Tag: gardening jobs

F Words garden design guide: flooring, fencing and features no 1

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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.

Patio

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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.

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Read the entire F Words garden design series

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Flooring

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Fencing

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Features

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For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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May 27, 2014
How to: plant a herb garden in pots, planters and windowboxes

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Herbs are a must for every garden. They look good, they smell good and they do you good! Most herbs are easy to grow and make an excellent addition to your cooking.

There is always a wide choice of herb plants to buy from garden centres and nurseries, or even in pots from the supermarket. Or grow your own from seed.

Herb type

Herbs are ornamental plants and can be annual or perennial. Annuals last just one year and include basil, coriander, marjoram and parsley.

Perennials regrow every year. Perennial herbs include fennel, mint and thyme, as well as woody perennials like sage, lavender and rosemary. The odd one out is of course chives, which are a bulb from the onion family.

Planting

You can grow herbs in containers or pots on the patio, in a formal herb garden or even among your ornamental plants in a bed or border. They also make great hanging basket plants

Some herbs, like mint and lemon balm, are fast-growing and very vigorous. They can take over herb garden or container, so it’s a good idea to actually plant them in their original pot to contain the roots.

Most herbs thrive best in full sun which helps them produce the highest levels of essential oils but some, like rocket, parsley and chervil are fine in the shade.

For me, the best place to grow herbs is near the back door. They smell wonderful on a hot summer’s day and they’ll be readily available when you’re in the kitchen.

Growing

Once the plants have established, they need regular watering. You can also give them a liquid feed once a week during the growing season. Make sure you pick from them regularly to encourage new growth of fresh leaves.

In the autumn, annual herbs will die off and they can be discarded. Perennial herbs such as mint, oregano and thyme will also die back, but they will grow again in spring. They should be protected from frost during the winter.

Herbal tea

One of my favourite things to do with home-grown herbs is to make herbal tea using lemon balm, mint, sage leaves or camomile flowers. Pick about five or six leaves of your chosen herb and gently crush them in a clean paper towel. Then add to a cup or teapot and pour on boiling water.

Make sure you cover the mixture – this will ensure that the beneficial essential oils don’t evaporate with the steam. Leave to stand for at least five minutes and strain. Sweeten with honey if necessary.

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For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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last=”false” border_position=”all” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false” spacing_right=””][fusion_imageframe image_id=”50534|large” max_width=”” style_type=”none” blur=”” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” lightbox_image_id=”” alt=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″]https://new.daviddomoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Windowsill-Chilli-500×750.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”30px” bottom_margin=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://new.daviddomoney.com/how-to-grow-your-own-chillies-plants-on-the-kitchen-windowsill/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_self” link_attributes=”” alignment=”center” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”rgba(1,149,51,0)” button_gradient_bottom_color=”rgba(1,149,51,0)” button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#0e540f” button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#0e540f” accent_color=”#0e540f” accent_hover_color=”#ffffff” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”#0e540f” border_hover_color=”#ffffff” size=”large” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” border_top=”3px” border_right=”3px” border_bottom=”3px” border_left=”3px” border_radius_top_left=”0px” border_radius_top_right=”0px” border_radius_bottom_right=”0px” border_radius_bottom_left=”0px”]Grow Chillies[/fusion_button][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_6″ layout=”1_6″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_position=”all” element_content=”” 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April 30, 2014
Beekeeping: The day the bees moved into their new hive

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About a year ago, I took a 12 week course at the British Beekeepers Association in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, to learn about keeping your own bees.

We have a declining bee population in the UK, and I believe it’s up to everybody to do their bit to help. And to be honest, I’d always fancied the idea of keeping bees. And finally, I’ve got a hive full of bees in my garden!

Among the blossom

I decided to situate the bees in the corner of my garden where I had recently planted a little micro orchard of mini fruit. It includes apple, pear, cherry and almond trees, and makes the perfect home for my new bees.

My first step was to get a little a beehive. I had it made by a local hive maker out of beautiful red cedar wood.

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The hive surrounded by orchard blossom

Now I just needed some bees. My friend Brian, who’s been a beekeeper for 50 years and is mentoring me, helped my find somebody who was selling a nucleus. This is a little bee colony with a queen and her brood which needs a new home.

I actually have two beehives: one with the nucleus and another empty one. Rather than buying bees to fill it, I’m leaving it available to a swarm of bees that naturally finds itself looking for new home.

Here come the bees

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The bees arrive!

I was beside myself with anticipation, and the bees finally arrived this week in a little box. In fact, the owner had driven over with the box on his front seat. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see my bees! It was just like being a kid again.

The guys who came to help me settle the bees in took the box over to the hive and opened it. They used a little smoke from a canister to calm the bees down.

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Smoke from the canister stops them getting agitated

Then they took out the individual frames and slotted them into the beehive.

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A frame on the way to its new home

It was a marvellous feeling to see the bees settling into their new home. The best thing was seeing some of the bees immediately set off to explore the orchard and heading straight for the fruiting cherry blossoms!

Once all the frames were in, the beehive lid went back on the top. Then we put a little green mat down as a ramp to help some of the stragglers crawl up and into their new home. They seemed very happy with it!

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The stragglers catch up!

Suited up

There is that initial trepidation, if you’ve never been so close to a beehive before, of suddenly getting caught in a swarm of bees. And the sound of them flying about is as alarming as it is fascinating!

The swarm of bees suddenly appears all around you, and you really have to trust in your suit and gloves and just keep calm.

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Trying out my new beekeeper’s suit

I’m still trying to get used to these bee suits – they look a bit cumbersome but they’re very easy to use.

It helped that I’m a scuba diver, and have taken part in hundreds of dives, so I’m comfortable in the suit and trust that it will keep me safe.

Exploring the orchard

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The bees wasted no time finding tasty pollen!

It was an amazing experience to see the bees settling into their new home and getting used to the area. And now that corner of the garden, full of bees and blossom and fruit trees, just has so much more personality. It’s really come alive.

They are just getting used to the neighbourhood, and we could have our own honey by this time next year!

I’m officially a beekeeper. And I can’t tell you how excited I am! I’m looking forward to writing more blogs to keep you updated on how the bees are getting on!

Get your own bees

Keeping bees isn’t as difficult as you think! For those of you interested in having a go, try the British Beekeepers Association – they do a very good comprehensive training session. For more information, check out their website.

If you want to help the bee population but don’t want a hive, check out how to create a bumblebee house or solitary bee nest here, and find plants to attract bees and pollinators here.

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For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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April 26, 2014