GardenWild Blog
Hints and tips, advice, product reviews and so much more from professional gardeners, horticulturists and designers.
Where to start
The most exciting thing about gardening is watching something that you’ve planted grow and come to life!
We give you practical hands on tips and advice to help you get started.
Tools for gardening
Compost
Plants and Trees
Garden Soil
Gardening for Wildlife
Water
Gardening Starter Pack
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Water You Plants
Plants need water in order to absorb nutrients from the soil. Smaller or newer plants are most at risk because they don’t have the established root network in place to reach the moisture held deeper in the earth.
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How long will the plants take to establish?
A plant is established when the roots are well integrated into the soil and it can withstand normal weather conditions.
Normally the advice that give to our clients that the second year will be when your borders will start look their best. However this depends on the plants in the borders and isn’t a hard and fast rule.
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What is mulch
Mulch is a material that is spread over the surface of a border or bed a covering. Different mulches have different properties depending on what they are made of.
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Weeds in the garden
Any plant can be a weed if it’s running a muck somewhere you don’t want it. However, there are some plants that are considered weeds for a reason. Most of the time it’s because they are more invasive and aggressive than other plants.
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Protecting plants from wildlife
It seem stupid considering that in resent years the new has been championing biodiversity by creating heavens for animals in urban areas I am now writing about protect garden from wildlife. As much as we love wildlife and want to encourage it in our gardens, we don’t want our newly planted borders nobble and nibbled back to nothing every year. Animals are smart and they know an easy source of food when they see it and your border can be just that.
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How To Maintain A Naturalistic Border Item
The small amount of on-going maintenance involved is why you see more and more gardens giving greater space to this kind of planting. A naturalistic border is even less maintenance than a lawn in a lot of cases. In the growing session a lawn needs mowing every 1 to 2 weeks, an established naturalistic border doesn’t need that kind of attention. We try to add at least some element of this planting style in every planting plan we do.
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Ericaceous Compost
When planting acid-loving plants it is important to do so with the correct compost mixture. Ericaceous plants are species that love acidic soil and hate lime soils (acid lovers and lime haters). If you have found yourself drawn to a beautiful plant at the garden centre make sure you first find out which type of soil it likes, if you have chosen an acid-lover you should make sure to then buy some ericaceous compost too.
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Fruit Trees
Apple and pear trees in the UK tend to fall into 6 different pollination groups, according to when they crop. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, this shouldn’t be too much of a concern, as there will usually be another tree in a nearby neighbour’s garden that shares your tree’s pollination group. So, as you can see, although you may not necessarily come away with your favourite variety, it is really important to invest in the right tree for your garden, rather than risk your crops failing.
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Quick Guide to Roses
To those of us who would not consider ourselves as having green fingers, growing roses may seem daunting, as they are known for having specific pruning and nutritional needs - however, this is certainly not the case. Not all roses require the same level of attention and some will almost look after themselves, once established.
When we think of roses, we usually imagine the typical Tudor Rose: a sizeable shrub, with large, sweet smelling flowers. However, with now well over 30,000 varieties of rose worldwide, there literally is a rose to suit every garden.
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Quick Guide to Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas have long been a much-loved favourite in our gardens, with their large, showy flower heads of tightly clustered florets. If you’re looking for a shrub that will provide show-stopping blooms, to take centre stage in your garden throughout the Summer, then the Hydrangea never fails to impress.
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Top 5 bird feeding stations
Bird feeding stations are versatile and effective tools for attracting a diverse range of bird to your garden. By offering various types of bird feed and feeders, you can cater to different species' dietary preferences and behaviours. Whether you aim to entice small songbirds or larger, more robust species, there is a feeding station suited to your needs. Additionally, the flexibility of incorporating multiple stations allows for accommodating various bird populations simultaneously. This is your first step to turning your garden into a perfect environment for bird activity.
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Planting a Yew Hedge in a Clay Soil
The big issue with Yew is that they don't like wet feet - so be careful if you are planting into clay soil, which is notoriously poorly drained. If Yew roots are sat in water they will drown, and the plant will turn brown and die.
Recommended Tool
The garden hoe is a useful tool for ongoing garden maintenance. Once a border has been cleared of any perennial nuisances, like dandelions, the hoe can be used to keep a border looking its best. The blade is small enough to fit around plants in your border.
The pruning saw is when even the loppers won’t do. There are a lot of different types of pruning saw and they match their intended uses.
Loopers are very useful for those garden jobs that are just a bit too big for secateurs. You should try and always have a pair if you’re doing any pruning work.
There are all sorts of jobs you can use different rakes to achieve. From levelling an area for turf to raking up leaves. I couldn’t cover all of them in this one blog. I’m going to concentrate on rakes designed for removing fallen leaves, grass clippings and other garden waste.
In this blog we’re going to give you some idea of what to look out for when buying a shovel. Some people confuse them with spades. There is an easy way to remember-
Spades cut through the soil and are primarily used for digging.
Shovels move soil and other garden material around.
In this blog we’re going to try to give you some idea of what to look out for when buying a spade. A spade a spade right? But not all spades are created equal.
I’m going to be giving you recommendation for what we think are the best all purpose gardening gloves. Gloves that you can do jobs like weeding and planting with perfect dexterity.
The garden claw tool can be use in a variety of different ways. We use is primarily for clearing smaller unwanted garden material such as annual weeds, leaves or unwanted herbaceous root structures out of beds and borders
Garden trugs are incredibly useful. They carry tools, garden waste, soil, plants, bulbs, everything goes in the trug.
A good pair of secateurs is a must for any gardener. We use them everyday and curse the times we don’t have them because there is always something you need a pair of secateurs for
The garden hand trowel can be used for everything from planting to weeding and cutting through dry soils to digging out roots. The garden trowel is one of the essential basic garden hand tools.
Zero Waste Starter Kit! The Zero Waste Essentials for your kitchen, reduce your footprint with each step along the food waste journey. Read this and waste less!
Sustainability
Did you know that you choice of compost could be contributing to climate change? This is because of one of the main elements in most composts… Peat. Dig a little deeper and find out more.
Find out about the innovative way (or ways) of dealing with the floods that is not only worked but also sustainable! I’ll give you a clue - it’s planting! Jump straight in and find out more!
Zero Waste Starter Kit! The Zero Waste Essentials for your kitchen, reduce your footprint with each step along the food waste journey. Read this and waste less!
Top tips on grow your own wildflower meadow. It’s harder than you think but the benefit are unbelievable!
Wildlife
Bird feeding stations are, if you never seen one before, great for hanging lots of different types of bird feed/feeders and attracting a large verity of bird.
Out of all the wildlife that come and visit our garden, birds have to be the friendliest and most vocal. Checkout GardenWilds top 5 Garden Birdbaths and attract more bird to your garden.
Top tips on grow your own wildflower meadow. It’s harder than you think but the benefit are unbelievable!
They are also tiny! Dormice grow to between 6cm - 9cm! He could easily lay in the palm of your hand with room to spare.
There has been a countrywide decline in the numbers of many birds including many well known and loved species.
Even though the main brunt of damage is being done in agricultural areas, there are a lot of mistakes that are being made in the garden. As the habitats are being reduced in the countryside, it’s getting more important to welcome birds into your garden.
This the story of the bird rescue that happened in our house this Christmas. As my son, Arthur, is bird mad, when we found this little guy stunned and immobile in the garden, he was the first to want to rescue him.