Our cactus has flowered – caught on time-lapse

Posted on | July 21, 2010 | No Comments

This is a time lapse video I made of one of our cactuses flowering. It’s about my third or fourth go at doing this type of filming and I’m very pleased with my Samsung SP-30 digital video camera which is excellent.

The flowers are a lovely lemony yellow colour and have a marvellous rich scent. As they open just before dawn I guess that the plant is seeking pollination by an early flying creature. I’ll have to do some research on what pollinates this type of cactus.

Do you really know what’s going on in your garden?

Posted on | May 23, 2010 | No Comments

Today is beautifully sunny and bright. Ideal for pottering around the garden.

I noticed yesterday that there are quite a few ladybirds (ladybugs, US) on the willow tunnel we built last year. They seem to be quite happy and I think they are going around eating the marauding insects that attack willows at this time of year. Good thing too!

We have a small birch tree growing in a pot in a sunny spot near the patio. Not exactly natural as Birches are really woodland trees which like to cluster together, typically producing a light dappled shade.

This little tree is only about three feet (1m) tall and it has a few problems, not least living in a pot. There is an ants nest at the base and it is covered in Aphids. There are hundreds of the blighters!

Aha! I hear you cry. The ants are farming the aphids.

Yes they are and they have been having a great time recently as the weather has been warming up. So I decided to do an experiment and move about half-a-dozen of the Ladybirds to the Birch tree and see what happened.

Well, the results were pretty well immediate and the ladybirds are now going around munching the annoying aphids.

The ants seem to be a little bit more frantic so it’ll be very interesting to go back in a while and see if they have evicted the ladybirds from their territory.

But there’s more!

While watching the ladybirds and the ants and the aphids the tree was visited by a few other insects. Flies including Hover flies and the marvellous Ichneumon Wasp.

The Ichneumon Wasp is amazing. The long ‘tail’ is actually an ovipositor and is used to inject the wasp’s eggs into the body of caterpillars and grubs.

The wasp grubs then hatch inside the host body and proceed to eat it from the inside out. Very nasty and very clever. Just think, it saves a whole lot of effort on the mother wasp’s part as she does not have to look after the eggs in any way.

There must be some risk if the grub or caterpillar is eaten by a bird or other creature but as a survival strategy it isn’t a bad one.

Spend some time in your garden just observing… what can you see that you might have missed?

Deed for the day: Helping a BumbleBee

Posted on | March 22, 2010 | No Comments

Spring has finally arrived and so we were busy in the garden over the weekend. As the weather becomes finer we are starting to see more insect life, notably the BumbleBees as they come out of hibernation.

It’s a fact that some do better than others and I was impressed to see a couple of BumbleBees coming out from a hidey hole somewhere in the structure of our conservatory. It was such a hard Winter  that they did well to survive. It might have helped to be close to the house where conditions a a little milder.

Of the two bees we saw emerging one of them was flying away within about 15 minutes of sunning itself on the wall. However, the second bee was less spritely and we found it a few minutes later trying, in vain, to extract some nectar from a Daffodil.

Seeing the Bee struggling we decided to help it out and my five year old son suggested we feed it some honey which he then fetched for us. Incredibly the bee virtually leapt on the small pool of honey and we saw it drink a fair amount. It’s amazing to see the proboscis and tongue working as it drank the sticky liquid.

Five minutes later the bee was strong enough to fly away. I’m sure that without a little bit of assistance from us it would not have survived. Deed done!

Places to Visit: Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire

Posted on | March 21, 2010 | No Comments

Mottisfont Abbey and Gardens is set in the beautiful countryside along the River Test.

This is another National Trust property and is notable for the walled garden which has some fine specimens along the walls. Gardeners can get a real sense of how the old walled gardens were run from a visit here.

For anyone wantig to explore the countryside there is a marvellous seven mile walk around the ground which is open even when the house and garden are closed.

Any couples looking for a romantic wedding venue would do well to have a look here as the setting is wonderful.

Places to Visit: Stourhead – Wiltshire

Posted on | March 17, 2010 | No Comments

Stourhead is on of the most magnificent gardens in the UK. I love it and try to visit whenever I’m over in that part of the country. The garden was constructed in the 18th Century by the Hoare family.  This area is a real taste of Jane Austen country as Stourhead is only about 20 miles from Bath which appears as the centre of so many of Austen’s stories.

The gardens have a great deal to explore as they sit in their own valley. Stourhead sits right in the middle of about 2650 acres of land, which is enormous by British standards at least.

You will find something to amaze and amuse grown ups and children alike. The follies and grottoes provide one of the most interesting garden walks in the UK.

I didn’t know this but if you are planning to get married you can arrange to have your wedding at Stourhead in the Temple of Apollo.

You can find out more about Stourhead from the National Trust Website.

Diary Date – Chelsea Flower Show 2010

Posted on | March 16, 2010 | 1 Comment

The Chelsea Flower Show takes place between 25-29 May 2010 at its usual venue Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London. This is one of the major events in the gardener’s calendar though there are many other notable shows to visit.

For visitors it’s four days of garden delights. Some designs will challenge your ideas of what constitutes a garden and there will be plenty of traditional work on display too.

There are some great highlights from the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show on the RHS website if you need any convincing. If it’s your first time at the show make sure you have a really good look around. There’s much more to see than the show gardens and tents. There are many smaller gardens done by gardening clubs and enthusiasts and these ar frequently very good and easier to relate to your own garden space than the grander designs on show elsewhere.

