A Review Of The Elaeagnus Shrub In The Garden.

Lets me introduce you to Elaeagnus. This is a shrub I would not be without in my garden, yet is not a garden plant that many of us would seek out. She is a very unassuming shrub but if we look closer really rather beautiful and very practical and valuable in the garden.

Many of us want gorgeous colourful flowers and impressive trees, maybe even exquisite alpines. They are so beautiful and often colourful, we would always want them in a garden.

However, it is easy to overlook the real workhorses of the garden, the plants that provide us long lasting green background, cover for birds and green in the depths of winter and a foil for all the other showy beauties. 

Such is the Elaeagnus shrub. She is a bold, beautiful, hardy, vigorous and easy to care for plant in the garden. 

We have an evergreen variety and I love the leaves which are thick and resilient dark green and an unexpected and striking silver underneath. This is particularly evident on a windy day when you can see the shrub waving in the wind and flashes of bright silver even on a dull day. 

I was very impressed with Elaeagnus in the drought we had last summer, 40 degree heat and fierce sunshine. She was one of the few plants whose leaves did not scorch and she survived with no watering at all. She even grew a good 3 foot this summer! 

I love that this shrub can be evergreen if you choose the right variety and if you choose a dark evergreen that other more showy flowers and roses look just beautiful against. 

She also provides shelter for other plants from the intense sun and the wind. As she can grow quite dense she also provided shelter from snow and cold this winter. 

All this is great in the garden but the real surprise comes when tiny white flowers, easy to miss appear on the leaves.

Before you even see the flowers you start to notice a beautiful scent in the air which smells to me like honey and sweet perfume and if you move closer and take in the scent of these flowers it is gorgeous. 

There are many varieties of Elaeagnus with slightly different needs, some evergreen, some deciduous, some one green colour, others variagated. Most have small insignificant flowers that have a gorgeous scent that can fill a small garden beautifully. 

Foliage colours also vary from dark green with silver or white undersides or silvery foliage, or golden with green. Pollinators seem to like these little flowers as well. 

Many are large shrubs but there are also dwarf varieties for a smaller garden or a container garden. 

Once it becomes a more dense shrub the birds like to hide and seek shelter in it. I am hoping that now our shrubs are larger, birds will nest in it. 

Care Of Elaeagnus

This is an easy-care vigorous and strong shrub with thick leaves. Most of the care is in the early years to keep it well watered. 

After that apart from pruning to the desired height and width it can take care of itself. An application of mulch each spring will be beneficial though I have to say I have not always done this and the shrub is doing very well.  

Ideally, plant a young shrub in autumn into the soil. However especially if you have a compact variety you can also plant it into a large container in free draining soil.   

Where To Plant

Many Elaeagnus shrubs ideally like to grow in full sun though I have one in part shade and she is perfectly happy. Check the varieties for what they most enjoy. 

They can grow in a variety of soil types though they do prefer well drained soil. However, our soil is heavy clay and our plants are growing very well. 

It copes with most weather from drought to cold very well and for me is a real workhorse of the garden and a plant I do not need to worry about. 

Pruning

Elaeagnus is a strong very vigorous shrub and grows rapidly. Although it does not need any pruning to be healthy, in a small or average size garden I would advise pruning at least once a year then it is easily done with good quality secateurs.

However, if you leave it too long or let it get too big, it will be a bigger and more arduous task needing more heavy duty tools.

With regular pruning, I find this shrub very easy to prune with secateurs after flowering as long as you do it from being a young plant. I never let it get so big that I need shears or a saw to prune it. 

It is very vigorous but I find it easy to keep to the height I want and in our conditions, which are less than perfect for this plant, it stays under control as much as any of our other shrubs.

 

Propagation.

Once you have one shrub you can easily make more. I find that cuttings are very easy to take and grow on well. 

We just take 5cm semi ripe cuttings in the summer. These are stems that are soft at the tip and woodier at the base, growth that is from this year's current growth. 

As with most cuttings simply remove the lower leaves, leave a couple at the top then inset the cutting gently into a pot of well drained compost.

You can ideally cover loosely with a polythene bag so that the levels of humidity remain high, but I have found they take very well even without it.

Keep the soil moist and pot onto individual pots once they make roots. 

