News - Page 138
Repair damaged lawns now while they're just bursting into growth and they'll recover so quickly you'll never even know there was a problem.
To repair crumbled lawn edges, cut a square of turf to include the damaged part and turn it around by 180 degrees so that the hole is in the body of the lawn. Then top it up with soil and sow with grass seed - we've got patching packs for all types of lawn, from hard-wearing mixes that can cope with kids and dogs, t...
It's National Gardening Week - a time to be out and about celebrating everything to do with gardens and gardening. You'll find inspirational events going on all over the country, with thousands of garden centres, charities and community groups getting stuck in to some green-fingered fun.
The event's organisers, the Royal Horticultural Society, are leading the way with a full programme of family activities, workshops, walks and talks at all four of their...
Send cyclamen off for a summer rest so they can build up their strength for another stunning display to brighten up the house next winter.
Cyclamen are invaluable winter houseplants, giving you a vivid splash of colour soon after Christmas and cheering you up right through the drabness of January and February. They come in every shade from a deep plummy red to baby pink and white - it's a good idea to come to the garden centre in late w...
Plant early flowering clematis for a truly delicious spring display, clothing walls and fences in a cascade of blossom through April and May.
The early-flowering clematis, like C. alpina, start producing fresh green leaves in late winter, followed by beautiful nodding flowers. You'll find several different varieties in our garden centre, from popular 'Frances Rivis' with twisted, floppy blue flowers, to dusky pink 'Jacqueline du Pre' and pure white 'Albiflora...
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Get your cloches ready to provide a little extra protection this month, as the weather can still be unpredictable and with vulnerable veg seedlings just planted out it can really catch you on the hop.
Choose from a simple to use polythene cloche you can just concertina out over your plants whenever you need it, or one of our more sophisticated range of longrow and barn cloches in durable clear plastic. They can be a godsend in a sharp frost, keeping out bitin...
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April's plant of the month is the rhododendron, one of the most spectacular plants you'll plant in your garden. A majestic large shrub of large, glossy, evergreen leaves for most of the year, in April and May it erupts into a positive explosion of huge blooms in brilliant carmine, pink or pure white.
Among a huge range of really wonderful varieties are 'Cynthia', with rose-pink flowers; Rhododendron luteum which is deciduous and has sce...
It's hard to know where to start when everything is bursting into life and flower all at once. Start with these jobs and you won't go far wrong. Don't forget to stop for a moment occasionally, though, just to enjoy.
General tasks:
Tackle bindweed the moment it pokes above ground. Dig it out by the roots, or paint each new shoot with glyphosate-based weedkiller.
Store seeds carefully after sowing and they'll last for next yea...
It's Mothering Sunday soon and we've got lots of treats in store for you and your mum to have a really special day! Make the garden centre your venue for a slap-up lunch in our cafe, chosen from our special Mother's Day menu, or a mouthwatering afternoon tea with some of our home-made cakes to try.
Then take her shopping - or pop in a few days ahead of time to surprise her with a gift you've chosen yourself. Here are a few ideas:
Da...
Move hardy seedlings gradually outdoors from their cosy quarters in the greenhouse or cold frame from this week, ready for transplanting into their final growing positions in the open garden.
Don't do the job in too much of a hurry, though. March can be a chilly month, and it's worth remembering that if you don't relish stepping from your nice warm house out into the freezing cold, your seedlings won't be too keen either. In fact, taking seedlings out o...
Sow a meadow full of annual wildflowers for a glorious show of colour, even on poor, gravelly soil. Try centaury (Centaurium erythraea), marigolds, corncockle, field poppies, larkspur, wild pansies and lovely red anemone-like pheasant's eye (Adonis annua). You'll find mixes of these and many other wildflowers already selected for you in seed packs in our garden centre: just choose the one that's best suited to your soil and situation.
Prepare the ground...