BBC Gardeners' World - Blog

Sparrows and sparrowhawks

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:35:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Pippa Greenwood, 07 August 2008, 11.35

I'm an animal lover. I love them all - be they wild, domesticated, farm animals, even pests.

In the bleak midwater

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:35:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Richard Jones, 06 August 2008, 12.35

...With that sudden darting plunge it snapped up some small wriggling thing, tossed it into the air and gulped it down. Well I never.

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Plants on railway embankments

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:33:00 GMT

Posted in Plants by James Alexander-Sinclair, 05 August 2008, 11.33

One of the best things about taking the train is being able to gaze, semi-comatose, through the window at back gardens whizzing by at 70mph...

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Weeds on railway lines

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:33:00 GMT

Posted in Plants by James Alexander-Sinclair, 05 August 2008, 11.33

One of the best things about taking the train is being able to gaze, semi-comatose, through the window at back gardens whizzing by at 70mph...

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Growing melons

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:23:00 GMT

Posted in Grow & eat by Adam Pasco, 04 August 2008, 10.23

Last summer I tried growing a different melon outside, but the plants struggled to get going and yielded nothing at all. This year I'm trying again...

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Harvesting potatoes

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:36:00 GMT

Posted in Allotments by Jane Moore, 01 August 2008, 11.36

Yes, it's potato time again; over the past week or so I've been lifting the last of the earlies and second earlies to store in the garage at home.

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Potato blight

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Posted in Grow & eat by Pippa Greenwood, 31 July 2008, 11.14

The only thing to do when blight has affected your potato crop is to chop the haulms down to the ground and burn them so the spores don't overwinter.

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Centipedes

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:07:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Richard Jones, 30 July 2008, 11.07

With insects, getting a closer look is very often a question of grabbing at something that moves very quickly, and only then discovering what it is.

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Constructive destruction

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:54:00 GMT

Posted in Gardeners' musings by James Alexander-Sinclair, 29 July 2008, 11.54

I've just spent a fair bit of time trashing and destroying parts of my garden.

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Foxgloves

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:23:00 GMT

Posted in Plants by Adam Pasco, 28 July 2008, 12.23

There's something really rewarding about cupping your hand under an old foxglove flower, tapping it gently and collecting the seeds that cascade out of it.

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Blackfly on broad beans

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:47:00 GMT

Posted in Allotments by Jane Moore, 25 July 2008, 12.47

Last week I mentioned that my broad beans were mysteriously free from their usual curse of blackfly.

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Blackfly on boad beans

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:47:00 GMT

Posted in Allotments by Jane Moore, 25 July 2008, 12.47

Last week I mentioned that my broad beans were mysteriously free from their usual curse of blackfly.

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Glow-worms

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:26:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Pippa Greenwood, 24 July 2008, 11.26

Known in Latin as Lampyris noctiluca (noctiluca meaning 'night light'), this charming glowing critter is not actually a worm, but a beetle.

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Butterflies: meadow browns and gatekeepers

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:27:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Richard Jones, 23 July 2008, 11.27

Although markedly different in size from the meadow brown, it's sometimes difficult to identify a gatekeeper, especially in a photograph.

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Rhododendrons on the rampage

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:04:00 GMT

Posted in Gardeners' musings by James Alexander-Sinclair, 22 July 2008, 12.04

I've just returned from a week on the wonderful Isle of Colonsay, which is a two-hour ferry ride from Oban into the Atlantic.

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Blackbirds and blackberries

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:06:00 GMT

Posted in Plants by Adam Pasco, 21 July 2008, 11.06

Where have all my blackberries gone? And what about my strawberries? And the cherries?

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Harvesting broad beans

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:04:00 GMT

Posted in Allotments by Jane Moore, 18 July 2008, 02.04

Broad beans need picking regularly to ensure the plants keep flowering and producing beans, so mine have inevitably stopped producing them.

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Plaiting garlic

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:06:00 GMT

Posted in Grow & eat by Pippa Greenwood, 17 July 2008, 01.06

We've had a mixed garlic harvest so far this year - the bulbs I planted in spring did nothing and were a total waste of time. They were probably the worst I've ever grown.

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The trouble with berberis

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:12:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Richard Jones, 16 July 2008, 11.12

The branches are bare of leaves and several of the bushes are completely defoliated. The culprits are not hard to spot: small speckled greyish sawfly caterpillars.

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Gardening blogs of the world

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:21:00 GMT

Posted in Gardeners' musings by James Alexander-Sinclair, 15 July 2008, 12.21

There are a lot of gardening blogs out there, so I thought it would be interesting to take you on a short tour of some that might be of interest.

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Clematis 'Arabella'

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:47:00 GMT

Posted in Plants by Adam Pasco, 14 July 2008, 11.47

Reliable, trouble-free plants are what we're all after, and Clematis 'Arabella' certainly fits the bill.

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Thinning apples

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:18:00 GMT

Posted in Allotments by Jane Moore, 11 July 2008, 12.18

This year my three apple trees have flowered and set fruit beautifully and the branches are laden with bunches of marble-sized fruits.

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Mullein moth caterpillars

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:13:00 GMT

Posted in Gardeners' musings by Pippa Greenwood, 10 July 2008, 12.13

The mullein moth caterpillars in my garden are still small, but they're guaranteed to increase in size by the day.

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Snails in the garden

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:14:00 GMT

Posted in Wildlife by Richard Jones, 09 July 2008, 12.14

Due to the wet weather of the past week, I haven't been out in the garden much. The snails, however, have been very active; I can barely walk to the front gate without the familiar sound of snails crunching underfoot.

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Nettles

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Posted in Gardeners' musings by James Alexander-Sinclair, 08 July 2008, 11.14

Nettles, like midges, are one of those things for which it is difficult to feel much affection ... they seem to have little purpose beyond stinging our children.

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