Gardens, Garden Tips 1 Print E-mail
Hi Everyone

We have just got back from our summer holiday, leaving the mother-in-law looking after house, garden and pets for us, and it seems that we have been extremely lucky as far as the weather is concerned.

While you have been suffering from all the rain and floods we have been basking in hot sunny temperatures of between 35-43 degrees during the day and a balmy 32 degrees at night.

We all went to Cuba, and boy are we missing it. This was our first visit there by the way and we absolutely loved it. The local people could not do enough for you, and this was genuinely sincere.

If you have thought about going to Cuba we would thoroughly recommend it, there is only one draw back and that is the mosquitoes, so pack plenty of insect repellent and because of the extreme temperature factor 15 and above sun tan lotion.

The location was a gardeners delight, everywhere was luscious and green and the gardens well maintained with every imaginable palm tree, and our girls loved the fact that we were on the top floor, as there were only ground and first floor in the small Spanish style buildings, that you could lean out and actually pick the coconuts if you wanted to!

The rooms were very spacious with a sitting room, 2 double beds,
dressing room with a washbasin and a separate large bathroom.
In the evenings the flowers in the gardens perfumes were quite heavy and there is plenty of wild life from blue and green lizards to many types of birds including the emerald humming bird. I am in trouble as my wife wanted me to photograph the humming birds, but they move so fast that I missed them each time- I guess Im no David Bailey.

But best of all is the beach; we believe we have found a piece of paradise. With the white sand and warm crystal clear water with every shade of blue reflected in it, some how we do not think this will be our last visit.

As usual our dog rusty has really got the hump with us because we went on holiday with out him, although he is well looked after by the Mother-in-Law, in fact he is positively spoilt, but it always takes him a couple of days to get back to his usual self.

Rusty is looking especially dandy at the moment as he is supporting yet another new bandana around his neck, and at least this Cuban bandana is actually made locally, where as other Caribbean Islands most of their goods are just like ours, imported from the east, he can say it is pretty much designer!

Right, lets get back to the garden, this has been a very bad year for floods and anyone who has suffered due to this, our heart goes out to you. Apart from the houses and interiors being ruined the gardens have also been wiped out.

Remember, these are peoples homes, their pride and joy and that in many cases have taken years to achieve, completely ruined by Mother Nature who can certainly be cruel at times.

Also remember the trades people that are finding it hard and in some cases actually going out of business, especially the local landscapers and odd job men. All we can say is keep positive, if you hit rock bottom things can only improve.

On a better note our gardens are doing exceptionally well. As we mentioned previously we live in East Anglia and our part of the country seems to miss most of the severe weather. If there is sunshine to be had we usually get it with little rain, that is why Anglia is now classed as arid.

Seeing that we were only away on holiday for just over two weeks, we were surprised at the amount of changes that took place during that time, everything appears fresh as if it is the first time you have set eyes on it, and this is the first year the grass has survived, usually it has seared off, needing a little tender loving care. The weeds look as though they enjoyed the break as well, so we are back into our routine of weeding, dead heading, hoeing and tying in the climbers and roses, that have grown terrifically.

Garden Tips
Again keep that hoe on the go to keep the ground open and weeds at bay, as you walk around the garden do not forget to dead head any plants to encourage new growth.

If you have any runner beans make sure you keep them well watered and you pick the beans as soon as they are ready, as this will encourage new flowers to set to ensure a constant crop of beans.
A good tip when first setting the beans is to make sure you grow the seeds over a good layer of compost and either old news papers, to keep moisture at the beans roots at all times, as water is the most important factor for an excellent crop, apart form staking the beans for easy harvesting they need no attention at all. So an extra few minutes preparation of the ground will yield fruitful with the crop size.

Do not forget to keep watering your pots and hanging baskets even though we have had plenty of rain, as often the leaves deflects the rain and the compost will dry out and shrink, leaving the plants very stressed, resulting in less flowering or plants actually dying. A regular feed is beneficial to, as we often plant containers up more heavily than we do in our garden, and all the plants are equally after the nutrients that even though I use a slow release fertiliser in the compost, I always feed fortnightly as well for an excellent show.

Lawns
It has been along time since the lawns have been so lush at this time of the year, which looks really great. All you have to do is cut the grass regularly and of course strim or clip the edge for real manicured neatness.

It is amazing how a quick trim of the grass and a blower to clear leaves and dirt from around your garden makes it look fantastic, especially at this time of the year when you can entertain and enjoy the garden just as any other room in your house.

Hope you enjoy reading these articles on gardens and garden tips

Ted & Sandra

About Author

This article was composed by Ted and Sandra Wosko of A-Z Landscapes & Contract Services Ltd.We run a very successful uk based landscaping family company. We have some very prestigious blue chip companies as our clients and been retained by them for several years. We have been acknowledged for helping companies achieve their environmental compliance standards.We also run the websites listed http://www.topgardensuk.com http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

Source: ArticleTrader.com
Read more at: http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/gardening/gardens-garden-tips-1.html.
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]