Last Saturday I visited RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time. I've been longing to go for ages; not only is it THE place to see the top garden designers showing off their talents, there's so much inspiration elsewhere, with the amazing floral marquee, the smaller artisan and fresh gardens, and the hundreds of stalls offering gardening retail therapy. We had a fantastic day, immersing ourselves in each garden we came across, and learning ...
1. Taking the Big Boost Challenge with Baby Bio
I've been having so much fun this week with my latest gardening project! I'm working with Baby Bio to take their Big Boost Challenge in my garden this Summer. The Big Boost Challenge is all about using the Baby Bio outdoor range to show just what a difference the right plant food can make to your plants' size, health and number of flowers. There are two products in the Baby Bio Outdoor range. Baby Bio® Outdoor for Flowers & Shrubs is ...
Giving nature a home in our garden: growing flowers for butterflies
Welcome to my latest post supporting the RSPB ‘Give nature a home in your garden’ campaign. 60% of the UK’s wildlife species have seen a decline over the last fifty years, and the RSPB campaign aims to encourage us all to take small, achievable steps to help nature in our own green spaces. We’ve already started to make our garden more wildlife-friendly by sowing wildflower seeds to attract pollinating insects and provide shelter for small ...
How well do you know your weeds from your plants?
When it comes to keeping your garden looking lovely, how well do you know your weeds from your plants? Most of us are familiar with the common weeds that can cause problems in our gardens, and can probably identify culprits such as dandelions, daisies, nettles, creeping buttercup and bindweed. But there's a whole host of wild plants that could easily be tricking you into thinking they're actually cultivated varieties. So how do you work out ...
Giveaway: Baby Bio Outdoor plant food
Welcome to a new giveaway on the blog. I'm partnering with Baby Bio to offer four great prizes of the Baby Bio Outdoor plant food range, perfect for giving your garden a real boost. With Summer just around the corner we're all keen to spend more time outdoors, and often more time gardening. I bet lots of us have made a trip to the garden centre to stock up on bedding plants for borders, containers or hanging baskets. And of course, we'd like ...
All About the Japanese Maple
Today's post explores one of the most well-known small trees, the Japanese maple. Enjoy! Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are small, deciduous trees grown for their graceful habit, autumn colour and beautiful foliage which may be coloured or deeply dissected. Many acers grow extremely slowly and are perfect in a smaller garden, grown in large containers. The Japanese maple tree (Acer palmatum) belongs to the Aceraceae family, which is a popular ...
Our day at RHS Malvern Spring Festival
On Sunday we visited the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, and had a brilliant family day out in the sunshine. The RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes place every year at the Three Counties Showground. I've been a few times now, and each year it just gets better. You can expect all the usual features of a flower show; floral marquee, show gardens, celebrity talks, workshops, food and drink, entertainment, and lots of plant stalls to tempt even the ...
How to create an eco-friendly garden
When it comes to your garden, do you try to be as eco-friendly as possible? Minimising our impact on the planet is by no means a new trend, and we're all very familiar with ways to be more environmentally-friendly around the home; recycling packaging, choosing low-energy light bulbs, and insulating our houses well are all pretty much the norm these days. But what about extending this way of living to our gardens? I bet when it comes to the ...
Craft your way to a Summer garden party
It's happened: there have been enough mild, sunny days now this Spring to convince me that it's time to dust off the picnic blanket, and start planning some Summer garden gatherings. It's hard to beat an afternoon spent enjoying your garden with friends and family, I always find this kind of entertaining wonderfully relaxing. A few summer quotes can help to create a laid-back vibe too. I think hosting a gathering in the garden allows you to ...
15 Inspiring garden projects
Have you caught the gardening bug yet this year? With Spring well underway and National Gardening Week starting today, lots of us will be thinking about sprucing up the garden. Whether you want to just tidy things up a bit, introduce some new plants, or plan a big garden project, it's always really inspiring to take a look at what other people are up to. To help you with your garden plans for the year, some of the UK’s top home and ...