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Composting

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2023

Why make your own compost? Gardens and kitchens generate lots of waste which can form as much as 20% of the material sent to landfill sites. By composting green waste, you can reduce landfill and produce compost which will improve your garden’s productivity. If you dig compost into your garden, it will improve soil fertility,…

Leafmould

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2023

In Patrick’s Patch we gratefully rake up all the leaves which fall into Patrick’s Patch in the autumn. Small amounts of autumn-leaves can be added to the compost heap but too many will slow down the composting process. We prefer to deal with all our autumn-leaves separately in order to produce leafmould. We use our…

Chair Treated with Teak Oil

Wooden Furniture Care

By Lisa Smith | 6th May 2015

There are many different woods available for garden furniture, with a variety of treatment regimes The following are some of the main types of wood in use and tips for furniture care: HARDWOODS: Iroko: Not necessary to treat, and if left will eventually mellow to silver/grey, then darker grey. Roble: Not necessary to treat, and…

Know Your Soil

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2013

Soils are made up of the following components: Minerals/Sand Silt Clay Water Air Organic matter Living organisms. Soil Profile & Horizon: A profile is the vertical section showing make-up. The soil horizon is the horizontal sections – Topsoil Subsoil Parent rock. Mineral Characteristics: Rolling a sample of the soil in your hands can tell you…

Watering, Mulches & Netting

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2013

Watering: All plants depend on water in order to absorb nutrients required for growth and manufacture food. Constant transpiration through their leaves means that once water loss exceeds the amount taken in by the roots, wilting occurs reducing growth and yield. Therefore an adequate supply of water is essential, but this does not mean drenching…

Heavy Soil

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2013

Clay soils are often described as ‘heavy’ soils due to the sticky texture when digging and they are often liable to waterlogging. Consequently, the drainage and aeration are poor, taking a long time to warm up in spring, whilst drought conditions will cause the soil to form hard clods and crack into wide fissures, making…

Adult Cranefly

Feed and Disease

By Lisa Smith | 9th February 2013

Feed: General balanced compound fertilizers: Growmore or Fish, Blood and Bone – apply in spring, two weeks before planting Foliar feeds: mixed with water and sprayed onto foliage. Regarded as a quick fix and can often be wasteful. Do not apply during direct sunlight as can cause scorching. Compost tea: Brewed compost mix that is…