Don’t forget to wrap insulation around your outside garden taps. Wrapping several layers of hessian or lagging material should do the job. The last thing anyone needs is a burst pipe which could affect your household supply, especially on Christmas … Continue reading →

Make sure that all your bird boxes have had their old nesting removed, which can contain parasites. Bird boxes are still important at this time of year as they provide roosts during the winter months. The birds will be more … Continue reading →

Trim conifers for the last time this year, particularly Leyland cypress. Be careful not to cut too deeply as most of these tress won’t produce new growth from old wood. Tulip bulbs can be planted towards the end of this … Continue reading →

Now is a really good time to purchase a compost bin or those of you who are DIY fans could construct one. Autumn will produce plenty of material for the compost bin i.e. fallen leaves, old vegetable growth. However avoid … Continue reading →

If the weather continues to be hot and dry, don’t forget to reduce the frequency of your mowing and to raise the height of the blades. Grass in these conditions won’t be putting on too much growth. For those of … Continue reading →

Now is a good time to give wisteria its summer prune, do this by cutting back all the whippy growth to five or six buds to the main stem. By doing this the climber should produce more flowering buds for … Continue reading →

To reduce the need for watering and weeding continuously throughout summer, keep applying mulches to bare areas of your beds and borders. Using your own rotted down compost is always good; just remember to give the soil a good soak … Continue reading →

Keep hoeing weeds in your borders before they get a chance to establish, it so much easier to do so when they are still a small size. Doing this prevents the weeds from flowering and seeding. Also consider mulching bare … Continue reading →

Aphids will start to colonise roses, the most organic way of eradicating aphids is by rubbing them off or by hosing them, and hopefully this will avoid the use of pesticides. If you didn’t get time to trim back winter … Continue reading →

Those of you that grow dogwoods (Cornus) and shrubby willows for their ornamental coloured stems, now is the time to prune them all back. The best colours are produced on one year old stems. Prune the stems low allowing one … Continue reading →