Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

I have been given a  Ceanothus thyrsiflorus var. repens , better known as Creeping Blue Blossom , by my mate and fishing buddy Noel  which  truth be told I knew nothing about until I undertook a little research on the good old internet. Apparently , it   is one of the hardiest of the Ceanothus. It will all being well grown into a low-growing, evergreen shrub which, come May and June, should be covered in what are described as fluffy, powder-blue flowers; happily it appears to be beneficial to an assortment of pollinators. I am going to plant into a large square pot allowing me to move the plant into a more sheltered  area come winter as my reading informs me they don't do that well if overly exposed to winter wind and frost. I write on New Years Eve pre a drink or two so it is unlikely anything will get done in the garden on New Years Day as I will no doubt have a hangover and family will be visiting at some point; which will probably lead to a drink or two being sunk again!  I di

Wildlife Friendly Gardening is a very popular search term on the internet these days and actually quite trendy; plenty of column inches have been printed in magazines and newspapers on the subject as well.  I have always tried to garden with wildlife in mind, I suppose it goes back to tricks my old Grandad and Dad both taught me down the years. People talk about Companion Planting and Plants for Pollinators as if it is a recent discovery but I can remember my Grandad using these tricks back in the seventies when I was no more than knee high to him and I am sure he had been doing the same things for years before that.  Wildlife friendly Pest Control is an issue that can cause confusion - how do you get rid of the pests you don't want whilst attracting the insects, birds and mammals you do? Down the years there have been a few weird and wonderful practices undertaken by gardeners. As a child, perhaps no more than five or six-years-old, I remember watching my Grandad sprinkling salt a

It's December, Christmas is nearly upon us and we find ourselves in a bit of a mess with Plan B having been implemented. Does anyone else get the feeling we will be onto plan X, Y or Z by the time this covid malarkey is dealt with! Many of you will probably be working from home again, I am, and, if you are anything like me, you have probably already spent a fair bit of time looking at the garden and wondering what you can be getting on with on your plot this month. Well fear not dear reader I have five jobs you can crack on with.  Five jobs to be done in the garden in December: Put up bird nesting boxes. I have a couple in my garden not that anything has used either of them in the last couple of years. I have this morning moved the Tit box from out of the Cherry Tree where it was located last year, and ignored, and hung it on the fence pointing as north-easterly as I can get it.  The RSPB advice is u nless there are trees or buildings which shade the box during the day, face the bo

I touched upon the subject back in March 2021 and as I said then  I should start this post by making it abundantly clear I am in no way expert or have any type of qualifications. This article is based purely on my experience. This post isn't about lockdowns and the dreaded C word, it is simply a few words looking at whether gardening is beneficial to your health and wellbeing in general.  Let me start by saying I think gardening is beneficial for your health and wellbeing, plain and simple. This could be the shortest post on a blog ever!  That said let me explain my thinking on the matter and why I believe it would benefit everyone to have a few hours a week gardening.  I appreciate not everyone has a garden so when I say 'gardening' in this piece I am including a few pots in a backyard or on a balcony or of course house plants for those with no outdoor space. The benefits of having plants around you, indoors or out, are many. Indoors a few plants dotted around your propert