Gardening

Choosing turf to plant is not always an easy and foolproof decision. You might think it’s a simple case of buying new turf to lay in your garden, or buying turf to make a new area into a garden. However, there are various types of turf that you can choose that will all have their own benefits depending on your situation.

For example, you might think that if you have a garden in a domestic home, you need to get a certain kind of turf and there are no particular options. However, there are many different kinds of turf and they might all suit your purposes better depending on the location and situation of your garden. You can choose from shade resistant types of turf, tough types of turf, turf that has wildflowers in it… the choice is yours. Find a turf supplier and find out what is possible for you.

The Nerine is one of the most exotic-looking flowers you could imagine, especially at the time of year that they flower – the autumn. Many gardens will be looking dull at this time of year, and there is nothing quite like an elegant bed or pot of Nerines to brighten things up. With their delicate white flowers and umbels, the Nerine will always look graceful and beautiful. You can grow Nerine bulbs easily in your garden, as long as you plant them at the right time of year.

Why do people choose to grow Nerines? 

Of all the flowers you could choose to grow, why is the Nerine a good option for you? Here are some of the key reasons you might want to consider:

• Delicate and pretty. Your Nerines will look beautiful in any type of garden, with their colouring blending in subtly with anything else that you have planted previously.
• Excellent as cut flowers. Many people use Nerines in bouquets, so if you grow your own in your back garden, you have the additional bonus of having beautiful flowers indoors, too. You can cut them on the stem and add them into autumn or wildflower bouquets.
• Can be largely left alone. Nerines are not high maintenance flowers and once they are in the ground, they can largely be left to it. You will just need to make sure they are planted in the right environment and have some protection.

Buying your Nerine bulbs – choosing carefully

Nerine bulbs are quite long in shape, so make sure they haven’t been damaged at all, as it would be easy for one of the ends to obtain some kind of damage. When you buy the bulbs, check them over visually before you plant them, to check that they look to be in good condition. You will usually be able to tell a bulb’s general health from its appearance, so if it looks to be in good condition, it will probably grow well for you. It is important to buy your bulbs from a well-known source, a garden centre or online supplier who has links with good nurseries where they source all of their bulbs. This helps to ensure you receive bulbs that are healthy, and it helps to support the industry as a whole.

Some growing tips to help your Nerine bulbs flourish 

Here are some tips to follow if you want your Nerines to do as well as possible:

• Make sure the Nerines are planted in a spot where they will get plenty of sunlight. They might struggle to grow well if it isn’t warm enough.
• Plant your Nerines against a wall. If at all possible, choose a south facing wall that will give them both heat and support.
• Make sure the soil is well draining. Your Nerines will thank you for it.
• You can plant your bulbs with some of the bulb still exposed, or you can plant them deeper, around 6cm. Planting them deeper will help to protect them from cold and frost, so you might want to do this if you plant your Nerine bulbs later on in the autumn, more towards the winter months.

A landscaper is very different to a gardener. They are someone who will style and shape your garden, making it into a beautiful, usable space as opposed to just a garden. If you need some inspiration for your garden, then you should definitely consider the benefits of hiring a landscape gardener. They will be able to give you guidance and ideas, as well as actually carrying out the work for you.

When you are looking for a landscape gardener, make sure you choose someone with the right credentials. You don’t want to pick someone who only landscapes very large spaces like parks, or they won’t be specialists in commercial properties. Look at their portfolio to see what they have done before and to see if you like their ideas. This is the most important thing, as everything else can be customised. If you can rely on your landscaper to be an ideas person, you will work well together.

Weeds – the bane of every gardener’s life. One of the trickiest things about weeds is knowing how to get rid of them, as many different varieties will require a different approach. Here are some points to consider if you want to keep your garden weed free:

• Weed borders on a regular basis. Unfortunately, there is no way to keep borders weed-free other than to put in some hard work. But it’s worth it when your plants and flowers grow strong and healthy.
• Spray grass to help protect it from weeds. Use a weed treatment, and check you are doing this at the right time of year according to the instructions.
• Look out for pernicious weeds. These are weeds like ground elder and horsetail, which can be incredibly destructive. They will need specialist treatment with herbicides from a qualified gardener.
• Put down weed-free layers. These can be placed under paths and driveways to prevent weeds from growing through.

Ericaceous plants are plants and flowers that need to be grown in ericaceous soil. Ericaceous soil is soil that is acidic, making it the perfect pH level for certain types of plants. These plants will not grow well in limey soil and will eventually die if not grown at the right pH level.

Some examples of common ericaceous plants are:

1.  Rhododendron
2. Camellia
3. Azalea
4. Pieris
5. Heathers

These types of plants are also known as lime haters. They will need to be kept away from other plants that prefer to grow in alkaline soil, as they will not complement each other.

Lime-induced chlorosis occurs when ericaceous plants are grown in the wrong soil. It is best to grow lime-hating plants in pots and containers, so they can be given the right kind of soil for them. You can then place the planters in the right part of the garden, as many of these plants like some shade.