Posted August 4, 2014 by Rosina Ayling and filed under Garden,News
Gardening News
Monday 28th July
Is this the smallest park in the world? Tiny scrap of land beneath advertising board covering little more than 400 square foot is revitalised- The Councillor Gerald Lee Park is named after towns new mayor
Residents are doing it up, and reckon it could be the smallest park in Britain. It was created when a group of residents in Darlington decided to turn the site into an ?environmentally aware space? featuring plants, free drainage and a recycled bench.
Cash-strapped council spent £330,000 on garden display at Chelsea Flower Show- Stoke-on-Trent Council racked up a £67, 162 bill on publicity at the event including a VIP party where Stephen Fry was a guest.
A council making cuts of £100million spent £333,000 on a garden display at the Chelsea Flower Show. Critics blasted the expense while 150 jobs are being axed, libraries closed and parking charges and leisure centre fees raised.
Tuesday 29th July
Organic vs. Pesticides: The Debate is still a Hot Potato- the Jury’s out on whether food grown without pesticides is better for you- either way we need to eat more veg.
Spray no more, some studies claim organically grown fruit and veg contains higher level of certain antioxidants while others simply say its important we eat more fruit and veg, no matter how its been produced.
Floral hats launch UK’s biggest urban gardening festival- A range of flower hats have been created to celebrate the launch of Dig the City
Five hats made entirely of flowers have been created to celebrate the opening of the 2014 Dig the City festival held in Manchester city centre. The hats were created by Lisa Dickinson owner of Manchester based florist Venus Flowers. The five head pieces include a fascinator style design made from red roses, a white gypsophila wide brimmed hat. The spiral corkscrew hat is made from craspedia and baby succulent plants. The carnival hat includes gloriosa and vanda orchids and finally the top hat with astilbe, asparagus fern and chrysanthemums.
Wednesday 30th July
Rhododendron leafhoppers- The best time to sneak up on flighty insects is when they’re occupied – when they’re feeding, sunbathing or having sex
Like all hoppers they mate tail to tail. This, in part, accounts for their immobility since they have in effect become a push-me-pull-you, unable (or unwilling) to go one way or the other. Insects like flies or beetles mate one above the other, both heads facing the same direction, and they can often fly together, if in a slightly ungainly manner. Even so, mating insects tend to remain stiller than non-mating.
How to deadhead roses and keep them healthy- DEADHEADING rose bushes may keep the flowers coming all summer and your garden looking lovely for longer.
That?s because deadheading tricks the plant into putting all its energy into making new buds in the hope of eventually setting seed. But it?s not just a case of snipping off the developing rose hip, because different types of roses need different approaches.
Thursday 31st July
Lost Edinburgh: The Physic Garden- MOST think of the capital?s Royal Botanic Garden as a very Victorian creation. In fact the city?s passion for horticulture goes back a lot further than that.
Edinburgh?s first botanic garden was set up by a pair of physicians, Dr Andrew Balfour and Dr Robert Sibbald, in 1670 on a short strip of land adjacent to Holyrood Palace. Both Balfour and Sibbald were keen botanists who would later attract notoriety for their involvement in founding the Royal College of Physicians in 1681. With the help of their associates, the two men were able to source the necessary funds to build a ?physic garden? for the ?culture and importation of foreign plants?.
How to prune your wisteria in the summer-WISTERIAS are among the most gorgeous climbing plants, covering houses and garden walls with their delicate-looking lilac-blue or white flowers.
Friday 1st August
False widow bite nearly cost me my leg': Father left fighting for his life after being bitten while in garden shed- Jason Bulter, 41, saw the spider while clearing out his shed four weeks ago. Unafraid of creepy crawlies, he let it run past him – but it bit his ankle.
Bite went from being a ‘gentle sting’ to him having a severely swollen leg . Was told had he waited much longer to seek treatment, he may have needed the leg amputated. A father-of-three bitten by a false widow spider says he feared he would need his leg amputated. Jason Butler, from Barry, South Wales, was bitten at the beginning of July while in his garden shed. The 41-year-old had been moving boxes around when the five spiders ran out from a gap between them.
Out & About: Dig The City returns to Manchester- URBAN garden festival Dig The City returns to Manchester for its second year tomorrow transforms the city?s streets into a garden offering food, flowers, markets, music, a petting farm and plenty of green themed activities for kids.
The free event runs until August 10, with celebrity gardener Rachel de Thame leading the search for the UK’s best city garden designers. Last year more than one million people visited the floral wonderland and this year?s event will once again take place right in the heart of Manchester?s busy shopping district. Sixteen gardens specially designed to embrace and solve the challenges of gardening in a small urban space have been created for Dig The City. They will be competing for a prestigious Dig The City medal, with judges including the city centre?s new National Trust Gardener in Residence, Sean Harkin, as well as Rachel.
Saturday 2nd August
Now Brussels threatens to slap car insurance on your lawnmower: Move could cost gardeners at least £100 a year- Brussels may soon require anyone using ride-on mower to take out motor insurance. Users would have to pay even if they never take the mower near a road. Experts fear move will cost gardeners at least £100 a year in extra premiums.
here are few things Britons take greater pride in than a well-trimmed swathe of lustrous lawn. But caring for your treasured turf could be about to become much more expensive ? thanks to a ruling from (you guessed it) Europe. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has been warned that Brussels may soon require anyone using a ride-on mower to take out motor insurance ? even if they never take it near a road.
How working-class gardeners planted the seeds of a social revolution- Ordinary households have prized the beauty of their gardens since the 16th century, but it was the inter-war housing boom that made gardening a pursuit of the people.
DH Lawrence noted part of the appeal of gardening as being ‘that odd, remote sort of contemplation which shows a real awareness of the presence of beauty’.
Sunday 3rd August
The Judge: OAP launches turf war against gardening company after being left £570 out of pocket- PENSIONER Alastair Hainey, 70, is furious that fencing firm in Irvine sold him artificial lawn but then shut down before delivering the goods.
THE grass is not greener for fed-up Alastair Hainey who forked out £570 for artificial turf only for the firm to shut up shop. Since then, he?s had a fight on his hands to get his money back from Irvine Fencing & Timber Products.
Black fly, cod liver oil and family recipes: Chas Hodges passes on his tips- THIS week, the Sunday Express gardening columnist shares his trick for keeping pests off his carrots and making unforgettable pigs’ trotters
The other week on the Letters page there was a letter from Ann Lavis, Bristol, suggesting a solution to my carrot problem. Don’t know if you remember but I said I have stopped growing carrots because they end up just a mass of black carrot ?y annihilation. I had a plan but hers is much simpler if it works.
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