Your Outdoors Indoors

Just because you may not have garden it doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on the world of gardening completely, as there are so many gorgeous and exotic houseplants that can be grown indoors.

A house filled with lovely lush plants will immediately give your house a welcoming atmosphere and a homely feel. I think that indoor plants really are the finishing touch to any décor as they beautify and add style to any home.

Houseplants are not just for décor alone, just like plants in the outdoor garden they have therapeutic benefits and help promote feelings of relaxation and wellbeing, especially at the end of a long stressful day. It’s no accident that plants are used in so many public places such as offices, hospitals, wait rooms and shopping centres.

Scientific studies have proved that houseplants help remove harmful household chemicals from the air that are given off from everyday household products like synthetic furnishings, computers, electrical equipment and cleaning products.

Houseplants will help freshen the air, absorb noise and lessen dust in the home. Indoor are also said to lower blood pressure, help concentration, improve memory and generally promote feelings of tranquillity and calm.

Outdoor plants need to be placed in their preferred place and aspect and the same goes for indoor plants, as some plants prefer a shadier cooler part of a room, such as ferns or ivy, while others will prefer a warmer sunny room, like cacti for example.

Other plants will welcome warm steamy conditions such as a kitchen of a bathroom, such as the Caladium, Peacock plant with its distinctive foliage. So always check the label before you purchase your houseplant to see what aspect it will thrive in.

Because houseplants are grown in pots, they will tend to use up the nutrients of the compost, so therefore they will need feeding on a regular basis to give them nourishment to grow. If you have a houseplant with broad leaves, then it’s also worth giving them the occasional wipe down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and to allow the plant to breathe.

As with outdoor plants, some houseplants will prefer more watering than others, for example azaleas will like a good drink while bromeliads will need very little water. However, if you would like a virtually maintenance-free plant, then opt for air plants. As their name suggests, these plants obtain most of their requirements from the air.

Do remember that some houseplants will have a dormant period during which time they will need less feeding and watering; again always check the label for instructions.

One interesting indoor plant is the good old common Spider houseplant as this plant is the most effective plant in fighting pollution. It will actually absorb many toxic gases and household chemicals, even cigarette smoke. It is also said that the spider plant will absorb gasses which some refrigerators produce.

As outdoor plants are vital to our wellbeing, our houseplants can be just as important and not only this, but they look great in our homes too.

Acknowledgement to www.freeimages.co.uk for the pictures used in this posting.

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Boring In Winter? Not In My Back Yard…

I don’t think that any garden in the winter deserves to be boring when it’s so easy to provide even the most basic interest with evergreen, variegated and winter flowering shrubs.

In my own garden I have two splendid bold Fatsia japonicas, with magnificent large exotic leaves and around this time of year it produces interesting stems with round pom-pom-like small cream flowers, which in turn will then produce small round black fruits.

If you’re going to plant a Fatsia in your garden, just just remember to leave plenty of room around it as it will in time become a large shrub and can grow up to ten feet, however you can cut it back if need be.

Another favourite shrub of mine for this time of the year, is the Mahonia x media, which again is an evergreen shrub with interesting holly-like foliage and this shrub will soon be coming into flower with long racemes of super fragrant bright yellow flowers. As with the Fatsia, remember to leave plenty of room as this too is a large shrub and can grow up to fifteen feet.

As this time of the year can be quite drab colour-wise, how about something pretty, pink and scented for the garden? In that case you could opt for something like the beautifully fragrant Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’. This shrub has pretty clusters of rich rose-red to white-pink flowers on bare stems, and this shows off the beauty of the flowers even more, as there is no foliage to obscure them. This shrub can grow to about ten feet.

Ornamental grasses are still in vogue in both domestic and commercial gardens, and many are now coming into there best; showing off their wonderful seed heads. The main star at the moment is the Pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana with its super feathery, silvery white plumes of up to ten feet. This grass is certainly for a larger garden where it can be used as a specimen plant or focal point.

There are lots of other smaller varieties of ornamentals grasses that can be grown in flower borders this time of year and once the perennials have died down, these grasses can then add interest and look structurally magnificent, especially when covered with some glistening icy frost.

It is said that there is a flowering clematis for each month of the year, well for this month the star of the show must be the Clematis Golden Tiara. This vigorous climber produces lovely open lantern-shaped flowers in bright golden yellow followed by fluffy seed heads that give interest into the early winter.