A Vigorous Shrub

Please note, this is a very vigorous shrub; in some conditions and countries, it can become invasive. I have found this to be fine in our garden and love having this shrub, but do check locally to see if it may be an issue for your garden. In some countries where conditions are different and more perfect and for some varieties, it is known as an invasive shrub. So if you are interested do check for your local conditions and seek advice as you do not want to plant an invasive shrub in your garden. 

If you are concerned that this shrub might be too vigorous or invasive in your garden growing a compact variety in a sturdy pot might be a good compromise and that will inhibit its growth as well.  

How To Use Elaeagnus In The Garden

• Grow as a very effective screening hedge or train as an elegant single plant as a standard. This is especially good if you choose an evergreen variety.
• Ideally, this is a shrub to plant in the soil but if that is not an option for you try growing it in a smaller pot first and graduating up to the largest pot you can find in good free draining soil. 
• Alternatively, simply buy a compact variety of this shrub which can then be grown and live its life in a container. 
• If you do want to grow it as a hedge allow the leaves to grow right from the base of the shrub to provide cover and density. Evergreen varieties are best for a hedge. 
• However, if you think the shrub will be too vigorous or invasive, grow it in such a way that you prune all the lower leaves away to expose the stem to make it more of a standard plant. In this way, you can control it better and even grow it in a large pot as a specimen shrub. 
• We grow ours in two ways one plant is grown as a hedge to screen off an area of the garden and the garage and the other is more of a standard plant next to a holly tree. 
• It is also a great shrub to grow near the bins to screen them off and provides a lovely scent when it flowers, It is good to grow near an area where you might sit in the autumn/fall so you can enjoy the scent when it flowers.
• Grow other colourful plants, climbers, perennials or annuals in front of it so that it provides an effective foil for them.  
• If you enjoy flowers in your home the strong cut stems of Elaeagnus are lovely to use when doing flower arranging and are long lasting for your foliage arrangement and in a mixed flower and foliage display.

So while we enjoy and bask in the beauty and colour of the gorgeous flowers and bulbs, we spare a thought and a place in our gardens for the evergreen workhorses of the garden. These shrubs give us foliage all winter, cover for wildlife, screening and privacy for us and a perfect foil for all the pretty climbers, roses, flowers and joyful colours.   

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A Personal Review Of The Inspirational Gardener Geoff Hamilton

This article is a personal review of the late great Geoff Hamilton and how he inspired my lifelong love of gardening.

I grew up watching the TV programme Gardeners World. My parents always watched it and so as a young child when I was around and not playing outside, I watched it too. 

I remember watching Gardeners World on TV before Geoff Hamilton presented it but it was Geoff Hamilton when I was a little older who completely captured my gardening heart and imagination and inspired me to love plants and try to be a gardener. 

As a child my parents always gave me a small plot of land to grow easy plants and quick growing vegetables and I think that was a great thing to do and gave me as a young child the joy of gardening with quick results!

As I grew older I wanted to know more and pre-internet my main sources to learn about gardening were books and gardening programmes on TV. 

Geoff Hamilton seemed so approachable, and accessible and appeared to be talking to me directly. He had a natural easy way about him and clearly a passion for gardening and plants in all his TV appearances and books. He was that rare combination of a talented presenter and expert gardener who could teach in an accessible and relaxed manner. 

In fact, unlike some presenters of TV shows, I don't think he saw it as about him at all but rather about teaching us how to look after plants and flowers, vegetables and trees, how to design and make, build and tend and I loved him for it. I could really relate to his honest, rational and logical approach to gardening.

I also really related to his ideals around organic gardening and his approach to gardening in a wildlife-friendly manner. Both these ideals were quite new and radical at the time when he started his TV shows and wrote his books and they completely resounded with me.  

Without a doubt, Geoff Hamilton was a person I would really have loved to have met in person and is one of my regrets in life that I did not. However, He does live on in Barnsdale gardens, now run by his son Nick Hamilton. You can feel Geoff's presence there and his books are wonderful to read and learn from.

For many years as a young adult gardening had to take a back seat to my life. I was at University and then working in a city, renting different places and I had no garden. I had to make do with a window box or a few pots, or the windowsill. 

Of course, I always wanted my own garden and would help my parents with theirs whenever I went back home, but I wanted my own. It was not until we got married and then bought our own home that I got to flex my own gardening muscles both figuratively and practically! 

