If you’re interested in gardening and nature you’re probably aware that bees are in trouble, with numbers and species in quite dramatic decline. What you might not be aware of is just how important bees are to us and the planet in general.Bees don’t just make honey and give us a lovely sound in the garden on summer afternoons. Bees are vital for the pollination of plants - including food crops - and this insect family ...
Plant care tips for containers
Collaborative post The world of plant care can be more than a little bewildering, can’t it? Unless you’re a gardening expert, it can be tricky working out just what you need to do (or not do!) to make sure your indoor and outdoor plants thrive. I love gardening, but that certainly doesn’t mean I’ve got the plant care right every time; in fact I’ve had many disasters over the years. I’ve also had lots of times where my plants thrived but I ...
7. The 10 minute gardener: quick summer gardening jobs
Welcome to the latest post in this series, looking at quick gardening jobs you can fit into a busy schedule. This time I'm looking at ways to stay on top of your summer garden.Things have certainly warmed up in the last couple of weeks, and I’m really enjoying my garden now the summer plants are bursting into life. I think the ‘little and often’ approach is best for gardening at this time of year; keeping on top of the garden ...
Tool Hire: why renting the right tool for the job makes sense
Collaborative postAre you working on a renovation project or creating your dream home? Having the right tools for the job can make all the difference; if you've ever tried to make do with a tool that isn't quite fit for purpose, you'll probably know only too well just how quickly it can take the joy out of your project. Having said that, buying all the equipment you need can often be very expensive. This is where tool rental could be ...
Grow Your Own for kids: how to grow salad
Over the last few years my kids have got involved with lots of different aspects of gardening; they've sown seeds, harvested crops, dug, planted, watered, weeded and simply played in the mud. They love all of it, but if you asked them what their favourite gardening job was, they'd say growing plants from seeds every time.I can understand why. There's just something so magical about planting a seed, watering it, and watching ...
How to get your garden ready for summer
Summer is on the way, and with it the chance to spend more time enjoying our outdoor space. Is your garden ready? During the colder months we naturally spend less time taking care of our gardens, but when the weather warms up again in summer we immediately want to get out there and enjoy them. The trouble is, there’s often work required to get things looking good before we can sit back and enjoy the view! If your garden is looking a ...
How to grow potatoes in a bag
It's potato planting time!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 basically a treasure hunt as all those lovely spuds are unearthed!If you've got lots of room in the garden or at an allotment, you ...
Family Home Storage Tips
Collaborative postHaving enough storage space in a family home can make a huge difference to the practicality and look of your living spaces. This guest post has lots of home storage tips on how to get it right!One of the most rewarding experiences is to watch your family grow. The problem with a growing family, however, is that sooner or later you're going to run out of space in your home. As a family grows, so does the ...
The garden tools and equipment you really need
Collaborative postIf you had to estimate how many pieces of gardening equipment you had, how big would that number be? Be honest!I’m asking this question because I’ve just given my shed a bit of a tidy-up before the gardening season really takes off, and I almost disappeared under the pile of gardening stuff I had to re-arrange. And that got me thinking: which things could I literally not garden without?There’s a ...
Growing sunflowers with children
Have you planted any seeds yet this year? Now's the ideal time to get growing, and if you're looking for easy seeds to grow with children it's hard to beat sunflowers.As well as producing seriously impressive blooms, sunflower seeds are easy for little hands to deal with, and pretty low maintenance to grow. They're also brilliant for local wildlife; the flowers are great for bees and other pollinating insects, and birds love to eat ...