Layering a shrib is ideal if you only want one or two additional new plants to give to friends or to move to a different part of the garden and it’s also easier than taking cuttings.

Layering a shrub is when you encourage a stem to root and grow whilst it is still attached to the parent shrub and is perfect for those that are difficult to grow from shrubs, such as rhododendrums or magnolias.  It takes about a year for the shrub to grow sufficiently but can take up to two years for difficult shrubs.  Here’s how:

Choose the shoot

Pick a young shoot whilst it is still flexible so you can bend it to the ground.  Where it touches the ground, work in some well-rotted organic matter or compost.

Prepare the shoot

About 15 - 23 cm (6 - 9 inches) from Read the rest of this entry »

Rose bushes need pruning early on in the year, around March is ideal, but if you’re like me you might not have done it yet so April is the time to get on with it.

First of all you should take out any diseased or dead shoots.

Next, remove any shoots that are feeble or weak.

Note that if there are any shoots that cross the centre of the bush they might cause congestion later in the year so you will probably want to remove that too. Read the rest of this entry »

If you start hanging round the garden centres or listening to gardeners, you’re bound to hear the terms ‘potting up’ or ‘potting on’, but what the heck are they talking about?

Potting up, also called potting off, just means Read the rest of this entry »

I know many keen gardeners and some say to use soil-less compost and others say to use soil-based compost.  Their opinions differ greatly but they all seem to use exactly the same compost type for both cuttings and potting. Read the rest of this entry »

If you want to pot up cuttings, be sure to choose a pot that is slightly bigger than the plants root sysyem.  That gives it a little room to grow but at the same time there isn’t too much room.  Put enough compost in the bottom of the pot to cover the base. Read the rest of this entry »

Some people love the idea of being able to sit out in their garden and feed their pond fish.  However, if your pond is well set up and managed, it should be self-supporting.  The fish will be able to feed on tiny water life such as water snail eggs and mosquito larvae.  Indeed, if they didn’t eat these, then they’d overgrow to an unmanageable amount. Read the rest of this entry »

I wrote yesterday about spring cleaning the pond, so now is also a good time to add more water plants to the pond if you wish to do so.  The full range may not be available until the summer, especially if you want waterlilies or irises - you might have to wait until May for that. Read the rest of this entry »

I always used to think that a smaller pond would take less maintenance and attention, however, that is not the case.  In fact, the smaller the pond the more attention it needs!

If you were a wise bunny, you would have put some net over the pond for the winter to protect fish if you have any and to keep dead leaves off.  If you did, now is the time to take it off.  If you didn’t, oh dear, the hard work starts now Read the rest of this entry »

If you cannot be bothered to mow your lawn, here’s a new way to do it!

Any wide shallow trough will do.  It’s quite trendy to go for stone ones but they can be quite expensive.

Choose smaller compact plants in different shapes so they’ll contrast nicely and maybe have one or two trailing ones.

Put the container on bricks before you start to make sure there’s no waterlogging.  Make sure you do this first because once planted, it will be too heavy to move Read the rest of this entry »