News - Page 95
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Clear away plant supports as part of your end-of- season clear up and store them carefully for next year.
Clear Away Those Plant Supports
Whether they’re bamboo canes, hazel rods, or metal plant grids and obelisks they’ll do sterling service for years to come if you treat them well now.
Untwine old plant stems and cart them off to the compost heap as long as they weren’t diseased (in which case put them in with the green waste collection or bu...
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British gardens have a new and unwelcome visitor as an Asian hornet has been spotted for the first time in Gloucestershire.
New Garden Pests
The sighting prompted a search for its nest across a three-mile surveillance zone. A large nest was subsequently found at the top of a conifer tree and destroyed.
The insects are up to 3cm in length, with entirely dark-brown bodies with the last abdominal segment almost entirely yellow. They also have yel...
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Ripen the last of the green tomatoes now before it’s too late. There are always a few underripe tomatoes left at the end of the season, but there’s still time to persuade at least some of them to turn red before the first frosts.
Persuade those Tomatoes!
First, 'stop' your plants by removing growing tips so they're concentrating on fruit rather than new foliage. Then maximise what heat there is by detaching plants from supports and laying them flat o...
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Celebrate the nation’s favourite fruit at an Apple Day near you. These annual festivals of all things appley are taking place around the country throughout this month, so look out for the event nearest you.
National Apple Day!
Among the biggest is the National Apple Festival, held at the home of largest collection of apples in the country, Brogdale Fruit Collection in Kent (www.brogdalecollections.org...
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The brilliant colours of autumn, caught by rays of mellow sunshine, are among the highlights of the gardening year. It’s also time to put the garden gently to bed, so there’s plenty to get on with this month!
General tasks:
Go on a slug and snail hunt looking for both pests and clumps of their pearly white eggs.
Clear autumn leaves from flower beds regularly, especially if they’re collecting in the crowns of p...
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Berry-bearing trees and shrubs come into their own in autumn, creating colourful displays that can last well into winter. From elder berries to rose hips, crab apples to firethorns, the addition of berrying plants adds to a new dimension to any garden, with plants carry fruits and berries through autumn and into winter.
Berrying plants also provide home grown food for hungry birds and wildlife too, enhancing their appeal and value to any garden.
Evergr...
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Over one in ten native species of plant and wildlife in Britain are facing extinction, and about half are in decline according to the latest analysis of the state of wildlife in our country today.
Is Britain's Wildlife facing Extinction?
Over 50 plant conservation and wildlife organisations pooled resources to create the State of Nature report, monitoring almost 10,000 species from plants and lichens to birds and butterflies.
...
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Green walls and roof gardens play a far greater part in improving city living than previously thought, according to a new research study.
Improving City Living
Researchers looked at five cities – Berlin, Hong Kong, Melbourne, London and Los Angeles – and measured the impact on noise, pollution and heat of green infrastructure such as vertical planting and green roofs.
They found greenery on buildings can reduce air pollution b...
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Sow winter lettuce while the weather is still mild to give them plenty of time to establish into young plants for growing outside under cloches in the garden or in borders or grow bags in the greenhouse.
Sow your Lettuce Now
Winter lettuces are bred to tolerate the vagaries of a British winter, allowing you to produce a generous supply of lettuces from your garden every month of the year if you switch to hardier varieties now. They are every bit as d...
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The ultimate harvest festival gets under way this weekend as the RHS Malvern Autumn Show opens its doors for a two-day celebration of all things grow-your- own.
RHS Malvern Autumn Show
A highlight is the UK National Giant Vegetables Championship, where the country’s top vegetable growers vie for honours in growing the longest parsnip, fattest onion or heaviest pumpkin. Last year three world records were broken at the show. The longest beetroot, grown...
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Spending just half an hour a day gardening could reduce your risk of heart attack by over 50% according to new research.
Researchers studied 2,456 men and women aged between 65 and 74 over 12 years between 1997 and 2007. First they divided them into three groups according to the amount of physical activity they took part in.
Gardening can Improve your Health
The first group had ‘low’ levels of activity of less than four hours a week. The secon...
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Get ready to refill the greenhouse the moment your summer crops are spent and you can coax an extra crop of leafy veg and salads to see you right through the winter.
Refill your greenhouse
As you pick the last of your tomatoes and the aubergines and green peppers begin running out of steam, sow hardier varieties of lettuce from seed into pots or modules in the cold frame. You can also start winter baby-leaf salad mixes including oriental vegeta...
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