News / gardening

Take a look at these Plume Thistles, aren't they gorgeous! Great for wide borders and easy to look after. Bees love them.And the best thing about them, is they are not spiky and thorny, they have smooth leaves and smooth stems, making them easy to manage

Unfortunately all the retail prices of the water butts and composters have gone up quite a bit last week. This is because the UK manufacturer has had a massive increase in energy costs over the last year, as making them is energy intensive. Melting all the recycled plastic, and then the moulding machines. On top of that delivery costs, which make up a chunk of the total prices on the site has increased.

The timber products, such as the sheds, are all a lot more expensive than they used to be. This is mostly due to the large rise in price of timber. Russia is the world's largest producer of timber, and with sanctions, it means, the global supply is limited, so what is available from everywhere else, such as Sweden, is more expensive. This comes on top of past increases due to demand, and supply issues during the pandemic.(I have not heard a single media publication or news report eve mention the increase in timber, and that affects housebuilding etc. They just talk about the price of gas, and sunflower oil

Everything seems expensive now. The once humble Heinz soup that was always about 90p for a can, was £1.70 the last time I looked in two supermarkets. Even the own brands that were 60p in November, are now 90p. That's a 33% increase in just 2 months. At this rate people might need wheelbarrows to carry money to the shops, as inflation increases, so perhaps I should start selling those?!

Did you know there is a few different palm trees that are cold hardy and can grow in British gardens? The Chusan palm, also known as Chinese windmill palm, is the most common, but there are others. All can survive sub zero winter temperatures. So if you are planning on creating an exotic/jungle style garden this year, make sure you read this article!

https://www.gardenandgreen.co.uk/cold-hardy-palm-trees

Native to America, this shrub is becoming popular in Britain. In May/June they become full of deep blue blossom. Beautiful. The only downside, like many other shrubs and trees, the blossom doesn't last long, and once finished it is just a green bush, with not very exciting foliage.