Do's and Don'ts in Gardening - Winter Season

 I'm back. Sorry for the absence.

Here is a list of

Do's and Don'ts

in Gardening

etiquette.

Please read on

and do ask as

many questions

as you like.

We are officially in winter now.

Plants are dormant from now

until March/April.

1. Don't forget, keep watering
plants in pots. (the soil will dry
out if not).

2.  Do remove dead branches by 
pruning them back.

3. Clear any messy leaves around
plants.

4. Compost them if you can.

5. Remove any diseased looking leaves
and burn or destroy them.


6. Don't throw away plants that are now
dormant. (See green shoots at the base).

7. Protect all pots and plants
over winter by keeping them
under cover or in a cool place
like a porch. 


8. If you are unsure if a plant
is still alive ask me for advice.
Send me a photo of it
or describe it to me.

How are you getting on with the tasks

I have listed?

Are you looking after
your plants in pots?


Have you found fleece
to cover your
precious plants?


What do you have in
your pots in flower
at the moment?

This is a real treat
and a jewel of winter

to me. I love its pure
white flowers that
are so cheerful on a cold dark day.

What is a Mini Garden?

Comments and Questions

This is such a beautiful private garden, 

Hatfield House 
in the country of Hertfordshire. 

Sweet scented wisteria

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please do keep posting up your comments.

Testimonials from Customers

Please leave your comment below. Thank You.

Beatrix Potter's Life P.2

Pleasee keep following me on my 

famous Gardners journey. 

Beatrix Potter's Cumbrian life

in the beautiful Lake District. 

A view Beatrix Potter
would have admired

 Beatrix Potter has become 'an icon' 

and a special woman throughout history 

and to the present day. 

Beside Derwent Water (Lake)

Her youth was relatively 
comfortable and she travelled
and holidayed in many places. 

This shows that her Father had
a good income and this enabled
the family to get away from 
London and be in more pleasant 
surroundings.
   
She strikes me as a very unusual
person from a young age. She was 
always intrigued by animals, insects, 
fungi and so much more.

 


 

Peaceful still waters

Beatrix Potter became a 
real plants woman
and was able to create
almost anything. 

 

Village of Near Sawrey

 She was also a farmer

and  nothing seemed 
to phase her.

She was a real 
entrepreneur and 
was so ahead of her
time. 





She fascinates me and
so many people still. 

Being strong minded 
as a woman was perhaps
quite unusual in her 
day. I am sure she 
inherited a lot 
of this from her father.



with whom she had a good relationship.

He was a greate role model for her.

One of Beatrix Potter's
stories was based here

Beatrix Potter  is such a legend. Her writings 

are loved by so many people throughout the world. 

But she has left it a better place with many 

National Trust  properties all over the 

United Kingdom for us to enjoy and revisit.

Everyone has some link
to her with her famous
'Peter Rabbit' story and other 
stories.  

Perfection in a Rose.
Hawkshead Galley

Canal Walks and Autumnal Fruits

Autumnal
Elderberries

 
I walk by the Canal a lot. 

I know a lot of the stretch 

I walk and take different 

routes sometimes. 

Peaceful today

This is part 
of  The Grand 
Union Canal in 
Hertforshire. 

I love the calm 
effect of water.

Very few boats
moving today

I love the reflections
of the trees and clouds 
in the still canal water. 

Everything looks different
at this time of the year. 
Light levels are lower 
and shadows seems more
apparent.  

                                 

I love the reflections
here and the colour

I saw a tiny kingfisher in flight 

today. Amazing deep blue feathers.

Happy Duck!

Autumn is here with 

lots of food for our wildlife.

I love looking at the Houseboats

and admire the alternative lifestyle.

Autumn Hawthorn berries

I love the colour of these cygnets

They really are elegant don't you think?

It's a duck's life! 

 

Love the refelctions here.

Fabulous dark
green plumage

It seems  pretty peaceful this duck's life. 

Waddling, eating, bathing.

Seagulls come flocking here




Love watching them flying over the canal.

Autumn brings its
own colour palette 

Water and reflections look so cool here

Thanks to all Readers

Leaves are falling fast now,

 it is coming to the end of October.

Feels a bit sad as autumn is starting

 to come to a close.

Leaves are really falling fast!

 

Cornus Leaves changing
 as Autumn begins

I wanted to say a big thank you to 

all who have engaged and read my 

blog to date.