Do you have a favourite type of plant? There are many species experts at the show who only grow one type of plant but in more varieties than you might have ever seen. Fuschias are a great example of this. Be on the lookout for unusual and interesting plants that you can grow in your own garden.

Spare a thought for the designers and garden builders who have been preparing for their special moment for months, maybe even years. There is a great deal of preparation goes in to the show and you can be sure that every medal and ertificate is well earned.

Garden work finally underway!

Posted on | March 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

This weekend finally saw the start of the gardening tasks for the year. There was plenty of tidying up to do and we were able to make a good start and get rid of some of the accumulated rubbish.

The ground has now dried out sufficiently for me to think about aerating the lawn and brushing in sharp sand to improve the drainage. This is well worth doing as the whole area was so sodden over the winter that it was practically impossible to use the garden. Tricky when you need to get out and do some winter jobs.

Another task I managed to get sorted out today was waterproofing the old bomb shelter by laying some asphalt sheeting. I don’t think it’s the best job in the world but at least the stuff inside can dry out now and I hope it won’t get so damp in there.

I also discovered an abandoned mouse nest in there so no wonder the cat has been so interested in investigating the contents of the shelter.

Selecting secateurs for pruning work

Posted on | March 6, 2010 | No Comments

Selecting secateurs is always a tricky business so over the years I’ve tried out quite a few different types.

I’ve found that Felco make some of the best there are and it’s always worth paying just a little bit more. I use the model shown here and they are up to most of the pruning jobs around the garden.

There are two types of secateur. Bypass (shown here) and Anvil. For general purpose use I always go for the bypass type as they are less sensitive to the twisting that occurs when you are pruning.

Felco Secateurs l125 Model 4 Standard

What will you be doing in your garden this spring?

Posted on | March 1, 2010 | No Comments

The chances are that your garden has been left unattended over the chilly winter. My own garden hasn’t had much attention since late November/early December when Christmas was looming large and so there were plenty of other distractions. The wet, snowy winter that set in at the beginning of the new year has slowed down to the start of the work this year. On the positive side the pest numbers should have been reduced by the harsh weather.

The garden will be starting to come to life and the birds may be nesting by now. Snowdrops and crocuses will be flowering and the daffodils will be well on the way. In a few short weeks they’ll be in flower in time for Easter.

We’re now approaching the Spring tidy season so it’s time to call your favourite gardening company or get out there yourself and do some work. However if the ground is sodden, as much of the London clay is at the moment, then wait a week or so for it to dry out. The worst thing on a soggy lawn is to trample it, the clay compacts and forms a pan and any further water just pools or runs off.

The jobs you’ll have on the list will be amongst the following…
* Trim down any overgrown shrubs. Very overgrown shrubs should be reduced in volume by a half and others should be taken back by a third.
* Mulch the garden with well rotted manure. This ensures that the plants will receive a steady supply of nutrients over the year. Additionally the moisture retention of the soil is improved by the addition of organic matter and the layer on top slows down the rate of evaporation.
* Prune the Winter Jasmine when the flowers have faded.
* It’s not too late to install a small wildlife pond and if you’re lucky you might even get a few frogs. Perfect for natural slug control.
* Plant any Summer flowering bulbs and plant the Hardy Annual seeds you want to see this year.
* Prune roses to give them plenty of time to put on lots of new growth for those lovely flowers.
* If the lawn is well drained and dry then you can mow it on a high setting. If not then wait for a week and check.
* Plant out Strawberry runners.

There are loads more jobs you can do but an urban garden will have a different set of problems to a rural space.

Have fun and think ahead to the Summer when planting. There’s plenty you can do and be inspired by the idea of a beautiful scented, colourful space to spend time in.

Awesome Image of Frozen UK from NASA – 7th Jan 2009

Posted on | January 8, 2010 | 1 Comment

Just found this amazing image of the UK blanketed in frost and snow.

We don’t get this kind of weather that often in the UK (I’ve heard 1963 and 1982 mentioned) so it is a bit of a novelty. It’s obviously a novelty my local council who seem to have on gritting lorry zooming around ineffectually at 40mph.

With any luck this weather will sort out some of the pests that have been getting a free rein over the warm Spring and Summer times recently. And so much for my blogging about November being so warm, it was a mild Autumn but now we have a bitter Winter to contend with.

keep looking »

Recent Posts

• Our cactus has flowered – caught on time-lapse
• Do you really know what’s going on in your garden?
• Deed for the day: Helping a BumbleBee
• Places to Visit: Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire
• Places to Visit: Stourhead – Wiltshire
• Diary Date – Chelsea Flower Show 2010
• Garden work finally underway!
• Selecting secateurs for pruning work
• What will you be doing in your garden this spring?
• Awesome Image of Frozen UK from NASA – 7th Jan 2009

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About

This is where I blog about my interest in gardening and ecology. There is always something to do in the garden all year round and as we have an inner city garden the tasks are a little different to rural spaces.

I work as a software developer now but a few years ago I had my own gardening design and construction business.

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What to do this week – The Guardian

• In the garden this week: Listless lawns, plus squashes and pumpkins Lia Leendertz
• In the garden this week: Summer pruning and preening Lia Leendertz
• In the garden this week: Turnips and a home for insects Lia Leendertz
• In the garden this week: Fruit trees and box hedges Lia Leendertz
• In the garden this week: Sweet peas, and garlic Lia Leendertz

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