So then I returned to Geoff Hamilton and read and re-read his books and watched his videos to learn and understand all I could, He truly was my gardening inspiration and teacher. 

When he left Gardeners World with health issues I was very sad and then his subsequent death really affected me. I do now like to watch Monty Don, Alan Titchmarch and others who I still learn a lot from, but I have to say it was Geoff Hamilton who was my original inspiration, who along with my parents made me into a person who has a deep love of plants, wildlife, nature and gardens. 

I was so lucky a couple of years ago to visit Geoff Hamiltons gardens where he filmed all of Gardeners World and other programmes at Barnsdale in Rutland in UK. 

I was beyond excited to visit this wonderful place I had watched for years on TV!! I was not disappointed, quite the opposite. I have to admit for me this was an emotional visit and I experienced a full range of emotions from joy to sadness, awe and amazement, tears and laughter.

The first thing to greet you when you enter the garden is Geoff Hamilton's gardening jeans!! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this place of my gardening hero. 

My husband and I spent two whole days walking around, taking notes and photographs. we absolutely loved it. We originally intended a day visit only but we just had to go back again within the same weeks holiday. 

I recall watching how Geoff built each garden and how gardens evolve over time. I loved that he often gave different options for a garden a more expensive one and a less expensive version to achieve a similar effect. In this way he made gardening financially accessible for most people whatever the budget and size of the garden. 

He also showed us how to make and build much of the hard landscaping, fencing, ponds and brickwork and for me always seemed to explain it in a manner I felt "I could give that a go".

Even within the same week there were new things to see and things we did not notice the first time around. I wish I had visited years ago and I hope I make it back again.

The whole site is divided up into smaller gardens you can walk around and into each beautiful individual garden. There are many gardens to explore including ones Geoff built from scratch and filmed from the beginning. 

Some of the gardens include the Ornamental kitchen garden, The Gentlemans cottage garden, Artisan cottage garden, Wildflower border, A Rock Feature, Bog garden, Courtyard gardens, a Children's garden, a Japanese garden and Herb garden plus many more. Many of these were designed and built by Geoff. 

In this way with individual gardens of a manageable size, it is quite easy to walk around and appreciate each garden on its own and it does not become overwhelming. There is a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. You feel that you could take planting ideas,  features or make similar designs in your own garden. 

We went in late May and I do think it would be worth visiting these gardens at least 4 times a year in each season to fully appreciate all the planting and care taken throughout the seasons.  

           

Our own garden is quite established and it would be a mammoth task to change it now. However, we have decided when we move house that we will base our new design on one of Geoff's gardens.

We will of course adapt the design to the space we have and add our own particular nuances and special or favourite plants and we so look forward to building and growing it. 

 Geoff Hamilton has written a number of wonderful books and I think I have most of them. I will write reviews on them in time to come but wanted to list just a couple of them here so you can start to discover the down to earth brilliance of this most humble, gentle and wonderful gardener. 

 

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Growing Magnificent Magnolias In The Garden Reviewed

When we moved here many years ago we inherited a gorgeous Magnolia tree. If you have a garden and suitable conditions I would recommend growing a Magnolia.

There are many types from small trees to very large trees. Colours are so beautiful and range from a shell-like pink, dark pink, yellow, purple, red and white. If I could I would have one of each. 

 

The Beauty Of  A Magnolia

It is true that the flowers only last a few weeks or just over a month in Spring but they are so worth waiting for each year and for me signal that Spring is truly here and the poor weather is mostly behind us. It is a sign of hope, of joy and more than once has made my heart full of happiness. 

Nothing lifts my spirits quite like looking out of the window on a spring morning to see our beautiful Magnolia in full bloom its delicate yet robust flowers carried proudly on bare stems.

Magnolia generally flower on bare stems so you just see the beautiful flowers carried on bare branches. As the flowers fade the leaves come in, gorgeous soft green leaves that last all summer and well into autumn.

Winter gives us the bare branches that have their own architectural splendor especially when snow or frost lies on the branches. We drape the bare branches in festive lights which look very pretty. 

Magnolias are fascinating. They are an ancient tree primarily pollinated by beetles. Flying insects and bees may well visit now to take advantage of any pollen, but they are not what Magnolia originally sought to attract. 

