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Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

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Easy ways to improve your garden in winter

February 5, 2021 by Catherine 2 Comments

tree branches with snow and berries

A quick glance out of my kitchen window confirms that winter is definitely in residence in the garden.  The light is low, the tree branches are the only real structure in sight, most plants are dormant, and the lawn is blanketed in yet another carpet of fallen leaves (note to self: make more leaf mould). This all sounds more than a little bleak, but actually it’s not that hard to add interest to your garden in ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Birds, Containers, Family, Garden, Plants, Top Tips, Wildlife, Winter

Tips for protecting plants from frost and cold weather

January 17, 2021 by Catherine 6 Comments

If you're a bit confused about protecting plants from frost and cold weather, you're not alone! Which plants to protect from cold weather, what temperatures cause damage, and what to use to protect your plants are all things you need to know if you want to avoid losing your precious plants. These tips on how to protect plants in winter will help you take care of your tender plants, so that you can enjoy them again next year. When to ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Containers, Frost, Garden, gardening, Mulch, Planning, Plant protection, Plants, Protection, Top Tips, Winter

Forcing bulbs indoors: an easy autumn project for early flowers

October 23, 2020 by Catherine 6 Comments

miniature iris

This post contains affiliate links.  Affiliate links will be clearly marked with a * and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from that sale. Autumn is traditionally the time to plant spring bulbs in the garden, with daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, iris and crocus all popular choices.  But while you’re planting bulbs in the garden, it’s a great idea to pot up some of those bulbs and ‘force’ them ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Autumn, bulbs, Children, Containers, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, gardening, Gifts, Planting, Plants, Top Tips, Winter

How to plant a bulb lasagne

September 9, 2020 by Catherine 27 Comments

If you’ve never heard of a bulb lasagne you’re probably raising your eyebrows right now.  It is a real gardening ‘thing’ though! What is a bulb lasagne? A bulb lasagne is a clever way of layering up spring-flowering bulbs to create a display of flowers that lasts for months.  Layering bulbs is really easy to do, and will give you a lovely display throughout the winter months for very little effort.  What’s not to like? Can ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Autumn, bulb lasagne, bulbs, Containers, Flowers, Garden, Garden tips, gardening, Planting, Plants, Top Tips, Winter

Planting bulbs: a step-by-step guide

September 3, 2020 by Catherine Leave a Comment

flower bulbs

I love growing flowers from bulbs.  You can create a really colourful display at times of the year when the rest of the garden is still playing catch up, and there’s such a wide variety to choose from.  Bulbs are also relatively cheap compared to buying plants, so they’re a great way to create real wow factor in your garden without spending a fortune. If you’d like to add some *flower bulbs to your garden, here’s a step-by-step guide ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: bulbs, Containers, Flowers, Garden, Garden tools, gardening, gardening equipment, Outdoors, Planting, Plants, Top Tips

Holiday houseplant care: how to keep them alive!

July 24, 2020 by Catherine 4 Comments

pair of houseplants

With the end of the school term fast approaching, I bet lots of us are counting down the days to a long-awaited summer holiday.  And with that comes the inevitable pre-holiday organising.  Last-minute shopping, packing lists and pet care arrangements probably spring straight to mind, but if you’ve got any houseplants, you also need a plan for keeping them alive while you’re away. Most houseplants will be able to tolerate neglect for a ...

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Filed Under: Houseplants Tagged With: Containers, holidays, Home, Houseplants, Plants, Summer, Top Tips, watering

How to grow potatoes in bags: easy step-by-step guide

March 10, 2020 by Catherine 27 Comments

potatoes with shovel

It's potato planting time! If you'd like learn how to grow potatoes in bags, this guide covers everything you need to know. Growing potatoes in bags I think it's impossible to beat the taste of homegrown new potatoes, and they're not difficult to grow at all.  In fact they're a brilliant veg to grow with kids; they're nice and chunky to handle when planting, the kids get to pile soil on them as they grow, and harvest time is ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Containers, Crops, Food, Garden, gardening, Grow Your Own, Harvest, Homegrown, Planting, Potatoes, Spring, Top Tips, Vegetables

How to make twig-wrapped flower pots

March 3, 2020 by Catherine 7 Comments

How to make your own twig wrapped flower pots - a simple and fun nature activity for children, great for a homemade mother's day gift!

If, like us, you have an ever-growing stick collection, this is the perfect nature craft for you! Sticks and twigs are just brilliant for crafting, and this little project turns them into a lovely homemade gift.  All you need is a plant pot, some string, and a little plant to pop in when you're finished. The idea is to create a length of tied-together twigs that you then fasten around the pot.  Start off by measuring each stick against ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Children, Containers, craft, Family, Homemade, naturally crafty, Nature, Nature Craft, Outdoors, Plant pots, Sticks

My top winter plants to perk up your garden

February 7, 2020 by Catherine 13 Comments

good plants for your late winter garden - daphne odora

We’re heading towards the last ‘official’ weeks of winter, phew! With spring not far off in the garden, it’s only natural to be a bit impatient for that rush of colour that the warmer weather brings. Our garden has been looking decidedly drab all winter. For the last couple of years I’ve promised myself that I will make some changes to our planting, to stop this lack of interest continuing into another year.  Guess what?  It ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Annuals, Colour, Containers, Flowers, Garden, Perennials, Planning, Planting, Plants, Top Tips, Winter

Gardening in February: jobs to tackle this month

February 4, 2020 by Catherine 5 Comments

birth flowers february primroses

Here's your one-stop resource for gardening in February. If you're struggling to carve out time to stay on top of the garden, or just need some help with what to focus on each month, this is a great place to start. You can check out my garden jobs for every other month in this post. While January was a low-input month in the garden, we spent a lot of time planning, sketching and dreaming. Now the end of winter is temptingly in sight, ...

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Filed Under: Garden jobs this month Tagged With: 10 minute gardener, 10 minute jobs, Activity, Allotment, Containers, Crops, Family, February, Garden, Garden maintenance, Garden tips, Garden tools, gardening, Gardening with children, Homegrown, Maintenance, Planning, Plants, Potatoes, Seeds, Tools, Top Tips, Vegetables, Winter

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Hi, I’m Catherine. Welcome to Growing Family, a top UK home & garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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