No matter how much time and effort you put into maintaining the garden, a time will come when you’ll need to deal with weed control and it is no different in a family garden, in fact, if you are like me that your family’s safety is paramount above all else. In my house it isn’t just the kids I worry about by Alvin our dog as pets are important to take into consideration too.
Kids, it is safe to say, love outdoor fun. Having younglings play around in the back or front yard is an easy way to support their development and let them have fun all the while playing it safe. If on top of this, your children get to experience plants and gardening, it all becomes much better.
The global popularity of composite decking reached record highs in 2022 – and things show no sign of letting up. On the contrary, research is predicting continued growth, with the international market estimated to reach 5.8 billion US dollars by 2027. Pretty clear then, that this contemporary board is here to stay – but how will it be used?
What do you think are going to be the top garden trends for 2023? It seems that our focus on our homes and gardens shows no slowing down. There are so many places to look for inspiration for our indoor and outdoor space and having lived through the pandemic more and more of us see the benefits of outdoor living and enhancing our outdoor space.
If you’re looking for a new and interesting hobby, consider gardening. Gardening is a great way to get outside, get some fresh air, and relax. It’s also a great way to improve your home décor. There are many different types of plants that can be used in gardening, and each has its unique benefits.
Do you miss your garden during the late autumn and winter? Do you eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring, watching the weather report for that hopeful area of high pressure that promises long warm days that are perfect for gardening, barbecues and other outdoor recreation? Why not retro-fit your garden so that you can comfortably enjoy spending time outside all year round?
If this year has shown us anything it is that our garden is an essential part of our home and that we need to use it all year round. It has become the place to meet and spend time with people not in your household. So we really have to start making the most of our garden and treat it as another room in the house and I think that is what is driving the top garden trends for 2021.
For the last 10 years, my garden has been a football pitch, sandpit and vegetable garden. Now that my boys’ are older the garden is back to being a more adult domain, so I have been researching the top garden trends for 2019. One of the biggest things I have noticed is that garden trends seem to stick around. it is not about moving on from one trend to the nest and sustainability is a BIG thing.
We are in the midst of a heatwave and at the moment all I want to do is spend time in my garden. However, our garden is in need of an update, thanks to mainly being used as a football pitch for the last 10 years. I also have a serious case of garden envy thanks to one of my neighbours. Yes, that is her garden and they did all the work themselves!
There is something magical about fairy gardens. To have your own little world with fairies, plants, moss, doors furniture and a little bit of pixie dust. As an adult, I have a huge love for fairy gardens and I know that they enchant most children too. They are also a great way to encourage children to garden. I have been inspired by these amazing DIY crafts to bring the magic of the fairies to your garden. A selection of fairy garden and fairy house tutorials for both children and adults.
I married a farmer’s son, so it was inevitable that we were going to grow stuff in the garden and not just flowers. This became even more important to us when we had children. We wanted to show them where their food came from and to encourage them to grow their own. This year we are growing shallots, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, peas, runner beans, broad beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, salad leaves, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, strawberries (in hanging baskets) and an array of herbs (dill, basil, cress, flat parsley, chives, mint, sage and fennel). Center Parcs challenged us to share with you a day in our garden for this months Tots100 Center more »
As the years have gone on we have learned that we just can not grow carrots. That cabbages are hit and miss for us and although we can grow onions they are actually really inexpensive to buy so are not best use of our tiny bit of land.
This year we have planted new potatoes, cabbage, sprouts, broad beans, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers (in the conservatory), pak choi and salad leaves. We have three raised beds which have the peas in one, potatoes in another and broccoli and sprouts in the other. Each year we rotate what is in each of the beds and as soon as the potatoes come out in a week or so we will be planting some winter kale and other winter greens (spring cabbages).
We have two large barrels which both have broad beans in this year. We want to encourage the boys to eat them and growing them is often the best way for us to introduce a food to them. In fact the peas never get from pod to plate, just pod to mouth! We are growing strawberries in hanging boxes and baskets, but they are very small this year. Perhaps we need top replace them next year. Has anyone else had this issue?
Tomatoes are also grown in planters and we have one tumbler in almost the flowers, which has done remarkably well.
I also have a number of pots with herbs in including Sage, Chives, Mint, Rosemary, which remain outside all year round and we have more tender ones in the kitchen including Basil.
We love our home. We moved here six years ago from Berkshire and this house was totally supposed to be a temporary stop gap until we built our own home on the farm. But……… we really love the house we bought and are very happy in it to have parked our other plans for sometime in the future. The only thing we would really love to change is our garden. As a family it really doesn’t suit our lifestyle.
So before I tell you what we would love to have from a garden let me show you our current garden. Please bear in mind it was a mud pit when we moved in!
My Tots100 Home Club garden challenge was always going to be a tough one. What with it being used as a football pitch for my boys, the grass had given up and left town, just look at the sorry state of it before. So I asked the experts at Homebase how to deal with my bare patches of lawn on their Facebook App and they came back and said that the only way to get it looking tip top again was to either patch it with turf or reseed it and try and keep the boys off it. We decided to reseed it, as September is the ideal time for this and purchased more »
Chris at Thinly Spread and Kate at Kate takes 5 have teamed up to produce an idiots guide to gardening with children. Even though we have raised beds, I usually leave the gardening to MadDad and the boys, but this year these ladies have inspired me to take charge and join in.
The week before last me and the boys planted tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and beans and put them in a tiny plastic greenhouse that I purchased from Aldi.
This apple tree is 3 years old, we planted it after we moved in and started work on the garden. It is small and only bore 6 fruits last year, but this year its branched are bowed under the weight of its fruit. For me this feel like parenting, sometimes you feed the children, nurture and look after them and it feels like they are just ignoring your advice, but then it just happens. It clicks and there is please and thank you without prompting.
One of the many comments I got on my feeding a family of 4 for £50 post was that we must be green fingered or have a lot of room for growing vegetables. The truth is we don’t and I am not, we have a small back garden, but in 2009 MadDad built me 3 raised beds, they are not large, they are 6 foot by approx 3 foot and we also have a couple of barrels that we fill with potatoes. But those raised beds and what pots we have round the garden supply me with a steady supply of vegetables right through till the Autumn. At the moment we more »
I think the sun forgot our little park of the North East today. So we have spent the day baking. Maxi did all the weighing and measuring Mini did most of the stirring and tasting We have had a lot of fun and made lots of cakes Oat and raisin cooks and mince pies (mini’s favorites) Many Muffins, sweet mincemeat and St Stephens Day Muffins, in addition to some fairy cakes. Whilst I was busy in the kitchen, MadDad tended the garden, including planting out the courgettes and cucumbers. Everything is looking great and really coming along. He also washed and cleaned the cars, ready for the trip we are taking today more »
