If you’ve moved into a new house, chances are you have a nice patch of dirt outside the back of your house. Moving house is expensive, so you could probably do without the expense and time needed to lay turf and it isn’t necessary. Now is the ideal time of year to grow grass from seed but there are a few pitfalls to watch out for.

Preparation
You need to dig over the whole garden, which you’d have to do for turf anyway. There’s no need to kill yourself trying to do it all in one weekend, so take a few weeks to get it done properly. Start by clearing away any weeds, existing grass and other vegetation or rubble. Now before you dig the ground over, take a good look at the soil you have. If it’s quite clay-like Read the rest of this entry »

It’s an old adage I know but… ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’ and it’s no different with gardening.

Maybe you’ve just moved into your new house, or maybe you’re just planning to revamp the existing garden, but if you want your garden to appear in a certain style, whether that’s mature, fun or formal, you’ll need to plan it out if you’re to achieve the look you want.

Some people call it landscaping if it’s large and formal, but the terms applies equally well to smaller gardens at the back of your own house. Whether you prefer the term ‘garden design’ or ‘landscaping’, there’s more to it than just planting a few trees and plants and hoping for the best, or you’ll be wasting your time and money Read the rest of this entry »

So, for those who are new to gardening, absolute beginners or never even heard of the phrase, here’s the basics you’re probably going to need:

Gloves – top of my list is gloves! Unless you’re a complete idiot, you’ll realise gardening involves soil and dirt and getting mucky, so get gloves. Even better, get two pairs, one pair that’s fairly thin so you can feel what you’re doing and another hard-wearing pair. If you’re a lady, it’s Read the rest of this entry »