To celebrate the second year of our Cultivation Street campaign, we’re taking a look at last year’s winners and what they’ve done with their prize vouchers.
Last year’s deserving Cultivation School winner was Minety pre-school in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Their stunning efforts involving pupils, parents and staff wowed our judges, and they’ve done even more this year!
The school used the prize money to buy a new greenhouse, which has helped them plant seeds for their garden even earlier this year.
Pupils, aged from 18 months to four-and-a-half years old, have already displayed their plants at the RHS Malvern Show earlier this month. The students designed a garden representing the Factory Act of 1876, which stopped children going down mines and instead sent them to school.
The school, which has been gardening for about seven years, has now bought the old red BT phone box next the school and is using it to sell their plants to raise even more funds.
Teacher Stuart Jackson said: “Everyone has been so inspired by winning Cultivation Street. We love our new greenhouse and after emptying it for the Malvern Spring Show Garden, it’s now full of plants again. We just can’t stop growing. Now we have the phone box, we can sell all our extra plants to the community, so everybody wins!”
The school garden has two big raised beds for veg and four smaller ones for flowers and fruit trees. It started with a large bit of paper on the table and some gardening magazines. The children planned what plants they wanted to sow and which colours they liked.
Every bit of the garden has been dug, hoed raked and sown by the children, and Stuart says if they put flowers next to vegetables then so be it – it is their garden.
The children have also used vegetables to make dyes and then made a scarecrow with the dyed clothes. Before they starting growing their own, some of the children would not eat vegetables, but now pupils can go into the garden and pick any vegetable they like at snack time.
Stuart added: “Getting the children outside and into the garden really helps build on their social skills and emotional development and we hope it will give them a love of gardening and the outdoors for life.
We’re really pleased to see so many children benefitting from the Cultivation Street campaign! Find out how to get involved here.
Think of your fence like garden wallpaper – make it stylish enough and it can carry a room.
Now have a look at your current garden fencing. Does it do anything for you? The good news is that it’s easy to change. You can get a new fence, or simply give yours a new look.
Replace it
If your fence is damaged or rotten, or you just really hate it, rip it out and start again. This will cost you, so do your research first. Find out what type of wood and finish you want, and take the height into account.
Go for something high with extra trellis panels on top if you want more privacy, or try something lower and lighter if you don’t want to plunge your garden into shade.
Cover it
This is cheaper than replacing the fence, and looks fantastic. You can buy natural screen covering on a roll, and attach it to the surface of your fence to give your garden a facelift. There are plenty of options to choose from: natural willow, heather, bamboo and many more.
Simply attach it to the fence with a nail gun, or use a hammer and ‘U’ clips. You can cover up your existing fence in an afternoon, and it gives a stunning finish.
Stain it
The easiest way to change the appearance of your fence is with a tub of stain. The best colours are natural – I had a vivid metallic purple one at a Chelsea Flower Show garden once, but we had five days of problems matching the plants to it!
In my own garden the fences have a wood-coloured stain. It works with all plants and gives the garden a natural, earthy feel. Green, so keep it simple by keeping it natural.
Fence treatments
painting-fence
Treating your fence every few years will protect the timber from being damaged by water and frost. If you don’t want to change its colour, choose a clear wood preservative instead.
Step 1 – choose your treatment
Most modern fence treatments contain water-repellent waxes and resins to protect the timber from the British weather, but you can use a special wood preserver as an undercoat for added protection.
Step 2 – choose the day
Pick a calm, dry day with plenty of cloud. Hot sunshine will dry the treatment too quickly, and windy weather will blow leaves and debris onto your wet fence!
Step 3 – prepare the fence
Clean away any dirt, cobwebs and bird mess with a stiff brush and some warm water. Sand any areas with splinters and refasten any loose boards. Give it a final wipe down with a damp cloth.
Step 4 – apply the treatment
You can use a brush or a spray system. It’s worth splashing out on a sprayer if you have a lot of fence panels. If you’re using a brush, save time (and elbow grease) by using a small roller to cover the face of the panels.
Stain one fence panel at a time, working from top to bottom. Make sure you cover the top end of the panel and the posts, which is where rainwater sits.
Apply the treatment following the grain of the wood, remembering to brush back to ensure an even application. Leave to try as per the pack instructions.
The F Words is how I see a garden as I look at it. If you divide your garden into these three parts, you can take realistic steps towards your dream garden look. Today we’re going to look at the first F – flooring. Stay tuned to find out about fencing and features!
Chelsea Flower Show 2018 Plants
Picture the scene. I am at a TV colleague’s house for the first time, supposedly to collect some tapes. But it soon becomes clear that I’m the victim of what we call in the trade a ‘green ambush’.
I can see it coming when he opens the back door. “Any chance you can have a quick look at my garden while you’re here and give me some advice?” Got me – hook, line and sinker!
So I find myself standing in this cold, overgrown garden with him. His family are all watching me. Just as I go to open my mouth, he adds, “Oh and we don’t want to spend a fortune”. Bang goes the bulldozer recommendation then!
But I take a quick look and think of my F Words guide. In moments I am on a roll and they are cooing with inspiration.
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make is to confuse garden design as an art form with practical garden renovation. But, and this is really important, you do not need to be a 400-metre Olympic contender to enjoy running.
There are simple, cheap, easy and achievable ways to create a garden to be proud of. For a small amount of money and a couple of weekends, you can completely make-over your garden.
Flooring
By flooring, I mean anything on the ground. This could be your lawn, patio and/or decking.
Lawn
Man cleaning lawn mower blade. Preparing to mow some grass.
This is a must for households with children and pets, but also for people like me who still believe that a lawn is the essence of a traditional garden.
Boost
You can rejuvenate your lawn with a programme of aeration and feeding. Aeration involves getting fresh air down to the roots by making holes in the lawn. This also reduces soil compaction and improves drainage. Aerate once a year by pushing a garden fork deep into moist soil at 6 inch intervals. Follow with a generous sprinkling of lawn feed.
Replace
It’s easy to replace your old scrappy grass with a lush new lawn. If you want instant results, buy new turf and have it laid. If you’d like something more affordable, you can prepare and seed a new lawn, but get a consultation from a garden lawn centre expert on your soil type.
Don’t start worrying about cost of a new patio – you can revamp your existing one in an afternoon! First, get out any weeds. Then use a patio cleaner to scrub off dirt and algae. For the best results, hire a pressure washer from a DIY centre – you’ll only need it for a day, and it makes it look brand new!
Make sure you fix any uneven slabs in properly. You can replace broken ones, but for a cheap fix just rip them up and put plants in their place! Alpines and succulents are great for this. Brush a new layer of sand over the patio to fill in the gaps between slabs and stop weeds coming back.
Decking
Journalists and TV interviewers are always begging me to say that decking is old fashioned and on its way out. But I don’t think this is necessarily the case. Wood in the garden adds warmth and style, and it will stay with us for a long time yet.
If you have a deck, revamping it is easy. A good scrub down and an oil-based treatment will give it new lease of life.
For those of you who would like decking in the garden, try something a bit different. I always recommend oak – it gives a rich, timeless look.
