News - Page 14
As winter starts to bite, it’s time to batten down the hatches and make sure the garden is shipshape ready for the bad weather to come. Here are some of the jobs you can be getting on with this month.
General tasks:
- Wrap tender plants with hessian wrapped around a thick layer of straw to protect stems from frost damage.
- Plant bare-root hedging as soon as you get saplings home: if it’s too wet or frosty, heel them in temporarily til...
Force Witloof chicory in the dark for one of the most delicious gourmet treats of the winter veg garden. Witloof chicory produces torpedo-shaped pale yellow ‘chicons’ or chicory hearts in just four to six weeks after harvest. They add crunch and sophistication sliced sparingly into winter salads, or if you want to tone down the bitterness even further, try braising them gently in the oven with shallots and thyme.
Sow your chicory in early summer in pots o...
Read more...
Dry tomatoes and other fruits to keep them in perfect condition for deliciously nutritious snacks right through winter.
Dry Tomatoes
Dried tomatoes are a classic of Italian cuisine and for sheer tastiness there are few better ways to preserve your surplus tomato crop. You can also dry apples, pears and apricots; and you can wow the kids by drying berry fruits into ‘fruit leathers’, perfectly preserved strips of dried fruit you ca...
Read more...
Clear away plant supports as part of your end-of- season clear up and store them carefully for next year. Whether they’re bamboo canes, hazel rods, or metal plant grids and obelisks they’ll do sterling service for years to come if you treat them well now.
Clear Away Plant Supports
Untwine old plant stems and cart them off to the compost heap as long as they weren’t diseased (in which case put them in with the green waste collection or burn them...
Read more...
One of Ireland’s best-loved gardens has closed its gates for the last time as celebrated garden writer Helen Dillon hangs up her secateurs and leaves her Dublin home after 44 happy years.
Helen Dillon
Her half-acre garden in Ranelagh has been open to the public for 25 years and became celebrated around the world for its exuberant displays of perennials grouped around an elegant formal water feature based on a Moorish fountain and canal. They includ...
Read more...
Ripen the last of the green tomatoes now before it’s too late. There are always a few underripe tomatoes left at the end of the season, but there’s still time to persuade at least some of them to turn red before the first frosts.
Persuade those Tomatoes!
First, 'stop' your plants by removing growing tips so they're concentrating on fruit rather than new foliage. Then maximise what heat there is by detaching plants from supports and laying them fl...
Read more...
The brilliant colours of autumn, caught by rays of mellow sunshine, are among the highlights of the gardening year. It’s also time to put the garden gently to bed, so there’s plenty to get on with this month!
General tasks:
Go on a slug and snail hunt looking for both pests and clumps of their pearly white eggs.
Clear autumn leaves from flower beds regularly, especially if they’re collecting in the crown...
Read more...
Northern Ireland’s most beautiful cities, towns and villages have been recognised in the 2016 Ulster in Bloom awards ceremony held this month.
Ulster in Bloom Awards
The annual horticultural competition encourages green-fingered communities across Northern Ireland to create beautiful plant and floral displays. Now in its 38 th year, all 11 local councils participated in the 2016 competition – 156 entries in all.
The award...
Read more...
There’s just time to grab tickets for the Royal Horticultural Society, Ireland’s Bicentenary Gala celebration taking place in Dublin on 30 September.
RHSI Bicentenary Gala Celebration
The occasion promises to be a glitzy celebration of 200 years of gardening in Ireland, with floral art demonstrations by Chelsea gold medal winning florist Jenny Murphy and guest lectures by legendary designer Dan Hinkley and plantsman Roy Lancaster. In the evening...
Read more...
Spending just half an hour a day gardening could reduce your risk of heart attack by over 50% according to new research.
Researchers studied 2,456 men and women aged between 65 and 74 over 12 years between 1997 and 2007. First they divided them into three groups according to the amount of physical activity they took part in.
Gardening to Improve your Health
The first group had ‘low’ levels of activity of less than four hours a week. The se...
Read more...