Green Garden Guide

Welcome to Green Garden Guide - the best website to find FREE and useful gardening tips, advice and articles provided to us by both professionals and enthusiasts alike. We offer up-to-date hints and tips throughout the year to ensure you are able to make the most out of the space you have - whether it's a window box or country estate!

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Summer is really here! But there is still plenty to keep you occupied, mowing and cutting back will help to tidy up your garden - but this is the time of year where you can start to really enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Some things to keep an eye on:
Weeding and Deadheading - do this to maintain beds, borders and container displays. Pruning shrubs and trimming and dividing perennials will ensure that they give a good show next year and their neat appearance will set off your summer flowering plants.
Remember to water young and new plants depending on the weather conditions - don't let them dry out! The sun tends to get much warmer in june so keep a close eye on your plants - if you want to retain moisture in the soil, spread an organic mulch over bare soild after rain/watering to retain as much moisture as possible.

If you're like me you will enjoy sitting out on the lawn and enjoying a good book, glass of wine or even a good snooze - make sure you mow your lawn and trim the edges regularly. You can begin to lower the cutting blades on your mower now to add even even sharper look to your lawn. If the grass is looking tired, or there are a few patches forming, add a liquid feed to green your lawn. It is always important to mow your lawn in a different direction each time you do it (at least once a week, if not twice) - if you cut in the same direction each time the grass will begin to grow in that direction and you won't be able to cut it as well. If the weather gets really hot (here's hoping!) and the lawn begins to brown, reduce the frequency of your mowing and raise the blades so not to put too much stress on the grass.

It is still possible to plant container grown plants, but it isn't advisable to plant out woody plants as they will need a lot of attention due to the hotter weather. It may be preferable to use a stop gap (such as summer bedding) to add instant colour to the garden, and then plant something more permanent in the Autumn.

House plants - even if you don't have access to a lucsious garden, your indoor plants may still benefit from a little stay outside! Indoor plants rarely get enough sunlight, no matter how sunny the wondowsill is - once the weather is warm why not give your plants a much needed holiday and set them outside during the day (or in the greenhouse if you have one), you will find that the plants will look much healthier as the layer of dust is removed and air can pass through the pores in the leaves much better.

These few tips are designed to help with everyday gardens - if you have a specific question for the team please email us with it and we will answer you straight back (as well as posting it onto our website so everyone else can benefit) - greengardenguide@hotmail.com or visit http://www.greengardenguide.com

Now that the weather is warming up there are many jobs to do in the garden to ensure a beautiful and fruitful garden all summer.

1. Pests and Diseases
The warm weather brings with it pests and diseases. The most organic way of removing aphids is to squish the between your thumb and forefinger but as you can imagine this is quite time consuming so by checking regularly you can avoid it getting out of control. In severe cases it may be necessary to use chemicals but these also kill off their predators such as ladybirds.

2. Potatoes
Earth up the potatoes that you planted last month - and if you didn't, get them in the ground now!

3. Night Frosts
Although it is tempting to plant out your summer bedding, depending on where you live the temperature at night may still be below freezing so it would be best to hold off until the end of the month. Tender plants and seedlings should first be moved into a cold frame, gradually open the vents for longer each day until the plant is hardy enough to be exposed all night.

4. Watering
Help newly planted perennials by watering them on a daily basis this month until their roots have developed enough to reach water deeper in the earth. If you have planted them into containers, leave at least 5cm at the top of the pot for watering.

5. Spring Flowering Bulbs
Deadhead wilting spring flowering bulbs but continue to feed and water the plant until the foliage has fully died down to encourage the development of the new flower bud in the bulb. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs ready for next spring.

6. Weeding
Regular hoeing will help you keep on top of your weeds before they get too large or turn to seed. Leave the weed on top of the soil to dry out in the sun and do not put them in your compost! Filling in the gaps with bedding plants should help to keep the weeds at bay.

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If you're one of the thousands of people without an outdoor area to call your own, or perhaps don't have enough room to satisfy your planting urges - why not sign up to the Landshare scheme?

Simply follow this link and you could find someone locally with some spare land available for you to grow your own produce in! Or, if you have some free space and are not using it, why not sign up and let someone grow on your land - they may even throw some beautiful fresh produce your way!

About the Landshare Scheme:

Landshare brings people together who have a passion for home-grown food.

It's for people who want to:

Grow fruit and vegetables but don't have anywhere to do it
Have a spare bit of land they're prepared to share
Can help in some way - from sharing knowledge and lending tools to helping out on the plot itself
Are already growing and want to join in the community

Landshare began from TV's River Cottage. It began when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall helped some Bristol families grow veg on unused council land. The experience was so inspiring to everyone involved, that River Cottage decided to see if it would work nationwide. Now Landshare is a national movement of more than 49,000 people.

Keep logging back to Green Garden Guide for other offers, ideas and freebies to help you make the most of your garden space!

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It's tempting when you move into a new home to make your stamp on the garden immediately. With a few key-planning tips you can make sure you don't waste your time and money on plants unsuited to your garden.

First, do a soil test. Our soil is ph neutral so will carry most plants but some plants will on thrive in certain soils so pick accordingly.

Look at what other gardeners in the area are growing. If certain plants keep recurring such as Roses, then it's a highly likely they will in yours too. Plus it's a great way of seeing how a plant will look alongside others before taking the plunge yourself.

Which way does it face? Obviously South facing gardens get the best of the sun in the afternoon but trace the path of the light across your garden and identify sunspots and shade throughout the day.

Don't be too hasty in clearing, there may be some treasures waiting to come up. We all want to start digging but no matter which month you move in there will be many hidden treasures that nothing but a full year will reveal.

Get a compost bin if there is not one. A compost bin has a variety of uses, not only does it save you investing in shares in the local garden centre it makes an enormous difference in reducing your weekly refuse. If you don't have space for one, contact your local library where you can pick up a green waste sack, once you have 6 full you can contact the council to collect it.

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