing maincrop varieties to harvest all at once in late autumn for winter stores.
Main crop carrots include some of the most delicious varieties there...
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Planting trees can cut urban air pollution by up to 24% according to a new study by US think tank The Nature Conservancy.
Planting Trees
Researchers measured microscopic particles of pollution near trees and compared them to particulate counts in areas where there were no trees growing. They found levels were between 7% and 24% lower near trees. The study also found that trees caused a ‘cooling’ effect, reducing air temperatures nearby by up to 2°C.<...
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