Fantastic photographs of Nature

We all love the hayday of summer when the sun beats down and the flowers are in full bloom. It seems a long way away today - however check out this link from The Telegraph. RHS Photographer of the Year

A fantastic selection of beautiful images. I particularly love the Winter scene by the lake

Lavender - an aromatic feast

Lavender is a must for every garden.

I absolutely love it when it lines the edges of a patch and then every time you walk along the edge and brush against it – you receive a blast of lavender.  In my opinion, every garden should have some somewhere. Even if you don’t like the smell – the colours alone make it a must have. 

The vivid purple and sensational smell make it a must have in every garden.

If you are planting it you should do so between April and May. It thrives in poor or moderately fertile, free-draining alkaline soils in full sun. On heavier soils, like clay and clay loam, lavender tends to be fairly short-lived, becoming woody at the base. To prolong the life of your lavender on heavier soil, add organic matter and gravel to improve the drainage and plant on a mound. If growing as a hedge, plant on a ridge to keep the base of the plants out of wet soil.

Brighten up your footpath with Wood!

I am always looking for some new and interesting ways to liven up my garden. I came across this lovely post from Practic Ideas. It is all about using Wood in the Garden.

I love the footpath - really simple but great idea. Check out the blog here - http://www.prakticideas.com/using-wood-in-the-garden/

Great idea for a path. http://www.prakticideas.com/using-wood-in-the-garden/

Don't forget about the Soil!

January is a strange month in the garden. After getting through a relatively mild November and December you allow yourself to start getting excited at the thought of Spring getting close.

Then the January cold sets in. This morning the place is white with snow and it has been bitterly cold. January is all about patience… it can be a complete waste doing certain things. Unfortunately patience is not one of my virtues and I have already planted seeds. They probably won’t grow but let’s see.

During days like this the best thing to do is to read up and plan for the spring days. Last night I read a fantastic article about soil. I got it from a great blog call My Tiny Plot. It is on all of our gardens and we definitely need to spend my more time working it up.

My soil has too much clay so I am slowly trying to add materials to it to try and improve it. Loam is the ultimate goal and the chart in the article shows exactly why it is so hard to achieve.

Have a read and start planning for those Spring days which are getting closer every day.

Here is the link to the blog - http://mytinyplot.com/master-gardener/all-about-soil-structure/

Surprise - Spring bulbs coming early!

Spring is absolutely one of the best and most exciting times of the year.

I finally managed to get out into my garden at the weekend and I was so excited to see some of my bulbs starting to peep through. I was expecting to see some snowdrops - and I was not disappointed. There were loads of them coming up - but I was a bit surprised to see them still quite small.

However - the big news was my Daffs. I couldn't believe how developed they were in places. Some of them were about 2 inches above the ground and there could be a flower before the end of January. Definitely early for the middle of Ireland.

I have others in pots with bulbs and they are coming along nicely - but the ones planted in the ground are always slower. A few years ago I succession planted my posts with crocus, daffodils and tulips. Best thing ever and it guarantees me 3 months of flowers at my doorstep. I will write a blog shortly about how to plant one.

How are your spring bulbs going?

Daffodils peeping through

Snowdrops

Sowing seeds

Egg cartons are fantastic containers for some seeds

It is getting close to that time when we start the mass seed planting!! (Exciting times!!)

One thing that I always struggle with is getting enough seed containers. Regardless of how many I but I never have enough.

One great thing for propagating seeds are egg cartons. They can give the seedling just enough support and then you can tear each segment and place it in the ground. Just be careful that you only use small seeds. Large ones wont have enough support for the seedlings.

Happy planting!

Egg shells - perfect for tomatoes

Of all the fruit and vegetables that I grow during the year - I get most pleasure from Tomatoes. I absolutely love the whole process - from selecting the seeds, germinating, growing the seedlings, transplanting, and then watching them grow to produce fantastic fruit.

Blossom Rot is so annoying. After all the waiting - there is nothing more disappointing to see the fruit die and wither before it gets a chance to develop. The cause of the rot is normally a lack of calcium.

Egg shells are full of calcium and we normally have loads of them being thrown out during the year. (Egg shells are also great at keeping slugs at bay - but we can talk about that again!) However, you need to treat your shells in order to allow the calcium to be released into a usable format.

Gary Pilarchik has created this video to show you how to do it. I highly recommend that you take 7 minutes to watch this!

Garlic - planting tips

Fresh Garlic can be absolutely gorgeous. However, I have found it quite difficult to grow. Sometimes they didn't divide and then when they did - the bulbs were all quite small.

Courtesy of +Rated People here is a short (2 min) video from Toby Buckland giving tips.  Get planting!!

The Intelligent Bean

There is no doubt that plants are absolutely fascinating. Anyone has ever grown beans will know about their incredible ability to latch onto poles and structures around them.

Check out this brilliant video.   Do Bean Plants Show Intelligence? New Yorker

New Year Resolution!

OK - I am giving this one more go. I have tried and failed to get a blog going for a few years now - always in January when I am full of good intentions.

My mission this time is to change my MO. It will not just be about me - but will also feature interesting articles and snippets that I see on the web and elsewhere. Of course, I will try and update some posts on my adventures in my garden at home - but I reckon that the pressure on doing that is what made me fail.

So - no pressure this time! I promise to keep bringing you relevant and interesting information from across the blog-a-sphere and internet! My one request to you - please let me know that you are reading it. Just click like or +1 or comment or whatever.  Of course I would love to know what makes you read this site - so any comments, tips, words of wisdom or whatever would be gratefully appreciated!

Thanks,

JJ