The family cat prowling the garden will control its population of chipmunks, mice, and young rabbits.

Cut plastic gallon milk jugs in half lengthwise. Punch a hole in the bottom to let out rain. Set ripening melons in these contraptions. They help prevent rot and keep mice and shrews from nibbling on the melons.

Are rodents feasting on your tulip bulbs? Plant daffodils instead. Their bulbs are bitter, so mice and chipmunks won’t eat them.

If you’re determined to have tulips, interplant with Frittilaria imperialis bulbs. The two- to three-foot tall plants have pendulous red, orange, or yellow blooms. They exude a skunk-like odor that repels rodents and moles. Read the rest of this entry »

Lazy gardeners are willing to let a few bugs eat. “I simply plant too much,” says one gardener. “I give my crops rich soil and let them fend for themselves. There are all kinds of bugs, and I don’t have time to fool with them, so if they eat half my chard, I eat the other half.”

“Most gardeners panic when they see one bug eating,” says another gardener, who chides the “spray-happy people who rain destruction on a whole garden for one squash bug. I usually let them eat, and spray only when a crop is really threatened. ” Insect pests will eventually come into balance with their natural enemies, he suggests. Read the rest of this entry »

A successful landscape needs a garden style which appeals to you, and this is often linked to the house design. It can also be influenced by the kind of plants you like, or by your garden site and its climate.

Garden styles

There is a variety of garden styles, from formal to cottage garden, each with its own atmosphere and character. A predominantly natural or wild garden might look best in the country, or, alternatively, it could turn a town garden into a green oasis and bird sanctuary. A Mediterranean courtyard style would suit a small garden or echo Spanish-style architecture. You may like a formal garden for its symmetry, or an oriental garden for its serenity. Read the rest of this entry »

Bird song fills the air, and the yearning to plant consumes you. Here’s where restraint is needed, before the elixir of damp earth intoxicates you. Chant “Wait, wait,” and check to see if the soil is dry enough to be worked. Scoop up a handful and squeeze. Open your hand. If the soil sticks together, it is still too wet. If it crumbles when poked, it is ready.

Never work wet soil, especially clay. You may ruin its structure for the entire season and end up tripping over solid, sun-baked clods instead of early lettuce. Read the rest of this entry »

The family cat prowling the garden will control its population of chipmunks, mice, and young rabbits.

Cut plastic gallon milk jugs in half lengthwise. Punch a hole in the bottom to let out rain. Set ripening melons in these contraptions. They help prevent rot and keep mice and shrews from nibbling on the melons.

Are rodents feasting on your tulip bulbs? Plant daffodils instead. Their bulbs are bitter, so mice and chipmunks won’t eat them. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of these seeds are chewed up and destroyed by animals and hers are broken down in the alimentary canal of birds, particularly of chickens, pigeons and seed eaters with strong beaks such as most the finches. A great number, however, have hard enough coats to remain intact while the fleshy parts are digested and are finally voided by the birds, sometimes after being carried for long distances. Birds which do not have the powerful beaks of true seed eaters do least damage; Read the rest of this entry »

Trees and shrubs within semi desert areas have their own defenses against drought. These usually take the form of a deciduous habit, the plants losing their leaves as the hottest season commences, together with the ability to store water within their roots and occasionally their trunks. The famous Baobab (Adansonia digitata) of Africa has an almost bottle-like stem. Other plants spend the difficult season completely dormant. Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody loves giant sunflowers! Grown just to look at, or for seeds for you or the neighborhood birds, sunflowers are easy to grow, even for the beginning gardener.

I plant sunflowers directly in the garden a couple of weeks before the last frost. Because young sunflower seedlings transplant so well, they can also be started indoors very early in the spring and set out in the garden around the time of your last frost. Read the rest of this entry »

squirrels & chipmunks

Squirrels and chipmunks are fun to watch, but they are the hardest to keep away from your corn and sunflowers. A fence won’t keep them out, not even an electric one. They jump so well and scurry into the garden so fast that an electric shock doesn’t stop them. They’re in the garden while they’re still feeling the zap.

