Stef has been the Head Kitchen Gardener at Lainston House for 3 years and 3 months, having joined in July 2021. The Kitchen Garden had been established for 17 years but had been left unattended for 3 months when Stef joined. It took her 3 weeks to weed it all! At that time there was […]
With a premise that plants need the same help as animals but can’t move, Leif wanted to be connecting people with plants so that they could capture the joy and excitement of plants and to dispel the attitude that plants are boring. Having found that botany books weren’t very helpful Leif embarked on a year […]
Gilbert White was a clergyman, naturalist, ornithologist and ecologist born in July 1720 at the vicarage in Selborne. In 1728 his family moved to “The Wakes” in Selborne and apart from his time in various parishes he lived there for the rest of his life. Over the years the house was greatly extended and is […]
The speaker brought an electron microscope to the meeting and used that to show various pests and diseases projected onto a big screen. Clerodendron and buddleia with misshapen leaves caused by the Peach Potato Aphid, a climbing rose with mildew and aphids and a Peony with Peony Blotch – Controlled by Invigorator. Leaf of a […]
The talk started with showing a few of the colourful plants currently flowering in the garden with the blue of the Dutch Iris which flowers for 4 to 6 weeks and lasts well in water and the Siberian Iris. We had the pink of Gladiolus Byzanteum and the Phlomis Tuberosa and the white of Allium […]
Early conservatories were constructed with three different growing areas for varying plant types and the relevant growing conditions. This may not be practical on the same scale with modern smaller structures but separate areas can be set up. These could consist of spaces for bulb growing, small pot plants such as Hostas and larger pot […]
If the seed is small and black, try using cornflower to sprinkle on the surface before sowing. This will make distribution of the seed much easier, as the seed will be visible. Why not try and grow potatoes using barley straw. This method is relatively simple if you feed the straw weekly with a Potassium […]
Gardening on chalk raises a number of problems for many gardeners. The ground is hungry and lacking in nutrients and has a high PH meaning that acid loving plants won’t grow. Plants have a short root structure and so require more watering with nutrients added to the water rather than using dry feeds. Hydrangeas will […]
In the UK there are 24 species of Bumblebees most of which nest in the ground. There are 225 species of Solitary Bees which don’t nest in colonies. Some of these resemble wasps, some are very small and some are specific to a particular plant e.g. Campanulas. There is only one species of Honey Bee […]
All bulbs require feeding with bonemeal and potash when they are flowering and also when only the leaves remain, in order to build up the bulb for the following year and allow them to naturalise. Allow the leaves to remain for 6 to 8 weeks after flowering. The first to flower are the snowdrops and […]