However, do not worry you will not be overrun with beetles as you really do not often even see them.

Magnolias come in a wide variety of sizes and colours. They usually carry gorgeous tulip shaped flowers or in the case of Stellata, a star shaped flower.

Most are deciduous but there are a few that are evergreen though these will usually require a more sheltered place. If you want fragrance then there are Magnolias with scent. 

Colours vary from a light blush pink of Magnolia Soulangiana, the deep purple of Magnolia Susan and the delicate white fragrant stars of Magnolia Stellata or the yellow flower of Magnolia Acruminata "Yellow Bird". There are too many to mention here but you can easily find a Magnolia you like.

Magnolias can grow to be very large but we can also buy smaller varieties more suitable for smaller town gardens. It is really a case of checking the full grown size of the tree. 

This is not however a quick growing plant. We will need to have patience for it to grow over ten or even twenty years. However, it is still so very beautiful in its younger years, it is always worth introducing a Magnolia into a garden. 

I know we will be leaving this house and garden in the next few years so I have bought two smaller magnolia varieties which I am growing on in pots that will be ready to plant out in our new garden once we move. 

It may be that we do not get to see them full-grown but they will bring us so much pleasure as they grow from beautiful delicate buds to full gorgeous blooms with lovely green leaves. 

 

  

Magnolia Soil Conditions And Watering

Magnolias love neutral to slightly acidic soil which is free draining. Our soil is slightly acidic but is heavy clay and our magnolia has grown very well. This is perhaps as our soil is very fertile which is also something Magnolias love. 

However, not everyone will have acidic soil so if you have alkaline soil and want to grow a Magnolia you are best to buy Magnolia Grandiflora or Magnolia Delavayi.

It is best to plant your Magnolia in a sunny spot. If it is sheltered as well that is a bonus as the flowers won't be blown off so much by the wind or so damaged by frost. 

 

A good rule of thumb is that the colder the area you live in choose a later flowering variety. That way you will be less troubled by frost and cold winds damaging the flowers or tree. Good varieties for cold areas are Magnolia Apollo or Magnolia Caerhays Surprise.

A grown magnolia takes care of itself with regards to water, in fact, you can do more harm than good watering it once it is well established. Naturally, its roots will go down to seek water so best to leave it alone. The last thing you want is for the roots to grow upwards seeking the water you are providing. 

However, in its first year it will need good deep watering and maybe also in its second year, you can give it deep drinks of water. It is always a good idea to mulch around a Magnolia of any age each year with bark.

 

Magnolia Blossom In Spring
by RaintreeDesigns

Pruning A Magnolia

This plant has specific pruning needs but do not be worried by this. If you have planted it in an appropriate area for its size pruning will be minimal. 

Each year after flowering check it over for any broken or crossing branches and prune those out completely. 

Be careful not to prune too much as Magnolias can become stressed and cease to flower. A good rule is no more than a third of the plant is pruned each year. 

Sadly our naturally huge magnolia was planted by previous occupants really too close to the house so we have to prune it rather more than I would like to keep it smaller than its natural size. 

We are careful though to prune only up to a third each year and over the last 20 years have left at least one year in every 3 where we do not prune anything except broken or crossing branches. 

A smaller magnolia or one that has more space to grow naturally may well only need pruning once every few years. 

If you have a Magnolia only ever prune it after it has finished flowering and the green leaves are growing in. Mid-summer is a perfect time. If you prune in the autumn you will cut off many of the flower buds. 

Magnolia Blooms In Spring Postcard
by RaintreeDesigns

Planting A New Magnolia.

it is a good idea to buy your Magnolia as a mature plant as you can afford. It will establish itself much better. However not too large a plant that it is difficult to plant easily. Also do your research as to variety, so that you know the fully grown tree will fit comfortably into the space available. 

The roots of a Magnolia are surprisingly shallow so you don't need to dig a really deep hole. Do however make it wide enough so there is no competing grass around the plant. 

The planting hole needs to be the same depth as the pot and we should be careful to treat it gently and not damage any roots. Firm in carefully and after watering deeply give it a good acidic mulch. Bark mulch is perfect for this purpose. 

