Early Colour

The mild weather has meant that many plants are beginning to flower earlier than usual in our garden. We have already had the ‘Rinjveld’s Early Sensation’ Daffodils  flowering in November and now my Lenten Roses (Helleborus x hybridus) are rearing their beautiful heads, crowning the handsome deep green leaves below. We have a particularly striking apple green seedling that is covered in strong bud branches and about to show off the freckled flowers with matching fluffy stamens that complete the picture.

 All this activity has encouraged me to begin tidying up my borders, although I am wary that we could still get a spell of hard weather. At the moment, plants are suffering from wind scorch on their unseasonally soft growth rather than frost damage, which has been the case for the past three winters! Tender plants such as Penstemon and hardy Fuchsias may look scruffy but all of the old growth will need to remain for another month or two if I can bear it! Never the less, the borders are taking on a different feel as the green shoots of Daffodils and Snowdrops begin to pierce through the soil, along with the perennials  Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Hemerocallis (Day Lilies) and Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’. Pulmonarias are such useful plants for shade and early colour – often starting to flower in January and February, when there is usually very little apart from evergreens to give interest.

Evergreens are the furniture of the garden and still give the most interest at the moment. The Myrtle (Luma) that I planted as a cutting from my grandmother’s garden years ago is now a huge tree. The tiny, deep green leaves are very wind proof and the bark is now mature enough to take on a beautiful cinnamon colour despite the local cats using it as a scratching post! Of course, plants that are known as ‘semi evergreen’ such as Abelia and shrubby winter flowering Honeysuckles have also kept their leaves because of the mild weather and we even have a semi evergreen climbing Honeysuckle Lonicera ‘Halliana’, in flower! The Hebes in the front garden have made pleasing, evergreen mounds and one has fluffy white flower clusters, which are more usually out in late summer, when they attract butterflies and moths.

 My Miscanthus grasses have looked amazing all winter; their leaves and stems bleached out to faded browns and the skeletons of the feather duster flowers hung on until the last vicious gale that we had stripped them bare. There are already plenty of new shoots coming up from the ground, so I have removed the old growth and chopped it up into short lengths for the compost heap.

One of the bins is ready to be turned and the compost closest to the base is rotted enough to use as mulch over any bare soil as I tidy the borders. This really does help to keep the weeds down and will help to protect my Crocosmia clumps if hard weather does threaten the soft shoots that are appearing. 

Mr McGregor

Mad About Chickens

As the trend of becoming self sufficient increases, many are taking up the spade and fork to grow vegetables and fruit Why not take a step further and raise a few chickens? The benefits you’ll receive are unparalleled to anything else; free range and organic eggs to feast on at breakfast, organic poultry (if you choose), a healthier diet and free lessons to children, not to mention they also do wonders for your garden.

Did you know that eggs collected from garden chickens provide a lot more nutrients than factory farmed eggs? Home raised chickens produce eggs that have:

•    25% more Vitamin E
•    A third more Vitamin A
•    75% more beta carotene
•    Significantly more Omega-3 fatty acids

This makes them the perfect breakfast or lunch for growing kids and those looking to change their diets. The same can be said for the chickens themselves. In comparison to factory farmed chickens, ones that are raised with a healthy diet and are free to hunt and peck for bugs have more nutritious value.

It’s a marvellous idea to raise a few chickens when you have children as well. It can teach them responsibility as the chickens will need to be fed daily as well as provided with fresh water every day, the coop must be cleaned regularly and the chickens inspected from time to time. Every child would love to have a pet and chickens are no exception; plus children are sure to enjoy collecting their breakfast every morning.

You will also see positive effects in your garden too. Did you know having chickens hunting and pecking at bugs will not only reduce the amount of pests in your garden, it will also help aerate your lawn?

Keeping your chickens safe and secure

Keeping chickens in urban areas is on the increase and so ensuring their safety is a top priority. Having a chicken hutch or house with a secure run is one of the best ways to guarantee your brood are always kept safe.

