by Judith Brand and Cyril Hume. November 18, 1999 will be a date to remember for Canadian garden enthusiasts. On that day the Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) negotiated an option to purchase the Abkhazi Garden in Victoria, Canada’s “City of Gardens.” Only a few months earlier neighbours had learned of a developer’s plans [Continue]
There are already many signs of the approaching spring season – make sure you take the time to notice them now, while you are out in the garden – early spring bulbs such as aconites, snowdrops, crocus, iris reticulata will already be peeking through, the lovely scented winter jasmine and witch hazel, and later this [Continue]
by Sharon Hanna Everyone’s favourite “BI” – the ladybird For years, well-meaning gardeners routinely maimed, swatted, sprayed and squished every bug they could get their hands on. However careful observation of nature and the move to organic practices have shown that encouraging “good” bugs, or beneficial insects (the politically correct name) is one way to [Continue]
“Don’t be in a Hurry with your Seeds!” by David Tarrant February is often the month when we get carried away and start to sow annual seeds too early for the season ahead. The key factor to think about when sowing seeds is to count how many weeks it will be before it is safe [Continue]
Final Thoughts: “Welcome to the New Year” by Mala Gunadasa-Rohling I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year celebrations. It was truly amazing watching and waiting for the Millennium, sharing it with everyone around the world on TV. As planned, we stayed home with all my family and some relatives, quiet and cosy [Continue]
Horticulture News from Around the World: Trees that live for 1,000 years astound scientists By Nick Nuttall, Environment Correspondent, The Times SOME trees in the Amazon rainforests are hundreds of years older than previously thought, researchers say. The rapid cycles of growth and decay in the forests had led most experts to estimate that the [Continue]
Gardeners In The News: Mandela’s garden gets a TV makeover By Paul McCann, Media Correspondent, The Times Down the garden path: Mr Mandela returned home to find Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and, right, Tommy Walsh from Ground Force. Photograph: BBC THEY are the famous team of surprise visitors who like to sneak in and rearrange [Continue]
January Garden Action Items: As long as you aren’t buried under three feet of snow, there is always a lot of work to do in the garden, so bundle up warmly, put on your wellies and out you go… 1. Hardwood Cuttings Take hardwood cuttings of your favourite shrubs to increase your stock – just [Continue]
January Garden How-To: Hardwood Cuttings: Continue to take fully ripe, hardwood cuttings from trees and shrubs to increase your stock or share with friends. This is as easy to do as the soft cuttings most people are more comfortable doing – here’s how: a) Choose strong side shoots, about as thick as a pencil, from [Continue]
“Late December Decisions” by ??? As I sit writing this journal entry to close to the dreaded Y2K, I stop and think we may not have to worry about pruning or seed ordering in a few days. If things collapse next week I can be sure of one thing – the bamboo jungle in front [Continue]