In the sweet corn or popcorn rows, squirrels climb right up the stalks and eat the ears. They’re smart. Often they only work the inside rows so you won’t notice them. A few times I have seen squirrels trying to haul away whole ears of corn. In a row of sunflowers they can jump from one stalk to the next as if they were in a tree.

In a small garden you may be able to use old stockings or heesecloth on the sunflower heads and corn ears to foil the squirrels at harvest time. In a big garden, an active cat or an eager dog may be your only hope. Read the rest of this entry »

Exotics — from warm or tropical regions of the world — have luxurious associations for inhabitants of cooler dimes. Most have to be nurtured under glass in temperate climates.A warm greenhouse or conservatory (minimum temperature 15^°C/59°F), or an intermediate one (at least 8^°C/50°F), allows you to grow some highly colourful tropical plants. Even a cool greenhouse or conservatory (at least 5-7^°C/40-45°F) can be colourful all year round.

Five flowering exotics for the warm greenhouse

These plants offer long-lasting, spectacular flowers. They are easy to grow provided that they have plenty of warmth at all times, and moist or humid air. Read the rest of this entry »

Three roses for shady walls

Those modern repeat-flowering climbers, which bloom insummer and autumn, are suitable for growing against a cool, shady wall or fence, or other supports in the shade, such as pergolas or pillars. To prune, cut back the old side shoots to one or two buds in early spring.

• ‘Aloha’ Large, coral-pink, double flowers freely produced. Grows to 2.4m/8ft.
• ‘Golden Showers‘ Highly popular variety with large, bright yellow flowers. About 2.4m/8ft.
• ‘The New Dawn‘ A popular variety with the palest pink well-shaped blooms. A moderately vigorous grower, attaining about 3m/l0ft. Read the rest of this entry »

Two types of turf

When buying turf, always go to a specialist supplier:then you will have a choice of proper lawn grasses and the turf will be (or should be!) free from weeds and cut to a uniform depth.

Field-grown turf This is the most popular. Usually sold in 90cm/3ft by 30cm/1ft ft pieces, each rolled up for delivery. The pieces will be of uniform thickness.

Seedling turf This comes in large lightweight rolls and is well-rooted and of uniform thickness. It’s raised on special nurseries. You can order exactly the kind of grass you want for particular uses, soil conditions or aspects (eg for chalky soil, shady conditions, etc). Read the rest of this entry »

Given a sunny spot and fertile, well-drained soil, most fruits are easy to grow. The greatest problem is damage from birds, which can wreak havoc on ripening crops unless you provide protection. Certain fruits, such as plums, cherries and bush fruits, need defending during the winter, as birds, especially bullfinches will attack and devour overwintering buds.

Bird repellents have a low success rate. Small fruit trees and bushes are better protected by draping them with lightweight nylon or plastic netting. Strawberries should be covered with netting on 45cm/18in high posts. You can safeguard individualfruits by securing paper, muslin or perforated polythene bags or sleeving around them, provided that the tree or crop is not too large. Cardboard collars around the stalks of tree fruits will prevent birds from perching close enough to peck the fruit — again, only feasible on a small scale. Read the rest of this entry »

Climbing roses will grow in tubs. Choose climbers rather than ramblers, as climbers grow more circumspectly and are less prone to mildew and other problems. The list is endless, but I would not like to be without ‘Zephyrine Drouhin’, despite her tendency to mildew, ‘Handel’, which is cream with rosy pink edges and has handsome bronze foliage, or ‘Maigold’, which is double yellow and beautifully scented. Some roses will flourish only on south walls while others are happy in a west or east aspect and others will even tolerate a north wall. Then there are those that are scented and those that are not, those that have one magnificent flowering and then call it a day and others that flower less prolifically but throughout the summer. Read the rest of this entry »

Verbena is an old-fashioned cottage garden plant that is making something of a comeback. It is really a perennial but is best treated as an annual; the new hybrids have dense heads of pink, white and purple flowers that still retain their scent. Take out the growing shoots to encourage bushiness and dead-head regularly. Verbena is usually sold in boxes of mixed colours and these mixtures are particularly attractive. It reaches a height of up to 10 inches.