Like I said earlier, no garden deserves to look dreary and dull during this time of the year, so go on, see what plants are in season for around now and brighten up your garden for the dull winter months ahead.

Well, that’s about it for this week.

Stay warm and take care during these frosty mornings.

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Busy Busy Busy In November

With the days now short of daylight and gloomy it really takes a lot of effort to get out there into the garden and catch up with some chores.  But look on the bright side, in just over six weeks time the days will again be starting slowly to get longer.

Well November is certainly leaf litter clearing up month. I know that many people get a bit fed up with sweeping up the fallen leaves in their front gardens from the trees that line our streets. But this is a small price to pay for all the benefits that trees provide.

Not only are they beautiful and provide colourful interest with their leaves, flowers, fruits or berries, but think how boring the streets would be without them.

A concrete jungle?

No thanks!

More importantly, trees are needed environmentally as they take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen to help keep the air that we breathe cleaner.

Leaf litter makes excellent leaf mould when it has rotted down, but it is not a good idea to put the swept up leaves onto the normal compost heap as leaves take longer to break down.

My advice would be to keep them in a separate compost container, or collect the leaves up into a black plastic bin bag.  Add a little water into the bag of leaves if the leaves are dry, as this will help the decaying process.

Also punch a few holes in the plastic bag and tuck it away in an unseen corner of the garden. Forget about the bag for a year and then next autumn you’ll have wonderful decomposed leaf mould to spread out on your borders and help improve your soil.  Let nature help you with the recycling.

I myself am going to be busy planting trees this month. I’ll be planting up a Cherry Blossom avenue, which will look lovely next spring when all the pinky-white blossoms are out.  This’ll be an oriental style garden and if all goes well it should look spectacular.

I’ll also be planting up trees to create a Laburnum walkway. The fabulous cascading yellow flowers of the Laburnum will look stunning next May.

In addition to all this, I’ll also have the pleasure in planting up a few of my favourite trees, the Japanese Maples with their dainty artistic leaf form and my selection will include varieties with stunning red colour foliage.

I can’t wait to start!

If you are planning to plant any trees in your garden it is always important to consider the full height the tree will achieve once it has matured and how wide the canopy will be.

Also consider how dense the foliage will be, as this will create shade under the tree area. Remember not to plant trees too near to buildings, walls or paving so as to prevent any future damage that could be caused by the tree roots.

Remember if you have a small garden, then select a tree that won’t outgrow its allotted space.

Well. that’s it for this week.

Take care.

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The Spooky Side of Gardening

This year seems to have gone by so quickly and it’s already just gone Halloween, rich with tradition, mystery and symbolism.

Not surprisingly, much of the symbolism surrounding Halloween has connections to the natural world, including plants, fruits and vegetables.

Also it might interest you to know that Halloween is celebrated in some form in many parts of the world, including, Japan, Mexico, Sicily, China, Korea and Sweden among others.

The time around Halloween is a time when plants start to die down as they near the end of a cycle and many deciduous trees and plants drop their leaves for the winter.

For ancient people, this was a time to honour their dead along with the “death” of the year and to offer sacrifices to nature hoping that spring will return with its fresh and welcome bounty.

Many garden plants are associated with this season. Rue, a hardy perennial bitter herb of the Bible was hung in doors and windows around this dark time of the year to deter evil spirits.  Rue has also been used in fall to repel fleas from coming in the house by rubbing areas with the bitter, pungent juice released from a crushed stem.

Sage or Salvia is a symbol of domestic virtue and immortality and was often planted on graves in days of old as it was said to live forever, often thriving on neglect and so be a symbol of life.

Rosemary, often thought of as the loveliest of herbs was brought to England in the 14th century. It had been used for thousands of year before in all of the Mediterranean countries where it was hung over the cradle of infants to protect them from the evil eye. It was also called the bride’s herb, and believed to ward off evil. Burned with thyme and Juniper the smoke was said to get rid of witches and evil spirits and also clean the air in a sick room.

So, if you took part in Halloween celebrations this year, remember that it’s not all just plastic marks, false fangs and pointy hats; there’s a strong tradition that links this spooky festival to your garden.

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Horticultural Styling Indoors.

My love and passion for gardening and garden designing led me to study flower arranging and floristry for the horticultural styling part of my business.

