Summer is here, and it’s a popular time of year for putting your house on the market. Maybe you’ve decluttered indoors, spruced up some paintwork and placed some strategic flowers around to brighten things up – but what about one of your most important assets? Is your garden really working to impress buyers? Your garden is…
The start of summer is finally here! June has arrived, and with the recent mix of some gorgeous sunshine and all that rain, everything in the garden is growing fast. We’re at the peak time of year for grass cutting, while those new shoots are growing like mad before it gets too hot, and it’s…
With some beautiful weather over the last few days in Oxfordshire, it really feels like spring is finally here. It’s perhaps not quite as warm as it should be, but we’re getting there slowly, and the sun is starting to put in an appearance. A shaky start to spring can be misleading, fooling you into…
Well, the weather really can’t decide whether to warm up properly or give us a bit more winter for good measure! But spring is definitely on the way, with trees showing blossom despite the occasional cold snaps and hail storms in Oxfordshire recently. I don’t know about you, but I think March is one of…
February is an ideal time of year to start collecting rainwater to use in the garden. Using a water butt is environmentally friendly because it reuses naturally occurring water rather than drawing on the water supply, but it also has other advantages. It can: Save you money on water bill Avoid those frustrating hosepipe bans…
February in the Garden The mild winter is continuing this month as we see daffodils already flowering along with snowdrops and crocuses. It may be unusual, but it’s creating some lovely unexpected colour in the garden. And that other sign that spring is round the corner is just about to start; the Six Nations Rugby!…
We’ve believed gardening is good for the soul for years and it’s now official: it’s good for your mental health. A study published in the Journal of Public Health found that 30 minutes a week spent tending an allotment isn’t just good exercise, it actually boosts self-esteem, raises your mood and dissipates tension and depression. The study, carried…
Happy New Year to all my clients, readers and followers! It’s been a strange start to 2016 as we experience one of the warmest and wettest UK winters on record. Gardeners have been seeing their spring daffodils flowering as early as December! As we get further into January we’re finally starting to see some really…
Looking down on the garden through a frosty bedroom window at the moment can be surprising. With late summer plants and foliage dying down, your garden probably looks bigger than you thought it was! This is a good opportunity to look at where you need to be filling gaps, so this month we’ve got some…
October is a great time of year to plant new hedges so they can take advantage of that extra water to get a foothold before next year. Whether it’s for privacy, aesthetic interest or as a windbreak, hedging is a great garden solution if you choose the right variety. Even if you’ve already got fencing…