News - Page 15
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...
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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...
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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...
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Get ready to refill the greenhouse the moment your summer crops are spent and you can coax an extra crop of leafy veg and salads to see you right through the winter.
Refill your greenhouse
As you pick the last of your tomatoes and the aubergines and green peppers begin running out of steam, sow hardier varieties of lettuce from seed into pots or modules in the cold frame. You can also start winter baby-leaf salad mixes including oriental vegeta...
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As the sun dips lower, things get busy in the garden again. The autumn harvest needs gathering in, and late summer flowers are at their best - so gear up and get stuck in to this month’s jobs around the garden.
General tasks:
Clean the greenhouse after clearing spent tomato and cucumber plants, washing the glass thoroughly and disinfecting benches and pots.
Feed established lawns with low-nitrogen feed to en...
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Visitors to Mount Stewart in Co. Down can explore paths previously closed to the public after a £12 million restoration project opened a network of trails for the first time.
Mount Stewart
The National Trust restored the paths during a project to open up the historic Irish demesne again, as it would have been in the mid-18 th century when it was bought by the Stewart family. The three miles of reopened walking trails enjoy views over Strangford Loug...
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Keep an eye out for red spider mite especially in greenhouses, as this is just the time of year these annoying little sap-sucking pests begin to cause serious damage.
Keep an eye out for Red Spider Mite
Signs to look out for are mottled and yellowish leaves, often with little clusters of greenish specks on the undersides. A cobweb-like webbing and early leaf drop are also telltale signs. Red spider mite don’t actually turn red till...
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Ireland’s Heritage Week is here and marking 100 years of Irish heritage with a national celebration of our rich and colourful history.
Heritage Week
County Clare hosts a record 94 events during the week, which runs from August 20-28. They include lectures, field trips and workshops, all aimed at encouraging people to take an interest in their local heritage. There’s a Heritage garden Day at Irish Seed Savers in Scariff, a bat wal...
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Boost your soil with green manures as your veg beds empty out towards the end of the season and you’ll replenish the essential nutrients your plants depend on and improve the soil’s texture.
Replenish essential nutrients with Green Manures
As the early crops finish and the potatoes come out of the ground and big bare patches start popping up all over the place, just broadcast-sow green manure seed (available from our garden centr...
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Plant flowers for bats and win some fantastic wildlife gardening prizes in a new competition launched by the RHS in partnership with the Bat Conservation Trust and the Wildlife Trusts.
Create a Bat-Friendly Garden
All you have to do is plant a bat feast of insect-friendly flowers to give your local colony of bats plenty of food to enjoy, then take a photo and send it in. Among bat-attracting flowers you can plant in your garden are oxeye daisies, Ver...
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