So now I not only enjoy the flowers outside in my garden but I can enjoy their splendid beauty and wonderful scent indoors at close quarters.

More and more people are taking up the popular hobby of flower arranging. While it is easy to go along to a florist and buy wonderful flowers, foliage is sometimes limited and can work out more expensive to buy. So why not grow your own?

A garden does not have to be just ornamental it can be functional as well. Many of us grow fruit and vegetables to eat, so how about growing a selection of plants and shrubs that can be used for your flower arranging?

Many of us will have Ivy growing on our gardens, or at least know someone who has, and this is such a useful plant to have in many flower arrangements as it can give a great effect by trailing over the side of a container.

With Christmas coming up, if you spray just the black berries of the Ivy with a silver or gold spray and place it around candles it can form the basis of a very attractive table display.

However, it goes without saying that you always need to take care with such plant / candle arrangement.

Holly is another useful evergreen shrub and tree for its distinctive leaves to use for Christmas decorations.

A versatile evergreen shrub or tree that is number one on my list to have for flower arranging is the Pittosporum tenuifolium with its lovely wavy edged medium size leaves and can fit into numerous types of flower arrangements.

The Eucalyptus gunnii with its distinctive round disc-shaped aromatic glaucous leaves will give a more contemporary style to a flower display.

If you constantly harvest this shrub it will keep growing new useful shoots and this will prevent it growing into a large tree which can become too big for the average suburban garden.

For bold foliage go for the Fatsia japonica, with its large finger lobed glossy green leaves, or the Phormium with its broad sword-shaped leaves or the Aucuba japonica ‘Crotonifolia’, the Spotted Laurel with its interesting yellow blotches.

For variegated foliage interest go for the Euonymus fortunei. ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’ is green in the centre of the leaf with bright yellow margins or the ‘Emerald Gaiety with its white margin will look really stunning with white roses.

So next time you are given some flowers go out into your garden and snip off some foliage and create an instant lovely flower arrangement to enjoy indoors.

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© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

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An Explosion Of Autumn Colours!

As I’ve said before, my favourite time in the garden is in the spring but for my husband it is the autumn. He loves to see all the wonderful rustic colours that the leaves turn into before they fall from the trees.

Around this time of the year there are some super trees to provide orange, gold, bronze and crimson colours for autumn interest and on the top of my list is the Acer palmatum atropurpureum, which I have in my own back garden. This will be turning from its usual purple colour foliage to bright red and when the rays of sun shine through it, it is absolutely stunning.

Autumn is also the season for ornamental berries to show off their splendour. The evergreen Pyracantha is one such shrub that has super bright orange berries and can be grown in a shady or sunny position against a wall. The more sun it’s exposed to, the better, brighter and more berries it will produce.

For clusters of red berries Cotoneaster shrubs are good for this and they are easy to grow in any ordinary garden soil.

For really unusual stunning purple berries that are shown off on bare stems go for the Callicarpa shrub. It can grow to a height of thirteen feet and it’s definitely one for my shopping list.

An interesting perennial that comes into its best around this time of the year is the Physalis alkekengi, otherwise known as the Chinese lantern, because of its super decorative papery orange calyces, which resemble lantern shapes. This plant is a vigorous spreader, so leave plenty or room for it. It is also useful for dried flower arrangements.

A dainty and exotic looking hardy flowering perennial is the Schizostylis coccines ‘Sunrise’, The kaffir lily. It has lovely salmon-pink showy, gladiolus-like spikes of open cup-shaped flowers that flower from late summer to early winter and it’s good value for money in any flower border.

Another hardy perennial to flower outdoors this month is the Chrysanthemum. There are so many forms to choose from and a wide variety of colours too. Chrysanthemums can also be used as cut flowers to provide some indoor interest too.

Enjoy the colours of autumn and don’t forget to visit my award-winning website at www.gardendesigner.co.uk for more hints and tips.

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© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

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The Future’s Bright…

This is the time of year when many of us start to spend more time indoors and forget about the garden, however, you could save yourself time and money by using the time now to plan your garden for next year.

This is the best time of the year when we should be thinking and planning how we would like our gardens to be and want sort of plants we would like to be growing next season.

Autumn is certainly the garden’s “renewing time”, as this is when we should preparing and improving the soil by digging in lots of organic matter and many of the existing plants in a garden can be transferred and replanted.