Stunning Magnolia Blossom Cushion
by RaintreeDesigns

Reviewing The Benefits and Drawbacks Of A Manual Lawn Mower

This is my personal review of our manual lawnmower. Over the years we have had maybe five or six lawnmowers all electric, apart from one petrol powered one.

However, last year we bought a manual lawnmower. I am not really sure why we decided to do that, but I know we were fed up with our electric ones breaking down or cutting the cord accidentally and the whole hassle of fixing up extension leads inside the house as we have no outside power. The one petrol lawnmower we had was very heavy and noisy and really too big for us and our lawn and neither of us liked it.

The electric one had just given up, more expensive to fix than to buy another one and of course, it was at peak mowing time so we needed another one quickly.

Searching For A Lawn Mower

We started trawling Amazon for lawnmowers. We did not want a petrol mower as we do not have a massive amount of lawn and it would have been too much. We were fed up with electric lawnmowers and all the issues we had found with them. 

So we decided to hone in on manual lawnmowers. At first, I was not sure this was a good idea. My husband has health issues and I need to be careful with my back having a history of severe back problems. I wasn't sure we would be able to push it without added power.

I also wasn't sure if it would cut effectively. It felt in this age of technology, powered appliances and high specifications to be a step backward. Yet in a way also felt completely appropriate for our nature-friendly, wildlife garden and for the more power-saving, environmentally aware times we live in.

The manual lawnmower we found had an appealing price point and looked very sturdy and we were fed up replacing lawnmowers too often. So we bought a Bosch manual lawn mower. 

Bosch Manual Lawn Mower

Our First Experience Of A Manual Lawn Mower.

When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was sturdy looking but not too heavy.

Set up was easy with only the long handles to fix to the frame which even for us was easy. We never fitted the grassbox as we intended to cut the lawn often and have always found a grassbox to be an encumbrance. However, the grassbox is there if we ever need it. 

Hubby was the first to try to in the garden. We set the blades on high and he simply pushed it and it cut cleanly and efficiently.  After a few laps he stopped and said it was really easy to push and no more work than our previous electric mowers! In fact, he seemed to be rather enjoying it!

So then I tried it and to my joy, it was indeed easy to push and did not hurt my back that time or any other time I have mowed the lawn.

For some reason I have yet to pin down it always seems more fun to use than our powered ones ever did!  

So after using this manual lawnmower for nearly a year now we have found clear benefits and drawbacks as we see it from our personal experience.

Manual Lawn Mower Is Easy To Use

Benefits Of A Manual Lawnmower

It is easier to push than we expected and no more physical strength is required than with our previous powered mowers

Much quieter than our electric or petrol mowers and it has quite a soothing muted sound

There are no electricity costs and no petrol costs. So we can mow to our heart's content knowing we are not incurring any ongoing financial costs at all! This is great for us as power costs are due to rise by a significant amount, so any savings are good. 

Regarding the environment, there are no emissions from a manual lawn mower so this is all good for our planet.

There is the joy of knowing that never again will we cut through an electric cable!

With no trailing wires, no extension leads required, no outdoor power needed and no wires trailing from the house into the garden, it is an easy-use tool.  

Fewer components mean there is less to go wrong

The manual lawn mower is ready to go as soon as you are! We now have no worries that it won't start or that a component will suddenly go wrong.

Close Up Of Bosch Manual Lawnmower, blades, wheels and roller

Even with battery lawnmowers you have the battery life or recharging to concern yourself with, while with a totally manual machine none such concerns. 

Significantly better for wildlife. We don't disturb any more wildlife using our manual lawnmower than we would with our presence walking down the garden. 

The frogs, toads,  hedgehogs and birds -especially fledglings - have plenty of time to move away from it and there's no risk if any of them getting caught up by the blades.

Fledgling Baby Robin 

To us, it does appear to give a better cleaner cut rather than tearing the grass.

It was less expensive than other powered mowers we have purchased in the past.

As it has a smaller footprint than most powered mowers it is easier to store and takes up less space. 

We can carry it easily as it is not too heavy, though it is sturdy. 

The manual lawnmower feels safer around wildlife, pets and children as there are no wires for them to get caught up in or trip over. There is no electricity to worry about and no fast-moving blades. We do take all the usual safety precautions of course. 

Hedgehog In Our Garden

Drawbacks Of A Manual Lawnmower

I do think that if you have a very large lawn a manual lawnmower will take more time to achieve the task. While it is perfectly possible to cut a large lawn with a manual lawn mower you will need to decide if you wish to do that. 