Not only is security a priority when keeping chickens, providing warmth during the colder months and supplying them with a space to run around is also imperative. All of this can be provided with one of our houses, which have been specially designed for your brood’s requirements and well being.

A lot of joy can be given when raising your own chickens, why not find out for yourself?

Notcutts

In the Garden

Not only is the end of summer is a busy time on the allotment, I’ve had my fair share of jobs in the garden as well. This is the perfect time to begin making your own compost; after pruning, take cuttings and frequently mowing the lawn you have almost all the ingredients you need to make your very own organic compost.

The hanging baskets have also received a lot of attention over the course of the last few weeks. Maintain your baskets by de-heading, watering and feeding them regularly as it will help them last through autumn.

Mrs McGregor has even found herself in and amongst our garden tending to her roses and the rockery. A small section of our rockery has been dedicated to growing herbs, so Mrs McGregor has been keeping her hands busy taking cuttings from them, as well as cutting back the lavender plants. The roses have been doing considerably well and we work well as a team, tying back the climbing roses to ensure they withstand harsh winds.

This summer we have experienced a bit of a drought with irregular showers, so watering has been a main priority.

To end on a positive note, now all of this has been done and the new football season has begun, I can concentrate on supporting Ipswich Town. Seeing them win the league title and return to Premier League football (where we belong) will be the highlight of the year for me.

I’m singing the blues.

Mr McGregor


Getting Children back out into the garden

Get your children or grandchildren off their game consoles and into the garden with our fantastic range of outdoor games. Today, it seems we don’t see much of our children as many prefer to sit in front of the TV playing and talking to their friends online. However, next time you have a BBQ why not ask them if they would like to have a few friends over, set up a little corner where they can sit and put out a few games outdoors? As soon as they see that they have their own little spot to play they will want to be out in the garden all day long. There are so many fun activities you can incorporate into the garden, simply by setting up a cricket set or blowing up a paddling pool; kids will forget they had a console.

When it’s nice and hot outside it’s fantastic to know that your kids can cool off in a padding pool. As soon as the pool is blown up you will put an almost instant fun factor into your garden; children won’t be able to resist splashing each other and playing games once they’re in the paddling pool.

Here are a few games you could place in the garden:

Mini Badminton Set
X-Base All Surface Swingball
Catchball Hand Shaped Game
Square Sandpit With Soft Cover

Setting up a place for them all to sit together to eat the BBQ food is also a great way to keep them outdoors and away from the television set.

After the barbecue is over, there is another way to get your kids enjoying the garden more frequently; why not get them involved in growing their own veg and herbs? With this great range of kids seeds and kids tools your children are sure to love getting their hands dirty planting and digging up their prize vegetables.

Notcutts

In the Garden

As well as being busy on the allotment, I have paid a lot of attention to the garden as well. Weeding, watering, hoeing, mowing and so on; this short break Mrs McGregor and I have planned, I believe is well and truly deserved.

The first point of call was Mrs McGregor’s roses; they have given us their first flush of blooms so a bit of tender loving care was needed. I dead headed the faded flowers, sprayed them to prevent diseases and feed them some good old fertiliser. Fingers crossed after all of this we’ll be getting another flush soon.

If you would like some information about pruning roses, I have found this wonderful guide that segregates the information into rose type, making it easy to find the information that’s applicable to you.
Next on the list was to look after the summer bedding; keeping down the weeds and hoeing the soil as well as giving them a weekly feed. After a couple of hours of being on my hands and knees (which I love, but must admit my back is feeling the effects), the beds are looking marvellous once again.

However, all this labour wasn’t the hardest part of my garden chores, choosing the bulbs we want to grow next year certainly was! Luckily we have time on our side, but I would really like to incorporate some rare breed flowers into the garden to add even more interest into the back of the house. I will have to do some research on the internet, but may leave that to Mrs McGregor to do while I’m at work. Let’s just hope she doesn’t get too ahead of herself or carried away with the varieties we have to choose from.

Maybe it would be a good idea to wait until we get to the RHS Flower Show and see what they have to offer us.

Mr McGregor