This is also the prefect time to plant new trees, shrubs and bulbs. Existing lawns can be repaired if parts are worn out and during this time you could be reshaping your lawn for new flower borders or to completely renew and smarten up your garden.

A well-designed border can really enhance and add interest to the garden. When planning a border consider some of the following elements: what form or shape would you like the borders to be?

A straight traditional border gives more of a formal theme and if it butts up to a lawn then it will be easier to mow. A less formal look is to have curved edges to a border to give it a softer attractive feel and look.

Always consider the aspect your border faces, for example if it is south facing it will get hot sun all day and if it is north facing then it will have to have shade loving plants. So therefore it may be preferable to have larger planting borders where the garden get more sun light.

Think about plant and colour schemes; the most popular request I get when I am asked to design planting schemes is for all year-round colours. Now it’s not always possible to have borders in full flower all year round, but the objective to achieve is that there is some form of interest in a border for each month of the year.

The best way to do this is to sit down and with pen and paper and under a list of the months, list what plant will be looking its best during that particular month.  At this stage you should consider the colour scheme as well. Do you want a hot border with lots of bright colours or a soft pastel cool coloured border?

When planting up your border start with your ‘star performers’, those are the plants which are going to be the focal points, then plan for the evergreens as this will provide the back ground and framework to your border. After that, plan the shrubs and perennials to give seasonal interest and finally finish off with the ‘fillers’ such as bedding plants and bulbs.

Even though we’re in the autumn season now, use this time wisely to shape up your garden for next season.

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The Magic Of Autumn

Although autumn is now here and taking its effect on our gardens, there are plenty of routine gardening chores which we can be getting on with.

For instance, we can still be mowing our lawns with the blades nice and high.

Around this time of the year we can also be getting on with winter digging as well as pruning.

Do remember do not trim established hedges now unless the weather is very mild as any frost may damage new shoots.

If you have any tall roses in your garden, then I’d prune them back in height now to reduce ‘wind rock’, which is what happens when the winter wind rocks the plants back and forth.

Not only does this cause structural damage to the plant itself, but also this rocking creates a gap between the soil around the base of the plant whereby water can collect and rot the plant.

While on the subject of roses, around now is the best time for planting bare-rooted roses, new trees, shrubs and getting hedges established, but I wouldn’t plant them in frosty, wet or windy weather; I’d choose a nice dry day instead.

It’s time to slowly start tidying up the garden getting it ready for the rough treatment it’s going to get during the winter months. I’ve already started clearing out the dead foliage of perennials as well as generally clearing up other parts of my garden.

Talking of perennials, if you have any which have become a little too over-crowded, then lift and divide them and either move them elsewhere in your garden or give them away to a fellow gardener.

Now is the time to be thinking about improving the soil in your garden, as better soil will naturally produce better plants. If you have your own well-rotted compost then dig that in, if not, then you can always get some from your local garden centre.

If there is limited space around your existing plants for digging then simply just spread the compost over the soil surface and the worms will quite happily oblige and do the rest of the work for you. I’m always one for getting nature to do some work for me in the garden and this is just one of those jobs.

Many of us have problems with moss on our lawns and so it’s a good idea to rake over, or ’scarify’ the surface, removing as much of the moss as possible. It might interest you to know that in classical Japanese gardens, gardeners will do the opposite and remove any grass from their moss surfaces.

One job that I’m looking forward to doing is planting out my winter pansies. I love these plants as I think they’re really great for adding cheery winter flowering interest. Not only do they come in such a wide variety of colours but they’re so versatile too and can be used in borders, raised beds, hanging baskets, window boxes and containers.

You can still keep planting spring bulbs out this month, but be aware that squirrels will probably be wanting to dig your newly planted bulbs straight out again for their own winter larder.

If squirrels are a problem in your garden then protect your bulbs by covering the newly planted soil area with chicken wire, remembering to remove them once the shoots start to come through. Another tip is to use Cocoa shell mulch as squirrels aren’t too fond of this.

Well, that’s about it for this week.

Do join me next week for my next gardening and garden designing posting.

Have a great week.

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© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

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As Summer Fades…

As I see the first signs of the Virginia creeper’s leaves starting to turn red I know that autumn is just around the corner, but September is still a vibrant and colourful month in the garden.

