News / gardening

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.

The following plants are traditionally found in English cottage gardens. So, if you are planning on creating a cottage garden border this month, choose these and you can be sure of a beautiful display this summer. 

ROW 1. FOXGLOVE / HONEYSUCKLE / OPIUM POPPY / GLADIOLUS / CHRISTMAS ROSE
ROW 2. LAVENDER / NASTURTIUM / SCABIOUS / ASTER / GUELDER ROSE
ROW 3. AUBRETIA / FORGET-ME-NOT / MIGNONETTE / COMMON BROOM / BORAGE
ROW 4. PERRENIAL PHLOX / WHITE JAPANESE WINDFLOWER / FLOWERING SAGE / PINK

Enjoy the Daffodils whilst they last, as they are not around for long, and once they are gone, it's another whole year before you can see them again.

Raw sewage is pouring into our rivers and coastal waters regularly, all across the country. The government got a lot of backlash this week when it voted down an amendment to the Environment Bill, that would have demanded water companies stop releasing sewage into our waters on a regular basis.

I've learnt quite a bit this week about the issue, and one thing stands out is that a major reason for the sewage releases is that the pipes can't cope after heavy rain, so the sewage is released into rivers, otherwise it would start flooding out onto residential streets from manholes. This is because the rainwater shares the same pipes as the sewage. I have made another post a month or so ago about how water butts can help prevent flash floods, and clearly they are a solution in reducing the chance of sewage spills. This is because, using my original example, of a 10,000 homes, if each are fitted with a 200 litre double water butt kit (the bestseller), then that would hold 2 Olympic swimming pools worth of water, after heavy rain. This means that all that rainwater is not going straight into the sewers, so it reduces the chance they will fill so quick, resulting in a raw sewage release into the rivers and coastal seas. 

I have not heard anyone mention this as a quick and easy solution to help the problem. Considering raw sewage is not just poop and wee, but anything that goes down the drains, including bleach, household cleaners, hair dye, medicines etc, it's a massive issue. Only 14% of English rivers are classed as being in a good ecological standard, according to the Ennvironment Agency in 2020. Yet another good reason to buy a water butt!

Weeds are simply wildflowers growing in gardens, that gardeners don't want. Some get sprayed, others get pulled, so you might not even ever see them in flower. So, here is some wildlfowers in August. These are typical are what you might find in any grass verge on a country lane. As you can see, some are quite pretty. Next year, perhaps leave a small part of your garden to grow wild and see what shows up (for example behind the garden shed), and these native plants are great for bees and butterflies.

Autumn officially began on the 22nd September, here in Britain. So here is a last look at some late summer flowers. Still some Dahlias and Chrysanthenums in gardens, but things are certainly turning autumnal shades and summer flowers are being thrown in the compost bin, where they will slowly decompose to create soil for next years flowers.

This article from the BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57247757

is interesting, as this is something we have experienced. The timber products have had 2 prices rises this year from the supplier due to the increase in global demand for timber. This has unfortunately made the timber sheds and other garden products a lot more expensive.

Another recent development is the pond manufacturer has been having problems getting hold of the specific required plastic to make the preformed ponds, so currently the Large has gone out of stock, with only the medium  and small preformed ponds available, and these will probably become unavailable at some point when stock is depleted. If you were hoping to get a large pond, the main option is the plastic pond liner, or alternatively you could opt for 2 medium ponds, which is 400 litres, and combined just 20 litres less than the large pond, and just £5 extra, with no delivery sucharges to pay. These can be placed long ways to create a longer, narrow pond, or can be placed near each other as a double pool pond, with some pond edging plants, placed between them.