Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the best things any gardener can do. Its easy and costs very little in time or effort...
Gardening in France
In this section we have monthly gardening tips, ideas and projects for your garden in France from encouraging wildlife into your garden, taking cuttings, organic composting and growing your own fruit and veg to building a simple wildlife pond.Organic Composting
Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the best things any gardener can do. Its easy and costs very little in time or effort...
French gardening - work with nature
When we get down to chemistry, clay has a particle size small enough to he electrically charged and so nutrients can be held firmly on its surface, while sand is too large for this to happen so nutrients can easily be leached from it...
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Growing Rhubarb in the garden
Don't forget to cover your rhubarb for earlier crops. An old dustbin will do and a bit of straw for insulation is a good idea. Turn the bin upside down over the rhubarb crown. If you have just planted a
piece then don't...
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Beware the frosts
In frosty weather, newly planted plants can lift out of the ground slightly as the ground freezes and expands, then contracting as it thaws, with the result that the plant can lift up, but not go back down. Look out for this and firm plants back in as required...
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Caring for houseplants
To many people, a home is not complete without attractive potted plants. Proper care of houseplants helps increase satisfaction and enjoyment from them and extends the blooming period of many flowering plants...
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Hydrangea's in France
A dramatic garden in northern France is a unique shrine to this most handsome flower, finds Vivian Russell...
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Attracting birds to the garden
A gardener's relationship with birds is one of mutual benefit. The gardener provides for a few of the birds basic needs, and the birds help to keep down the insect population...
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Grow you own birdhouse
Bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) are easy to grow on fences or trellises, and once dried they make an ideal home for purple martins, swallows, chickadees and wrens. Although gourds can be grown in hills as you would grow squash and pumpkin, gourds that are left lying on the ground will flatten...
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The magic of annual vines
For the cost of a packet of seeds, you can quickly create a show stopping garden accent or a living hideaway for children, hide a rusty chain link fence or an unsightly garage wall...
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How to take stem cuttings
This type of stem cutting most suitable for propagating houseplants is the herbaceous cutting. It is made from tender growth of terminal shoots...
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Taking Cuttings
Plant shoot cuttings are usually taken from plant growth of the current growing season. Cuttings may be taken from various stages of plant growth. The range of cuttings is from succulent to hardwood. It is not possible to state one type...
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Cyclamens
When there are so few flowers in the garden, we get to know those few very well. We examine minutely the markings on snowdrops and hellebores, and breathe in the scent of hamamelis and chimonanthus...
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A simple wildlife pond
Encouraging wildlife into your garden. A pond of any size will attract many types of wildlife to your garden from birds & insects to amphibians...
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Gardening Jobs for January
Why not try 'planting' a mistletoe berry, by making a slit in the bark of an apple, robinia or poplar tree and pressing in the seed at the centre of one of the white berries. It produces moderate success...
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Gardening Jobs For February
You can enjoy fresh veg even in the depths of winter. Leeks, Brussels sprouts and cabbages can be picked as you need them. Check sprouts regularly to catch them before they become too large...
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The Garden in March
There is no need to dig soil deeply every year unless you want to incorporate more compost, gravel or other soil conditioners. Forking over the surface to remove old crops and weeds should be sufficient for most people...
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Gardening jobs for April
At this time of year, cold, wet soil can prove fatal to early sowings made outside. By covering prepared beds with cloches you will warm up the soil, protect it from hard frost and keep the rain off...
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The garden in May
Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by warmer days. While the weather continues to be unpredictable, it pays to take precautions...
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Vegetable care in September
Nothing can beat the taste of fruit, vegetables picked fresh from your garden. In recent years, the health benefits of fresh vegetables and fruit has been recognised more and more. Vegetable gardening especially is a hobby now undertaken by millions all over the world...
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Essential Jobs For October
Prepare site for planting bare-rooted fruit trees and bushes. No fruit trees like poor drainage so if your soil is heavy add plenty of Silvaperl grit or gravel as well as organic matter when you dig it over...
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Gardening Jobs for November
Collect seed heads from any herbaceous and annual plants that have faded, place them in a paper envelope with a label, and keep them somewhere warm and dry. If you are...
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Gardening Jobs for December
Bring a little of the winter garden indoors. If the weather does little to entice you outside, cut stems of coloured willow, dogwood and twisted-hazel; throw in a few hellebores, heathers and some holly...
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