The Garden Minute ⏰: Friday 13 October 2023
☀️Good morning Gardeners. Here’s your Friday Garden News Minute.
🍓Fruit, wildflowers, insects: the people transforming disused land in England. From community allotments to wildlife havens, guerilla gardeners are taking it upon themselves to create meaningful spaces. The Guardian.
🥒Are seed prices rising – and what does that mean for gardeners? Inflation is a challenge to what's usually the cheapest way to garden. But there are still ways to keep costs down. Daily Telegraph. Please note needs a subscription to access.
❄️Monty Don urges gardeners to 'invest' in two essential items before first frost hits this weekend. The Gardeners' World expert said that the protective measures must be used 'before you need them' to help your plants survive over winter. Chronicle Live.
🦫Beavers return to west London for first time in 400 years. It is hoped the buck-toothed aquatic mammals will help turn the location into a flourishing wetland. The Independent.
🎄Garden Event: RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, lit up in winter. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Garden Harlow Carr, in Harrogate, will be filled with festive illuminations during its Glow event from Wednesday, November 22, to Saturday, December 30. The Press.
🏡UK Power Networks team takes on garden clearance in Ely. Helping an Ely resident whose back garden had become overgrown was all in a day’s work for a UK Power Networks’ communications team. Ely Standard.
🧠Outdoor therapy programme helping to improve mental health. People living with poor mental health are growing in confidence thanks to an outdoor therapy programme in Ryedale. Gazette & Herald.
In other news:
West Lothian Council sets up fund for anyone wanting to get growing with allotments.
Midsomer Diaries Garden discusses: What is a volunteer plant?
Ty Pen y Bont community garden project promises a fruitful future.
🍏Over 50 varieties on show at Apple Day at Gunby Hall and Gardens. Gunby Hall and Gardens near Spilsby celebrated the return of its popular Apple Day on Sunday. Visitors were able to explore the walled gardens and orchard at Gunby, where the apples are all lovingly tended to by a small but passionate team of gardening staff and volunteers. Lincolnshire World.
🚰Keeping taps on and boosting wildlife: the race to protect the Lake District’s water. Award-winning partnership is regenerating natural habitats in attempt to secure water supply as climate crisis worsens. The Guardian.
🏡Tele gardening advice with expert George Irvine. Are our gardens short of water?Greenock Telegraph.
📷Photos showing Piccadilly Gardens through the decades pinpoint its startling decline. The once enviable sculpted gardens in Piccadilly were a public space that Manchester could be proud of. However, a combination of questionable aesthetic development, neglect and rising crime has reduced the one popular Piccadilly Gardens to a 'no go area' of the city for many. Manchester Evening News.
☃️Enchanted Winter Garden: 5,000 residents to be invited free of charge to Antrim event. Five thousand residents will be invited to a “soft opening” of this year’s Enchanted Winter Garden event at Antrim Castle Gardens in November. Northern Ireland World.
👨Derbyshire dad - whose grown-up children live in terraces either side of him - is blooming hero. Widower Tony Christon was the talk of the town when a BBC news crew showcased his floral handiwork – which had left passers-by agog. He was interviewed on East Midlands Today but refused to reveal the recipe he uses to feed his flowers, insisting: “It’s a secret.” Yahoo News.
🏡Garden Offer - Upto 50% of garden frames at Agriframes right now.
🥶UK weather: First snow of winter and heavy rain on way as temperatures plunge below freezing in cold snap. Sky News.
🏫Belmont Community Primary School pupils and Barkston Brownies and Guides plant flower bulbs. Volunteers from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth Park had spent weeks clearing away nettles, hogweed and goosegrass in the park’s poplar grove, ready for planting by Year 5 pupils. Grantham Journal.
✂️The 1 Pruning Mistake That Can Ruin Your Hydrangeas This Autumn. Whether you’re deadheading roses or hacking back your hedgerows (hopefully not too far!), ’tis the season for beheading lots of unsuspecting plants – they’ll be grateful for it someday. Huff Post.
💐27 Most Popular Perennial Flowers and Plants for Your Garden. These gorgeous plants will enhance your landscaping for years to come. Real Simple.
🧚Magical fairy door trail in Furzey Gardens raised over £10,000 for Minstead Trust Charity. Thousands of visitors came to the gardens in Minstead over the summer to discover a series of doors hand-painted by arts and crafts enthusiasts. New Milton Advertiser.
📈 The most-clicked/tapped links from the last newsletter:
If You See This 1 Thing In Your Garden, You Probably Have Rats.
Homeowner devises ingenious way using cameras to keep foxes and badgers out of his garden.
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