Gardener’s Cuttings
Try ‘ponding’ and ‘puddling’ when it comes to watering
It may be late summer but gardens are not doomed if there is no rainfall. The RHS suggests that by making every drop of water count, by using grey water and using certain watering techniques gardeners can play a part in water conservation. Gardeners are offered some tips :
Water butts are now essential for every garden
techniques called 'ponding and puddling' and to water the root zone of the plants and no deeper. Ponding uses banks of soil to hold water around the plant as it soaks into the ground. Puddling is the placing of new plants into their planting holes and then filling the holes with water several times. The soil is then firmed back against the rootball.
can be used again.
moss and thatch, and spike or slit the turf to remove compaction and encourage good root growth, finishing off with a winter lawn fertiliser.
and hand washing up and less easily, baths, showers and washing machines, but not from dishwashers as this water contains damaging chemicals. Grey water usually contains some contaminants. However soil and potting composts are good at filtering out contaminants including soaps and detergents.
Time for action on Ragwort
The British Horse Society has taken a stand against the poisonous plant ragwort with a nationwide survey to assess the scale of the threat. Almost everyone involved with horses knows the dangers ragwort poses – every year animals die painful and unnecessary deaths as a result of damage to their liver from consuming the toxic plant. Despite this, ragwort levels are on the increase and the BHS has certainly seen this in the number of cases reported over the last few years. This suggests that the laws governing ragwort (Weeds Act 1959, Ragwort Control Act 2003) are not being enforced.
Ragwort levels are on the increase
Data is required to paint a picture of the extent of the UK’s ragwort problem and will be used to encourage better
enforcement of ragwort control and lobby for changes in legislation. Reports of ragwort are sought when it is in or near fields being grazed by horses, sheep or cattle. If the ragwort is a long way from grazing livestock (for example in the middle of woodland) then it does not need to be reported to the survey.
www.bhs.org.uk
Gardening heroes honoured Sixteen gardening heroes from across the horticultural spectrum have been honoured by the Royal Horticultural Society. The awards are in recognition of outstanding work within horticulture.
The highest accolade, the Victoria Medal of Honour was presented amongst others to:
The Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, RHS Vice-President since 1992 for her contribution to the RHS and her work as a gardener, designer and author.
Michael Hickson, former Head Gardener at Knightshayes, in Devon and a garden advisor at Rosemoor.
Robert Hillier the former Chairman of the RHS Shows Committee, has served on the RHS Council and is Chairman of Hillier Nurseries, Hampshire.
Country Gardener
Sales of palm trees are soaring Gardeners have been opting to plant palm trees in record numbers this summer. While it’s thought varieties of the palm tree family Arecaceae or Palmae will do well in Cornwall or on the South Coast it now seems the trees are starting to flourish throughout the southern counties of Britain.
High temperatures for much of the summer have also provided perfect - conditions for growing palms and other tropical trees and plants, most of which are normally restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Dobbies, Britain’s second biggest garden centre chain, has seen a 68 per cent year-on-year rise in sales of palms. It has sold 10,000 palm trees this summer – ranging from £6.99 for a one- and-a-half foot patio palm to £300 for an 8ft tree. Customers have also been snapping cordyline, trachycarpus and phoenix palms to make up for going without a foreign holiday.
Gardeners have been planting palm trees in record numbers this summer
9
New website helps gardeners recover stolen items
After losing £80,000 worth of goods to thieves from their farm in the past ten years, Angela Jefferson decided it was time to take action. She has set up a website where anyone can post details of stolen property free of charge, provided it has a police incident number.
There are similar websites for art items and antiques, but there has been nothing like this for owners of garden and farm equipment, ornaments and furniture. Even a stolen cat and a Shetland pony have been posted on the site.
There are also categories for vehicles, tractors and farm machinery, electrical goods, jewellery and antiques, and ‘everything else’. It is a secure site, not requiring names and addresses, and it has the full backing of the police. Angela and her husband run a mixed farm near Ledbury in Gloucestershire, and have lost items ranging from garden ornaments and furniture to chicken feeders and horse trailers.
www.itsbeennicked.co.uk
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