It’s a heat wave!

Wow, summer heat wave! I love a long day outside, when your skin gets a chance to soak up all that sunshine; I hope you are all enjoying it as much as we are. Get a good dose of vitamin D whilst you have the chance I say!

As far as business is concerned, it seems we can add plant sitting to our list of services. It is for the parents, but it still counts right? We must have about twenty pots to look after, including a range of herbs, strawberries, acers and a load of roses. They’ve all moved in for a few weeks. We’ve had to shuffle things around a bit as it’s a bit crowded! But all the watering and feeding is paying off, with plenty of strawberries to pick each morning. I’m lucky if I get one though as Summer seems to find all the nice red ones and has a constant strawberry moustache on her face! In a couple of week’s time, we’ll transport everything to the new house and sort out planting some of it in the ground.

This week has been a good week for garden maintenance and Richard has done a fair bit of hedge cutting, which I think he really loves. And it gives the arms and upper body a good workout too! His tips are; practice and keep your blades sharp. I’m sure there must be more to it than that, but he’s keeping his secrets to himself, charming!

We’ve dug up a good batch of potatoes today. Our three year old was very excited, digging around in the earth as if she was looking for hidden treasure. Growing potatoes is easy, why not give it a go. You don’t need a lot of space as you can always use pots or a grow bag. You still have time to grow some potatoes this year, get stuck in and they’ll be ready by the end of September for you. Just earth them up and give them plenty of water and sunlight.

The tip for this week is to remember to water your lawn during dry weather. Once the sun has gone, whilst watering any plants you may have, bear a thought for the grass. It will appreciate a drink and will remain green for you. At this time of year it’s good to throw down some seed to thicken things up. Especially if you have a fair bit of traffic, or pets on your lawn. We use a patch repair kit with a neutraliser as we have a bunch of dogs, so our lawn needs all the help it can get!

Finally, my favourite that has come into flower this week in my garden is the mock orange, a sweet scented double bloom, I love it. Thanks for reading, have a great week and don’t forget you can also follow us on Facebook and twitter.

A little visitor

This week has been a busy one as you would expect at this time of year. So what have we been doing? Well Richard has been looking after the regular gardens, cutting, trimming and weeding! He's also been fencing, jet washing, re-grouting a patio and swabbing the deck!  I mean painting on that all important decking oil. As for me and our little girl... we helped out a bluetit fledgling!

This time of year fledglings are leaving the nest, so be aware as they are really vulnerable little guys. The little fella was unfortunate as one of our dogs picked him up in his mouth and ran off with him whilst the other dogs followed to see if it was something tasty! Luckily, since they are so well trained, Conan let go (I didn't name him). We put him in a box and called City Wildlife to come and check him out. I must say Summer was so excited, as any three year old would be and insisted we give him some food and water. She wasn't impressed when I explained what it is that birds actually eat! Anyway, all was well and the bird seemed fine. The guy from City Wildlife took him away and said they would feed him along with others they have as he was too young to fend for himself.

So, back to gardening and here are a few tips for you for this week:

Weeding... Oh yes, I said weeding! Where we live there are a fair few fields and they all seem to be covered in dandelions. For the past week there have been seeds floating, very prettily I might add, on the breeze. Great for the kids, but it's getting a bit much now and they keep sticking to the lovely new rose buds. Only time will tell how many infest my own garden but it's important to pull them out as you notice them, before they root right down. Remember, "seven years seeds, seven years weeds". I think this sounds about right so if you  spot any, pull them out if you can, BEFORE they go to seed. You may need some weed killer too, especially in little cracks in paths or on the driveway.

Now for the fun bit! We've planted out a full bed of sunflowers this week, we'll see how it goes, but hopefully there will be an impressive display in a couple of months time. June is a great month for poppies (best in full sun, which I love), delphiniums (essential for a cottage garden) and Chives (fab with your potatoes and a smidge of butter). Also don't forget to plant those foxglove seeds. I'm all for encouraging people to use plants native to our beautiful country. Foxgloves are a true beauty and a bit on the wild side, which sounds good to me. Thanks for reading xxx

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter