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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Reviewing Ten Top Tips For Novice Gardeners

I have been helping a person new to gardening recently. Its been a long time since I was a new gardener as I started as a child when I was around 5 years old. This person is an adult and has no prior knowledge so I had to start from the beginning to help them with a new garden.

So I thought it would be useful for any brand new gardeners out there to have a basic list of things to bear in mind when you start gardening.

To my mind a garden is anything from a window box to a small back garden to large acres of land. Each have their own challenges and rewards. In particular never think you cannot be a gardener if you only have a small patch or containers.

1.Learn About Each Plant As You Buy It Or Are Given It.

Research where it originally grew, what conditions it likes, what care it needs including its watering and soil requirements, pruning, ideal situation and winter care.

Select plants that are well-suited to your growing conditions, such as your climate and soil type. Right plant, right place will save you time, money and heartache.

This is better especially in the early days of gardening than trying to cope with plants that will need a lot of care and input from you because your conditions do not suit it.

If you do this with each plant it is not as daunting and you will quickly learn about a lot of plants. Once you are experienced in your gardening you will be more confident to try more difficult plants.

2.Buy A Few Good Quality Tools.

Every gardener has their tried and trusted favourite tools and that will vary between gardeners and gardens. The ones below are what I use most in my garden so I would suggest a basic kit to include:-

Secateurs like these Wolf By Pass Secateurs
Shears like these Wolf Garten Shears
Adjustable Loppers
Watering can and/or a hosepipe with adjustable head
Garden fork
Garden spade
Weeding hoe
Hand fork and hand trowel

You can always add more as you go and you may need specific tools depending on your garden and the trees, shrubs and plants in it, but get the basics first.

3. Learn About Your Garden Plot

Get to know your soil type whether it is clay or sandy, loam or stony. To check if it is acidic, neutral or alkaline you can purchase soil testing kits such as the one below, that will give you this information.
If you garden in containers you will be able to choose the soil type depending on which compost you buy. Ericaceous compost is for acid liking plants, for others a good quality general purpose compost will be fine.
Get to know which parts of your garden faces south, north, east or west.
Check which areas of your garden are sunny or shady. It is useful to map out areas that are in full sun, total shade and partial shade.
All this influences the type of plants that will be happy in your garden and enables you to get to know your plot.

4. Have Materials For Propagation And Seed Sowing

Make sure you have materials for taking cuttings and propagating and growing seeds. This will save you money in the longer term being able to grow your own seeds and take cuttings to make more plants.

So buy a few seed trays, small pots and larger pots, good quality compost suited to young plants, perlite and grit, vermiculite and seed or young plant compost.

Buy labels as well as you think you will remember which pot has which seeds in it but in my personal experience you won't!!

5. Cold Frame And Greenhouse.

Perhaps not immediately necessary but if you can invest in a cold frame to harden off young plants and a basic greenhouse to keep tender cuttings and young plants, you will find it valuable.

It does not need to be a big elaborate greenhouse, if you are starting out a very basic temporary greenhouse will be sufficient for a while.

6. Have A Wildlife Friendly Garden.

A wildlife friendly garden will benefit you and your plants more than may be immediately apparent. As time goes on your garden will find a balance of pests and predators and the plants will thrive better. You will have the added joy of watching bees, moths and butterflies, birds and maybe even hedgehogs and frogs in your garden.

To achieve this it is best not to use pesticides or slug pellets which are harmful to wildlife.

Get to know the pests and diseases your plants can suffer from so you can identify any issues.

Design your garden and grow plants so that it attracts beneficial predators that will eat the pests and do the work for you.

Do not be too tidy, wildlife need messier, wilder areas to live and material to build nests but you can easily incorporate areas like this into a lovely garden.

Grow shrubs birds like to nest in and/or fix up bird boxes, have a pile of logs in an out of the way area that insects and frogs can live in.

Build or buy an insect house. Great for insects and fun for any children to build and watch. Why Insect Hotels Are Good for Wildlife And Gardeners

If we give garden friendly predators a place to live and do not interfere too much soon your garden will have a balance. Yes you will still get pests but the beneficial predators will keep them in check so they will not do much damage.

One of the best books about wildlife friendly gardening I have read is The Wildlife Gardener By Kate Bradbury. It is a beautiful book I very much enjoyed reading and learning from.

7.Crocks

Keep all broken crockery or broken pots to use as crocks in the bottom of pots so that soil does not block the drainage hole and to increase drainage.

8.Get To Know Other Gardeners And Their Gardens.

Other gardeners are a wonderful source of information and inspiration. If they are local to you what grows well in their gardens may well grow well in yours. If you get chatting to them they may even share cuttings or dig up and share plants with you ! :)

Most gardeners are very happy to talk about plants ! If there are any open garden events near you do take the opportunity to go around other gardens, You will learn so much and can continue to improve your skills and knowledge as long as you want to garden!

9.Gardening Resources

There are often good gardening programmes on television.
Buy a few good gardening books to help get you started. I am a big fan of the late Geoff Hamilton who wrote the book Cottage Gardens and the book listed below among many others. There are also many other good gardeners to learn from.
Check out good gardening magazines
In addition you can join online gardening communities.
Read gardening articles by experienced and enthusiastic gardeners like those Gardening Reviews here on Review This Reviews.
If there are any gardening events and gardening shows local to you or that you can travel to they are a wonderful source of inspiration and information and a lovely day out.

10.Relax And Enjoy Your Garden!

Few gardens are perfect.

Cultivate patience and enjoy the seasons, gardening takes time and effort, and not everything will be perfect right away. In fact in my experience a garden is always an ever changing dynamic, work in progress.

Enjoy the process and learn from your successes, failures, surprises and mistakes. I am still learning and making mistakes and having successes after decades of gardening! The main thing is to enjoy yourself and have fun.

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

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.

National Plant Network Eleagnus-2 Piece Live Plant, Green-Silver-Brown Foliage

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.

Hedges and Living Boundaries (A Gardener's Guide To)

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.

Reviewing Ten Ways To Keep Garden Plants Alive During A Drought

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Moving House With Your Garden Plants Reviewed

A Personal Review Of The Inspirational Gardener Geoff Hamilton

Reviewing The Benefits and Drawbacks Of A Manual Lawn Mower

Growing Magnificent Magnolias In The Garden Reviewed

Reviewing Restoring A Metal Garden Swing Seat

How To Grow Camellias In Your Garden Or Container Reviewed

Review Of Wolf ByPass Secateurs

Reviewing Growing Annual Sweet Pea Plants And Flowers

Reviewing The Growing And Care Of Bottlebrush Plant

Reviewing How To Put The Garden To Bed For Winter

Metal Wind Spinners For The Garden Reviewed

Spring Woodland Walks For Wellbeing Reviewed

Why Insect Hotels Are Good For Wildlife And Gardeners Reviewed

Growing Vegetables In Outdoor Containers Reviewed.

Review Of Wolf Garten Shears For The Garden

Gardening Reviews By Contributors On Review This Reviews

Diary Of A Wild Country Garden

Essential Wildlife Gardening Gifts

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Tuesday, October 4, 2022

A Review Of Hardy Fuchsia In The Garden

I was wandering around the garden this morning taking stock of how the garden plants have come through this scorching summer with its drought and intense summer sun.

I noticed that most of the colour in the garden right now is coming from two mature hardy fuchsias, we have one white and one purple and white.

In fact, they stand out as doing extremely well, with healthy green leaves, no pest damage and a bounty of flowers and I have not watered them once all summer.

I am not sure that I have ever looked at them so fondly. Many other flowers have gone over so quickly this year suffering from extreme summer weather conditions, but these beauties are looking healthy and gorgeous!

One is planted in our front garden and which is west facing and the other is in our east-facing back garden. Both are on heavy clay soil, though the one at the back is on a slope and the one at the front is very close to the gravel drive and path so they both get better drainage.

In this article, the care of Fuchsia is related to the hardy Fuchsia planted in the ground. Tender Fuchsia and annual Fuchsia do require different care so do check what kind you own.

In addition to growing Fuchsia, I do enjoy taking photographs of them and making them into products so I have included a couple for you.

Position Of Hardy Fuchsia In The Garden

Fuchsias like to grow in sunshine or a little partial or dappled shade. However, a full south-facing position where there is hot sun all day would be too much for them.

They do like to be in a sheltered spot. If they are not you may find that the delicate flowers will be blown away by strong winds which would be a shame.

Personally, I have found east-west planting the best.

Soil Conditions, Feeding And Watering Hardy Fuchsia

The care of this lovely plant is relatively straightforward. Fuchsia does like well-drained soil and I did wonder if they would survive on our very heavy clay.

However, with one being on a slope where drainage is better and the other being close to a gravel drive they have thrived.

As long as drainage is good they can cope with most types of soil.

I don't feed my Fuchsias as our soil is very rich already but you can give a feed in Spring.

A mature plant in the ground should not need watering much and I never water ours. Even in this summer's drought and 40-degree Celcius heat conditions, I did not water them due to a hosepipe ban and they have not suffered.

This summer was an exception with the persistent heat and searing sun, so if there had not been a ban on using water, I would likely have watered them deeply about once a fortnight.

Propagating Hardy Fuchsia

Hardy Fuchsia can have hardwood cuttings taken in the autumn. All we need to do is to take a cutting of woody stem a few inches long. Avoid any new green shots for these cuttings.

Under a pair of leaves make a clean horizontal cut that is the base of the cutting. Across the top make a diagonal sloping cut at about 45 degrees, which is the top of the cutting. The sloping cut is so that any water will run off rather than sitting in the cutting and causing rot.

Then simply gently insert the cuttings into a gritty compost around the edge of a pot.

They do need to be in a place where it is frost free over the winter and cool. They should not be allowed to dry out completely or become waterlogged. A cool greenhouse is perfect. If like me you do not have one then place in a cold frame or even on a potting table in a sheltered spot with some protection from heavy rain would be fine. If it is very cold some fleece protection may be wise.

Once you see new shoots in the springtime we can then pot up each individual plant into its own pot. After that, in summer they can be planted in the garden or into a larger pot.

Always plant out in early summer whether it is a cutting or a newly bought plant. This gives them the best start in life. Any later than that makes them more susceptible to cold and they may not thrive. Plant a few inches deeper than the base and keep well watered for the first season.

Pruning Hardy Fuchsia

Little pruning is required most of the year as most of the flowers will fall off naturally as they go over but you can deadhead flowers regularly if you wish. I tend not to bother with deadheading hardy Fuchsias.

Once new growth starts to appear in spring we can start pruning. Use clean sharp tools like those Wolf secateurs. Old stems can be cut back to a pair of buds relatively low down on the plant.

Do not worry if it appears much of the plant has been killed by frosts, this can happen in a cold winter or very cold areas. Most of the time it will grow back, simply cut away all the dead stems low down in Spring to allow for new growth and be patient.

We should never ever prune in autumn or winter as this opens the plant up to disease and rot. Leave it be until the spring.

White Fuchsia Flowers Greeting Card
by RaintreeDesigns

Hardy Fuchsia Flowering Times

I love the abundance of exquisite flowers that hang down so gracefully and somewhat bashfully gently swaying in the breeze.

Our shrubs flower from May to October and are mainly pollinated here by bees. In their native central and south America, they are pollinated by the hummingbird. So we do gain a very long flowering time with a Hardy Fuchsia.

Many have purple flowers which attract the hummingbird but selective breeding has produced many variations of colours including red, violet, purple, pink and white ones and combinations of all those colours.

Our purple and white one never flowers in winter, is often affected by frosts and needs cutting to the ground in spring. However, our white one near the house always remains and is now five feet high and does often in a milder winter flower most of the year, which is just lovely.

Fuchsia Flowers Throw Pillow
by RaintreeDesigns

Fuschia Winter Care

I do little with my hardy Fuchsias in the ground. They are both hardy and have always been planted into the soil.

I do like to give them mulch to give some winter protection but they have always come through each year.

I will only fleece the little cuttings I took this year that are in pots as they are rather more exposed to cold conditions.

If I had hardy Fuchsias in pots then I would fleece over both pot and the plant to provide them with more protection. I would also move into the sunniest, most protected position I had in the garden for winter.

Tender Fuchsia by contrast will certainly need protection over winter, at the very least a layer or two of fleece and mulch and may need bringing inside.

Fuchsias can be troubled by a few pests and diseases but I have never found any to be a problem though I do garden organically and allow natural pest control. Slugs appear to ignore them as well which is a huge bonus in my garden.

To learn more about Fuchsia take a look at this informative and beautiful book.

20%

The Illustrated Gardener's Guide to Growing Fuchsias

So if you like a pretty, mainly trouble free plant, that is easy to care for and propagate and looks wonderful all summer and into Autumn you may love a hardy Fuchsia. She can be in the garden or a large pot and will give many months of joy with her gorgeous bountiful pretty flowers and visiting wildlife. I would never be without at least one Fuchsia in our garden.

Reviewing Ten Ways To Keep Garden Plants Alive During A Drought

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Moving House With Your Garden Plants Reviewed

Reviewing The Benefits and Drawbacks Of A Manual Lawn Mower

Growing Magnificent Magnolias In The Garden Reviewed

Reviewing Restoring A Metal Garden Swing Seat

How To Grow Camellias In Your Garden Or Container Reviewed

Review Of Wolf ByPass Secateurs

Reviewing Growing Annual Sweet Pea Plants And Flowers

Reviewing The Growing And Care Of Bottlebrush Plant

Reviewing How To Put The Garden To Bed For Winter

Metal Wind Spinners For The Garden Reviewed

Spring Woodland Walks For Wellbeing Reviewed

Why Insect Hotels Are Good For Wildlife And Gardeners Reviewed

Growing Vegetables In Outdoor Containers Reviewed.

Review Of Wolf Garten Shears For The Garden

Gardening Reviews By Contributors On Review This Reviews

Diary Of A Wild Country Garden

Essential Wildlife Gardening Gifts

Raintree Earth Designs

FOLLOW US ON:

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Review Of Wolf Garten Shears For The Garden

Good quality tools are necessary when working in the garden. I prefer to use manual tools whenever possible in our garden. I find it more peaceful to use manual tools, better for wildlife and much quieter for ourselves and our neighbours. I also feel more connected somehow to our garden plants.

Sometimes power tools are necessary for the garden, but using manual tools rather than electric ones is an even greater consideration now for us that electricity prices are so high.

We find these Wolf Garten Shears easy to use with no energy costs at all, apart from your own physical power.

We do like tools that are easy to use and do not require too much effort. I would also rather buy quality tools that suit our needs and aim to buy tools that are longer lasting.

Wolf Garten Shears

Wolf is one of the brands I trust for gardening tools and are one of the brand of tools I use on a regular basis to keep our garden looking at its best. We also have secateurs of the Wolf brand and you can read my Review Of Wolf Garden By Pass Secateurs here. They have also proved a really great purchase.

The shears are used in our garden for cutting back shrubs, perennials and herbs such as lavender and geraniums where we need to cut a larger area of foliage. We use them to cut back annual flowers and any straggly growth as well.

Important aspects of garden shears are that they are sharp and cut cleanly. That it is easy to use with an ergonomic grip, a buffer to reduce jarring and pressure on our hands and wrists and it has a smooth action. In my experience, the Wolf Garten shears excel in all these areas.

I do think for the price and the quality that Wolf Garten Shears are excellent shears.

Cutting Back And Pruning Plants With Shears

Perennials require cutting back in late autumn after flowering has finished and when they are dying back. Equally, we can leave them until the following Spring. A Spring cutting back means that we leave the hollow stems and cover for our wildlife.

Lavender is best cut back after flowering but it is important to not cut back into old wood as it may not regrow. We need to cut so you can still see green shoots. This cutting back ensures a more compact shrub that will have the best chance of flowering well the following year and we can also use the cut flower stems as decoration in the home.

Hebes can be cut back lightly or some can be shaped into topiary-like balls as you prefer.

Our Laurel hedge gets cut back a few times a year to keep it looking neat and manageable.

Geraniums need cutting back after flowering. If we do this it tidies it up and also there is an opportunity that it may flower again. It will look bare for a week or two but the new regrowth is fresh green and lovely.

For any perennial you are cutting back it is important to cut close to the crown of the plant but above any new growth. We need a tool that will cut cleanly and not tear the plant.

I love the way that these shears cleanly and easily slice through our thick lavender borders and cut our small conifers cleanly. In my experience, they do not pull or injure the plants. We do not want to be tearing or pulling on plants that need cutting back and these shears just make this job so much easier and quicker to complete.

For a long time, I used my Grandads shears for these cutting jobs. While I love them because they were my Grandad's and are a link to a wonderful man I never knew as he died shortly after I was born, they are not easy shears to use for a long time.

I will always love and treasure my Grandad's shears, when I hold them I feel a part of history and closeness to my Grandad. In addition, all these decades on they are still in great working order. However, I do believe these Wolf Garten shears offer an added level of comfort and features that I do appreciate these days!

Good Qualities Of Wolf Garten Shears

When I use my Wolf Garten Shears I find they are so much easier on my hands and arms and are of good solid quality. I find they are the nearest shears to the robust, quality and feel of my Grandad's shears but with the added level of modern comfort!

Nonstick coated blades mean they rust a lot less and are much better when using them to cut plants with sticky sap. I clean them with a damp cloth and sometimes WD40 and a cloth.

In my experience, they cut stems cleanly and sharply which is much better for the plants.

Comfortable handles make the task of cutting back so much easier. They are simple to use and not hard on the hands or arms.

They have a solid quality comfortable feel to the product which is important to me.

Good bright points of orange-red colour mean they are not easily lost in the garden. This is essential for me as I am always putting down tools in the garden, getting distracted and forgetting where I left them!

There is a range of Wolf Garten shears, some normal sized for general cutting jobs, others about half the size developed for topiary hedging and smaller work, it all depends on your garden and what you need your shears for.

Here Is A Selection Of Wolf Garten Shears

WOLF Garten HSTL Hedge Shears With Curved Blade 7438000

WOLF-Garten RJZ Classic Single Hand Grass Shears, Red, 39.2x2.47x2.5 cm

Wolf-Garten RILL Comfort Single Hand Grass Shears, Red, 39.2x2.47x2.5 cm

WOLF Garten HSB Comfort Shears 7424000

I personally would not attempt to cut a very large hedge with these shears but for tasks such as cutting back herbs and perennials, smaller hedges, smaller conifers, some topiary, annual flowers and general everyday pruning these manual Wolf Garten Shears are a great tool to purchase and wonderful quality addition to a useful garden tool collection.