gardening info-hanging baskets

The hanging baskets are still hanging in there,the weather's being kind to us at the moment,regular watering/feeding is the key especially in these baskets as they've had tumbler tomatoes in them as well as flowers.

gardening info-seed sowing

Seed sowing at the National Wildflower Centre,sowing wildflower seed when it's at its best i.e. fresh and are we using Peat...........NO,Pete's the one doing the sowing,we use Coir. Do I wet the compost first or sow the seed then water?  Answer at bottom of the page.

A mixture to see if there is any difference in germination

gardening info-Snailery up and running

Yes the Snailery is up and running (well maybe not running as snails can't run or can they). As you can see from the photos I've started with a small group which will be added to.They have food ,water, place to hide,now all they have to do in return to produce snail poo which I can add to the plants that I grow,oops nearly forgot to mention you can add egg shells,the snails like them as it provides Calcium for their own shells,CRAZY ISN'T IT :))))

gardening info-cuckoo flower

Cuckoo flower,Ladys smock(Cardamine pratensis) cuttings taken today,this plant likes wet grasslands so it likes heavy soils as well. It is an important larval host plant and nectar source for the Orange Tip and Green Veined White butterflies.These cuttings are just laid flat on this occasion gritty sand and periodically misted

gardening info-pt 1 snailery

Going too far in our efforts to get compost,no I don't think so,an old laundry basket to keep the snails in with a lid,snails need ventilation.Place some broken pots in the bottom,add a drop of water and snails you can find.Feed them veg waste any leafy materials,torn paper,cardboard.Crushed egg shells gives them a source of Calcium for their shells.The snails munch away producing snail poo which is our soil improver.Turn out the snails into another pot use the compost put the snails in and start again. Keep watching this space!

gardening info-late visitor

A late visitor to the tunnels last week a Comma butterfly,this is one species which hibernates emerging in March,but they can awaken on warm winter days,possibly giving us false hope that winter has ended,nice to see at any time of year.

gardening info-vermiculture

These are just two of our vermiculture experiments we have ongoing at the National Wildflower Centre,these are  easy to set up yourself and the finished products i.e worm juice,worm compost two valuable bi products of the waste which the worms have composted to have in the garden

gardening info-new dwellings

My colleague John constructed this new dwelling for the local House Sparrows,we hope all three premises will be occupied next spring,all potential tenants are encouraged to view at their earliest convenience as the early bird catches the nestbox!!

gardening info-gardener meets celeb

The last two Saturdays I've been lucky enough to do a gardeners question time type broadcast on Radio Merseyside with presenter Nick Robins,today also on the show was Sue Johnston and what a great pleasure it was to meet her,I'm going to try and help Sue out with her glut of grapes,if you didn't catch the show I'm on i player and live again for 1 more Saturday