We find you need to cut a little more often than with a powered mower as it is much easier to cut shorter grass than longer grass with it.

If you attach the grassbox you may need to empty it more often, but I think if you cut more often this would not be an issue. 

Long grass will be more difficult to cut and certainly take more effort. Little and often is easier to cut than letting the grass grow longer which makes it harder to cut and then does require more physical power.

It is not so good at cutting wet grass as it does take more effort and seems to clog up more easily, but we rarely try to cut wet grass anyway even with our powered mowers, preferring to cut it when it is dry.

We will need to sharpen the blades every few years with our size lawn, but given the saving in electricity, this will not be a cost issue.   

Ours does have a roller but many manual mowers won't have rollers, so stripes will be more difficult to achieve. If this is important to you check that you can achieve stripes with it. If you want one with a roller function do check all the specifications. 

If you are considering a manual lawn mower do research properly what is important to you in a lawnmower. We bought a Bosch Manual Lawnmower and there are many more choices that are equally suitable. 

Here is a selection to browse. Do consider what you need in a manual lawn mower and read all the specifications carefully.

Happy With Our Manual Lawn Mower 

In summary, we are both really happy with our Bosch manual lawn mower. We have owned it for nearly a year now with no issues at all and are very content that we never need to worry about it breaking down or not starting. 

We don't worry about wires or electricity costs. We have no need to worry about safety with wildlife or pets or children getting caught up in the wires or blades. Obviously, the blades are sharp so you would take all the usual precautions regarding children and any type of machinery. 

We find it a gentle, easy, quiet way to mow our smallish lawn that is environmentally and wildlife-friendly and does not annoy us or the neighbours. 

Bosch Manual Lawnmower

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Mantis Tiller Review

 

Springtime and the warmer weather will be here soon.  The warm weather will finally bring us outside to start cleaning up the yard. It's a time to get the deck or patio in shape, clean up the lawn furniture and get ready for a beautiful summer.

Once the yard is cleaned up, you’ll want to get the flower beds and garden ready to plant.

This usually requires a lot of digging, bending, and raking. I can’t think of a better tool than the Mantis Tiller/Cultivator to help you with all of this work. Well, you’re still going to have to do some work, but this tool makes it so much easier.

I’ve had my Mantis Tiller for more than 10 years now, and it still runs like it’s brand new. I’ve used it year after year to till my garden, flower beds, and around shrubs.

 We planted a brand new garden for my daughter, and it easily tilled through the untouched sod. The handles just fold down and the Mantis fits in the trunk of my car or stores easily in my garage.

Mantis Tiller Features:

Easy fast start technology.

Comes with a handy carrying handle.

Weighs only 21 pounds so it's easy to move around.

A 9-inch wide pattern for digging and weeding.

Tines dig down 10-inches for cultivating.

Reverse the tines for weeding and only dig down 2-3-inches

What I like the best is that the tines pull off of the shaft with a simple pull of a cotter pin, and can be reversed for two different jobs. One position is for cultivating and will dig about 10 inches deep for planting your flowers or plants in your vegetable garden. The other position will only dig 3 to 4 inches deep, this is really handy for easy weeding around plants and shrubs.

My Tiller also has the border edger attachment with a wheel; this makes short work of edging around walkways and the driveway for that nice clean look.

A few years ago my outside drains were clogged with mud, and not draining, causing the rainwater to just settle around the foundation of my house. I decided to abandon the old drain on the side of the house that was clogged and replace it with a new PVC pipe to the street. This required me to dig a trench from the edge of the house to the street a total of about 30 feet.

So, short of digging this trench with a shovel and pick, I used my  Mantis Tiller to do the digging for me. I set the tines in cultivate position and shoveled the dirt out as I went along, this made the job so much easier.

You can also buy these attachments for the Mantis Tiller for complete lawn care:

Aerator - Will cut tiny slits in your lawn to allow nutrients and water to reach roots.

Border Edger -  Make nice clean edges around sidewalks and driveways.

Dethatcher - Will remove dead grass early in the spring to promote growth.

If you have a garden, and flower beds and like to keep a neat lawn, I highly recommend The Mantis Tiller Cultivator.

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