The UK’s largest garden centre retailer, B&Q, expects to sell over 150,000 Poinsettias this Christmas as the most popular houseplant makes its annual Christmas debut.
Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, this plant is now a Christmas staple for many UK homeowners. Over 100 million Poinsettias are sold every year throughout Europe, but what many people are not aware of is exactly how the plant gets its famous crimson colour.
The secret... shading the plants in darkness for 50 days. Growers begin in May, six months before they go on sale, to grow the plants and to...
With all the floods the South West is experiencing at the moment, The Exeter Daily turned to The Royal Horticultural Society for a bit of advice on how to resurrect your garden once the flooding has subsided.
Few garden plants will survive waterlogging or flooding. Prolonged periods of sitting in ground saturated with water causes yellow leaves, root rot and death. However, conditions can be improved using various techniques to promote drainage and prevent damage.
Soils become waterlogged when water builds up, unable to drain away. This leaves no air...
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Advisory Service is encouraging gardeners to check their compost before winter. Lush growth this summer means there are now heaps of grass and hedge cuttings that, if prepared properly, could be made into useful garden compost.
“Autumn is the ideal time to check compost heaps,” says Guy Barter, RHS Chief Horticultural Advisor. “Some gardeners will have just dumped their grass cuttings in a corner, which potentially will now be a smelly, slimy pile. But if mixed with the straw-like material produced in gardens at the end of...
Now is the time to plant bulbs if you want to give your garden a splash of colour next spring.
Bulbs are really easy to grow; once you’ve planted them they need very little attention, and will reward you with colour, and often scent, when the rest of the garden is looking bare.
Provided you plant them at the right time of year, at about the right depth, they’ll reward you with beautiful flowers year after year.
The planting time for bulbs depends on their flowering time. Spring-flowering bulbs should be planted from early autumn, so they have time to produce new...
Police in Exeter are launching a crime fighting operation to tackle theft of garden and power tools from allotments across the city.
Known as Operation Slug, allotment owners will be issued with a special kit that contains Smartwater, an invisible property-marking solution. Warning signs will be displayed to help deter burglars.
Each kit allows plot owners to mark their possessions with a unique forensic code that is traceable. This can then be used by the police to identify items should they ever be stolen, as well as help link suspects to crime scenes.
Release the spirit of adventure in your children and let them discover and explore the natural world around them. This half term week children can take part in bushcraft skills - fire making, shelter building, campfire cooking, whittling, care and use of tools, arts and crafts including some really cool fire sculptures! and of course toasting marshmallows over the campfire!
10am-5pm every day. Members free. Escot entry fee applies to non-members. There may be a charge for some activities. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please wear old clothes!
Spring is finally doing it’s thing at Knightshayes, a National Trust property on the outskirts of Tiverton in Devon. It has come not a moment too soon, as Friday 10 May sees the property hosting its annual National Gardens Scheme open day.
The gardens team at Knightshayes are delivering a series of introductory tours of the Kitchen, Formal and Woodland Gardens throughout the day to help people understand their significance, and why the continued work on their conservation is so important. The tours will be running at 12 noon, 2pm and 3pm, and will be free to join.
May is a particularly lovely time of year to appreciate the Woodland Garden with it's azaleas, rhododendrons and variety of trees.
On Wednesday 8 May you can join TV Gardener, Toby Buckland, for an informative walk through the Woodland Garden at 2pm.
Your ticket includes access to the Castle grounds and a delicious cream tea from the Castle's Courtenay Cafe which can be taken either before or after the walk.
£15 per person.
Tickets are limited and must be booked in advance. For details or to book please call 01626 890243.