Please continue to read it, I really 

do value your opinions. 

I would love to hear what you have 

gained from it so far. 

Canal Side Gardening

Heron in flight over the still Canal today......

It is very peaceful walking down by Canals. 

It feels like you are a million miles

from the rat race which so many of us live in. 

I go there when I can and it really

is therapeutic, in a strange kind of way. 

Still water, narrow boats cruising at a 

gentle pace, such friendly people, from 

all walks of life, 

choose to live or travel 

on narrow boats.  

           

I took a walk by The Grand Union

Nature and beauty side by side

Canal today, 6.7.15 to get some 

inspration for my blog.  It was 

a bit cool which was a shame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

                            

I love walking by canals and watching people who 

live on house boats, going 

about theire day to day lives. 

I find it fasciniating.

 

I looked into this lifestyle but 

it is not so straight forward.

May be it will have to wait until 

I can have a more leisurely

lifestyle and ideally somewhere warm. 

Captured this as boat was going
through a canal lock with
owner's permisson

So here is my first example 

of a 'Mini Garden 

on a Narrow boat.

It looks so colourful and atrractive 

especially at this time of the sumer.

I love this reflection don't you?

I watched a Lady who clearly lived right

 on the Canal with her

watering can taking water from the canal.

and she then went to water her Garden!

 

Wild brambles in early July. 
A treat to pick later on.

Some residents of canal side life 

have the privelidge of a permanent mooring. 

This is where you tend to see a whole lot of 

narrow boats moored together.

So along side this there are 

those lucky people who

 can create their own 'Mini Gardens'

on the land.  

Hanging baskets, planters and little 

sheds all alongside their homes. 

Dappled sunlight
in the afternoon

I love the reflections you see. 

There is something

 serene about water. 

Here there are often lots

 of boats but not today.

 

Some just have their boats to display 

their colourful pots and planters. 

I think this is really nice it if it 

is done tastefully. 

So you can have a Mini Garden 

almost anywhere. 

Nature is great. Wild flowers
grow anywhere

There is so much to see, 

some days
 I see at least two herons either 

standing still or in flight. 

The herons seem to be around

 in the same spots. 

In flight over a certain patch of water or

watching on the canal side.

Wisley - RHS Gardens

Welcome to my RHS Wisley page. 

This is the most fabulous landscaped gardens 

open to members and non-members. 

                                 

I have had the opportunity to visit 

Wisley on quite a few occasions

                       and it is always different and 

        most of all inspiring 

 

 

 

It is a Gardeners Paradise......

                     

Beauty of a Silver Birch

Please follow my trip around 

these beautiful gardens. 

So many areas to

sit and contemplate

in. You can walk

and talk and be

totaly inspired.

Wisley -
Centre of Plant Research

It is divided into lots 
of areas. Rose Gardens, 
Alpines, Rockery Garden 
landscape, Alpine Glass 
houses and a lot more.

Perfect waterlily in Canal

Stunning Magnolia

This is in a walled Garden at Wisley.

Most unusual tropical plants.  

I wouldn't cover it
with any plants

What would 
you do with 
such a  cool 
plant support
in your own 
secret walled 
Garden?

Love the colours and reflections here.

The walled Garden 
is a really tranquil 
spot. It feels like 
you are entering 
another world.

What do you think of this composition?

There really is something for every gardening 

enthusiast or professional gardener. 

Look at its huge fronds

Cool and exotic
plant in Walled
Garden at Wisley.
Truly amazing
plant. Like a 
giant fern.

In a walled Garden you
can grow so much

There is something
special about a walled
garden.

A micro climate 
is created so you,
the Gardener, are
able to plant all 
sorts of exotic and 
unusual plants. 

Don't you love
the deep red 
with contrasting
green leaves? 

Makes me want to get out my paints.



I love the way this plant spreads
out and looks so at home.

Red is so 
eye catching
and this plant
really stands 
out here.

It is a real 
beauty.
Dainty and
exotic looking. 

Nature is amazing

I really love 
this tropical 
plant, don't 
you? It is
so unusual.


It feels like
it belongs
indoors in
a hot house. 

Wisley is a really fabulous place. I was amazed 
at how much there is there. 

It transports you into another world and you can 
walk around for hours just taking it all in.

Like this or not?



This is such an easy
and clever feature

Such a simple effect.















 











We all need focal points in our Garden space

 Summer colour

Conical trees make
such a statement