One ‘sunny’ flower that is in it’s full glory this time of year is the Rudbeckia, with the common name of Black-eyed Susan, as it has a blackish-brown centre with yellow daisy-like flowers. These are easy and reliable plants to grow in any sunny spot and can grow up to three feet tall to make a super late summer, through to early autumn, display in a flower border.

Another ‘good doer’ for the late summer garden is the Sedum spectabile ‘Brilliant’, which is a clump forming deciduous perennial with upright stems of fleshly leaves that have clusters of small pink star-shaped flowers. This plant has the common name of Ice Plant, as the glaucous fleshly leaves are always cool to the touch. The attractive flower seed head can be left on the Sedum throughout the winter to give interest and then cut away when they have got too tattered.

A climber that is really showing off in my garden at the moment is the Passiflora caerulea, the Blue Passion Flower. The flower of this plant is so exotic and unusual; I really do marvel at its exceptional splendour. This is a fast growing semi evergreen climber that likes a hot sheltered wall and it produces bright orange plum sized fruits in the autumn. Passion Flowers come in a range of other colours such as white, magenta pink, red and purple, but these are not so hardy as the blue variety.

Another pretty climber which is also useful for summer and autumn interest is the Clematis tangutica. It has these lovely dainty lantern-like nodding yellow flowers that transform into wonderful silky swirls of seed heads. This Clematis can grow to a height of fifteen feet and can be hard pruned down to about a foot in spring to give new fresh growth for next season.

There are many enthusiastic and passionate Dahlia growers and I can certainly understand why they’re so keen about this particular flower. The flower heads are truly amazing and their forms range from single petals, to pompom, ball and to decorative forms.

Dahlias flower from mid-summer to autumn until the first frost and also come in a wide variety of colours from whites to reds, yellows to oranges, light pinks to deep purples and will look super in borders. Most Dahlias will need to be lifted unless it is in a frost-free area. After the leaves have been blackened by the first frost, dig out the tubers, brush off the soil and leave in a cool dry place to dry naturally. Then simply dust with a fungicide, pack in boxes of peat or dry sand and store in a cool dry place. The tubers can then be planted out next spring after all danger of any frost has passed.

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© Copyright Judy Fenyvesi

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Already That Time Of The Year

Summer always seems to come to an end just that little bit too early and we’re already fast approaching autumn.

Gardeners are always planning ahead anyway, so even though autumn is more or less here already, lets hope we still get some more fine weather this month.

Although summer is coming to an end, it doesn’t mean that there’s any less to do in the garden.

You can still keep the lawn mower handy as the lawns is still going to need trimming regularly until the weather cools down.  As for dead heading the flowers, keep doing this regularly in order to lengthen the flowering time for your plants and some feeding won’t go amiss for your plants too, as this will also help keep them flowering for longer.

While you’re at it, give your hanging baskets some feed as well, as they’re certainly going to need it too.  As well as this, there’s still the hedge trimming and weeding that needs to be done.

September is the renewing month in the gardening calendar and it’s a good time to start planting evergreen shrubs, hedging and conifers while the soil is still warm enough to encourage good root growth and help get the plants established before winter sets in.

I think it’s always so satisfying to get cuttings and seeds from ones own garden and if you haven’t tried it before do give it a go this year.  If you have any pansies, violas or pelargoniums, then now is the time to take cuttings for new plants for next year.

Also around now you can also take cuttings from non-flowering shoots of shrubs such as hydrangeas and fuchsias. Collect the ripened seeds from perennials and other garden plants, and store them away in paper bags in a cool and dry place for next year.

Summer bedding plants will now sadly be fading and past their best, so this is a good time to dig them up and prepare your beds for winter flowering plants and spring bulbs. A light feed of bonemeal can be dug into your soil to give your winter flowering plants a bit of a boost.

If your lawn is looking a little worse for wear by children and pets making the most of it during the summer, then now would be a great time to re-seed the worn areas and to repair the turf.

You can also aerate your lawn by spiking the gardening fork into the turf and this which will promote better drainage, which will in turn improve root development and ease the compacted surface.

As leaves start falling around our gardens, it’s best to rake them up from the lawn to prevent rotting debris and to stop pests and diseases getting established.

If your lawn is beyond repairing then towards the end of the month as the weather gets cooler and wetter will be a good time for sowing or laying a new lawn.

Well, that’s about it for another week.  Do join me here again next week and until then, take care.

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