Blooming Direct Blog - advice

Renovate old lawns - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:26:31 GMT

10. Renovate old lawns by laying turf down

Tired lawns with bare patches and simple well-founded soil will always benefit from turf being laid down. There are 2 types of turf, the meadow variety which will contain many different seeds including wildflower weeds, and seeded turf which is of a better quality and will have only one type of grass. Careful planning is needed, the site needs to be well-drained, have no large slopes and to be dug to around 2 inches down before laying. Medum drained loam always makes a great foundation. Laying turf is like laying a jigsaw, make sure all edges meet and that it is bedded down well.

Joel

Last Chance to Mow - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:25:42 GMT

Mow the lawn

Order Seeds - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:24:33 GMT

8. Order seeds for next year – from Blooming Direct !!

Joel

Pruning Roses - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:16:20 GMT

Pruning Roses

Time to harvest - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:07:48 GMT

Its time to harvest

Plant out Spring cabbages - October Top Tip

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:05:14 GMT

Plant out Spring cabbages

Top Tips for October

Joel Richardson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:08:00 GMT

Here is a list of the top 10 jobs to be undertaken in your garden this October. Click on the links to read more information about each job.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - October

Noddy — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:45:22 GMT

The last time I wrote the ashes series was pleasantly poised well if you hadn’t heard England managed to win them back. Talking of such, ashes are high in potash which is an essential nutrient for plants which enhances water retention, increases crop yields and improves the plants’ ability to resist diseases. How’s that for a cricketing and gardening link?

Grow Your Own!

Joel Richardson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:40:31 GMT

Growing your own food is a great experience. It is fun, gets your creativity flowing, can help you save money and best of all can help you reduce stress and help you make the switch towards a healthy lifestyle. So how do you go about it? Here are a few tips to get you started on this wonderful journey that you are sure to enjoy:

Noddy - September 09

Noddy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:35:38 GMT

What do they pay the Met office for? We were told it was going to be a
bar-b-que summer and my definition of that is you do not need a top coat or umbrella to enjoy one or are those Met office hardy types and I am just a wimp? OK don’t answer that.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - August 09

Noddy — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:03:38 GMT

Wow, we have had some proper summer weather, mind you things seem to be going down hill at the time of writing (mid July). However some things do not change we still have not had a representative in a Wimbledon final and the English cricket team narrowly avoided another defeat at the hands of the old enemy.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - July 09

Noddy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:01:57 GMT

Is it a summer heatwave? Yes it really is true, London temperatures reached 31.8° C and that was outside the Wimbledon cover yesterday, the 30th June. June is looking like being a warm month but the weather goes downhill from now on! Andy Murray is still carrying the flag for England, yes I know he is Scottish but for the next week he has been made an honorary Englishman (unless he loses and then he really is Scottish)

Noddy's Gardening Plot - June 09

Noddy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:09:21 GMT

Wow what a spell of hot sunny weather, it makes gardening almost hard work. Ok, I admit it my most recent efforts seem to have revolved around a cuppa in the garden. Oh if you insist I may have had the odd alcoholic beverage following a spell of weeding. It also gave me chance to have a look around the garden with a seeing eye and find all is well. Even if it is there are always things to do.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - May 09

Noddy — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:31:23 GMT

May is named after the Greek goddess, Maia and the first of May is known as Beltane which marks the beginning of summer and is the time when flowers emerge and crops begin to sprout. Another well known day is the 7th May is the Helston Furry/Floral dance made famous (Infamous) by Terry Wogan and his hit the Floral Dance and the flower associated with this is the lily of the Valley.

Insect friendly planting

Noddy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:45:12 GMT

Seeing as this April Blooming Direct and Jordans Cereals start working together to help the dwindling bee population with their Big Buzz promotion, I thought I would do my bit for the cause and put pen to paper with some ideas to help my readers do their bit too!

Build Your Own Shrubbery

David Scott — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:26:52 GMT

What is a garden without shrubs, I always say. Shrubs are an integral part of any attractive garden. The reason for their importance lies in their size and structure.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - January 09

Noddy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:44:20 GMT

Happy New Year, January is here and after the excesses of Christmas now is the time for New Year Resolutions.

• I will weed the garden more often
• I will grow my own fruit and vegetables
• I will double dig

Noddy's Gardening Plot - November

Noddy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:59:45 GMT

I thought I would try a new approach for this November and having delved into my vast collection of gardening books (well a recent purchase at our excellent “largest book sale” for guide dogs for the Blind). If you are struggling for ideas about Christmas presents, books are always a good for the gardener. They can stimulate your brain during the long winter months.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - October

Noddy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:18:59 GMT

October 15th is one of the election days in Jersey, this one for Senators, the ones for Deputies being a couple of weeks later. (Don’t ask me it’s the way things are done in this idyllic Island). This preamble is to allow me to quote the first verse of one of my favourite poems “My Garden Gate”. Apologies if you have heard/read it before.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - September

Noddy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:07:52 GMT

Is it just me or are these predictions of warmer drier summers a figment of my or your imagination?