Gazania is another perennial most commonly grown as an annual. G. x hybrida at 9 inches has dark green foliage with a grey underside; the daisy flowers are in the yellow, orange, bronze range though you can also have some deep pinks. They like full sun. Read the rest of this entry »

Window boxes are often impulse acquisitions. You are halted in your tracks by a wonderful display of bedding plants and there is nothing for it, you must have some. No garden? Never mind, there is room for a few window boxes….

Such impulses can be the beginning of a long and enjoyable acquaintanceship with window box gardening. They can also be the reason behind the starved and unhappy specimens you sometimes see as the summer draws on, the unwanted kittens of window box gardening that you cannot give away and that certainly don’t seem destined for a death by drowning. If your first boxes are impulse buys, or if you know only too well that you are one of those people whose early enthusiasm is liable to wane, then hold your horses for a moment and plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Colour is profoundly important in our lives and nowhere more so than in the houses we live in. Very often the first choice made about a room is what colour it should be. Colour can be used to our advantage to create a mood, highlight something special or even trick the eye. Houseplants will do all this, used either on their own or in a subtle mix with fabrics, paint, carpets and furniture. Nowadays there are hundreds of plants to choose from, and more and more flowering types are appearing in a vast range of colours. It is therefore important to consider the whole subject of colour in some detail to get the best from your plants and maybe take a fresh look at how you use them in your home.

Pinks and Reds

Although pastel colours are now very fashionable, pale powder pink is not the most popular colour for living rooms. Many people, however, choose soft coral, peach or terracotta as the basis for furnishings as it is a welcoming and warm colour and very easy to live with. Read the rest of this entry »

Miniature roses originated from the Chinensis roses. Over the past 50 years, a few breeders have concentrated on cross-pollinating the original Rosa chinensis minima, cultivated in Europe since 1815, with a multitude of Hybrid Teas, Floribundas and even Climbers. This has resulted in an extensive range of varieties in virtually every colour and shape of bloom. Miniature roses are identified by their small blooms and leaves. Plants of some varieties can grow to a height of 1 m, and Climbing Miniatures are able to cover 3-m-high fences and pergolas.

Miniatures are ‘everywhere’ roses. They grow on garden tables, in old stone wash tubs, window boxes, pots around a bird-bath or in tiny townhouse or duplex gardens where one can simply take up a few flagstones in a paved courtyard and substitute good soil. Miniature Standards make beautiful backdrops for pathways or add colour to patio walls. To keep plants well shaped, they should be cut back twice a year (this can be done with hedge clippers) and they must be heavily pruned in winter. For best effects they should be planted in groups of about five, 30 cm x 30 cm apart or in beds, spaced 30 cm apart, with 60 cm separating rows. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best reasons for having a patio of ample size is that it allows you to take meals outside. To do this comfortably you need a dining area that is well sheltered, both from cold winds and any overlooking windows that threaten privacy. Because paving and walling are likely to predominate, planting will be essential. It is worth remembering that this often provides a much more effective filter for the wind than a solid fence or screen.

Fragrance is another benefit of carefully chosen planting in this area, especially if you train climbers along overhead beams. There is nothing more delightful than sitting outside surrounded by such plants as honeysuckle, jasmine or roses. Many species are at their most scented in the evening, at just the time when you are likely to use the patio most. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone has their own ideas of what they want to grow in a garden. When I started my idea was to make as long a season as possible but I received no encouragement from my husband. Walter was a fair-weather gardener and was not interested in what happened in the winter. He wanted his brave show when the sun was shining and he could enjoy the garden, and during his lifetime I wasn’t allowed to plant many out of season plants.

But in the last few years I have found many exciting things to bloom very early in the year, and they can usually be planted so that they are not noticeable among the other flowers in their off season. Read the rest of this entry »