yardz

ON THE BANK HOLIDAY GREAT LONDON GARDEN TRAIL

The amazing roof top garden at Great Ormond Street Hospital designed by Andy Sturgeon is just one of the gardens open to the public as part of The Great London Garden Trail. The Society of Garden Designers, the RHS and the publishers DK have teamed up again to organise the opening of a range of private gardens on Bank Holiday Monday, 3rd May. 

The gardens range from small courtyard gardens to large family gardens and are spread across London. All the gardens are open from 12.00 - 5.00pm and entrance is free.

Check out the website for further details and a downloadable map-pack.

http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/html/features/gardentrail2010/gardentrail.html

DWELLING ON A GLOW CHAIR

www.dwell.co.uk are known for their stylish yet affordable furniture sold online and from their exciting high street showrooms. They are now moving outside the patio door with this Glow Tub Chair and coffee table.

 'A stunningly simple tub chair that can be used indoors or outdoors to add ambience to warm summer evenings, containing an LED light source, it slowly changes colour through 7 differing hues and is controlled by a small pocket sized remote control. The chair is rechargeable directly from the main and has a battery life of 5 hours.'

Glow Tub Chair £249.00    Glow Tub Coffee Table £149.00 

 

SPRING SNOWFLAKES

It was interesting to see this weekend Leucojum flowering amongst clipped box balls in the shaded avenues of Canary wharf in London. As they were quite tall and enjoying the shade I expect they were Leucojum aestivum Gravetye which is tallen than the more commomly grown Leucojum vernum.

Leucojums are grown from autumn planted bulbs but in suitable situations will increase and flower year on year. 

 

 

HEBE GOLDRUSH IS WORTH PROSPECTING FOR

A great new introduction for growing in containers, Hebe Goldrush, grows to only 60cm in 4 years. It is a compact evergreen shrub with super spear shaped variegated leaves. An extra bonus are the pink flower clusters in spring and early summer.

Should be available in garden centres now or online.

www.shrubsdirect.com  £8.50 

GROWING SPHERES

 
I'm not mad on overtly natural materials in small urban gardens but these Willow Spheres from one of yardzs favourite sites www.gardenbeet.com look really good.

"Each sphere is traditionally coated in boiled linseed oil, the metal is left untreated to allow the surface of the metal to colour and blend in with the garden'.

50cm sphere £90.00

SUMMER BEDDING

Paradise on a deck!

Garden floor cushions in a stunning array of fabrics from www.jab-uk.co.uk.

Dream on! 

PARTY TIME NOSE JOB

Just what you want to get your BBQ party going on a warm spring evening.

These cups come in a range of twenty four different nose images. The cup is raised to your mouth - your nose is transformed with a new nose. Choose your own nose with no need of surgery! Mixture of male and female noses as well as a selection of animals for the more adventurous.

www.lazyboneuk.com  £4.99 for 24 12oz cups 

SENSATIONAL SENETTI

For real dazzling spring colour in containers nothing beats Senetti -bright daisy like flowers in amazing colours. It flowers early in the year and can be planted out from about march. Its not frost hardy but with tolerate mild frost so covering with garden fleece with keep it chipper on cold nights. Senetti has been bred from the houseplant Cineraria and is becoming more popular being available in DIY stores and supermarkets as well as garden centres.

 

A POTTING COMPOST THATS JUST OUR CUP OF COFFEE

Greencup Coffee Compost is produced by www.greencup.co.ukand is made from a blend of coffee grounds, sand and as 'a bit of magic' as Greencup call it. As suppliers of coffee to the catering trade, Greencup thought there must be an answer to the resulting coffee grounds, and have now produced an interesting potting compost. 

The coffee grounds compost has good moisture retention and regulates nutrient availability for controlled growth. Its meant to be great for tomatoes, cucumbers, geraniums, fuchsias and houseplants. The other side benefit is that slugs dislike coffee grounds so the compost can also be used around hostas and other tender plants to deter them.

http://greencup.co.uk/buy/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=9
 

POTATOES IN HANGING BASKETS OR AM I JUST BEING SILLY

Is it mad to plant potatoes in hanging baskets? I'm not sure. A deep hanging cone should give enough depth of compost and as long as its kept well watered, growth should be no problem. The leaves and flowers of the potato are quite decorative so you should end up with a decorative and interesting feature, and a plate full of the tastiest potatoes.

Well, mine went in on saturday. I've planted one Accent tuber in a deep cone in Westland Organic Vegetable Compost so I'll report back as things progress.