Composting Ideas, Tips & Guides

House plants in the office can help to reduce stress levels, increase concentration and therefore prductivity, and generally make the office a nicer environment to work in. The types of house plant that are suited to an office depend on your particular office – is it bright, shady, warm or cold? Many offices may have air conditioning, which can be drying for plants and unsuitable for house plants from tropical regions. Assess your office before buying house plants, whether it’s at home or in the work place.

Collaborative post

Oxalis triangularis, also known as false shamrock, is an eye-catching bulbous perennial that makes an excellent and long-lived house plant. Bold, dramatic foliage in shades of dark purple to wine-red creates a striking contrast to blush-white flowers borne in summer. The leaves are three-lobed, hence the name of shamrock which it resembles, though is not actually related to. Oxalis triangularis is native to from Brazil. Its leaves have extra fascination because they open during the day and close at night.

Acidanthera (Acidanthera murielae syn. Gladiolus murielae) – also known as the Abyssinian gladiolus, callianthus, sword lily or peacock lily – is a graceful summer-flowering perennial. It has erect grass-like leaves and slender stems up to 1m tall, each one bearing several nodding, funnel-shaped, white flowers with purple throats. The flowers are attractive to a range of pollinators, including bees, which visit for nectar and pollen.

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) are a popular ‘superfood’ to eat fresh or dried. Native to China, they’re packed with vitamins and antioxidants and have been used in Chinese medicine for over a thousand years. They’re easy to grow at home in the UK and bear fruit after just one or two years. The best thing about growing your own goji berries is that you can eat them straight from the bush – most commercially available goji berries are dried.

Peace lily, Spathiphyllum wallisii, is a popular, low-maintenance house plant with glossy, green leaves and white flowers, called spathes. Native to Central America, it’s used to a warm, humid environment and is perfect for growing in a bright bathroom. Peace lilies are easy to grow and relatively trouble-free.

Whether you have a small or large garden, or simply a patio or balcony, container gardening offers you flexibile growing opportunities. Growing plants in containers is an easy way to create instant and changeable displays right outside your back door – especially useful if you’re short on space.

The beautiful balcony plants on the terrace at the London house of Henrietta Courtauld of the Land Gardeners

Overwatering Philodendron is not uncommon, but what is concerning is that most of us don’t know how to revive one that is suffering from root rot.

March growing with Rachel

March growing with Cel Robertson

Use a large pot, bigger the better as the roots need room to grow and the soil needs to hold moisture. 18″ depth and diameter are needed. Use good quality compost and add a slow release fertiliser. Top dress each year and add more slow release fertiliser. Repot when the compost is totally denuded of goodness, perhaps every 5 years. Plant deeply as you would in the garden, to avoid clematis wilt. Water regularly and avoid drying winds and strong sunshine. Support the vine with a good quality, firm framework.

How to Use Straw Mulch in the Vegetable Garden

Winter Mulching to Protect Cold Tolerant Crops

Philodendron ‘Pink Princess’  is an eye-catching house plant with lush, dark green, waxy leaves boldly variegated with bubble-gum-pink. Philodendron is a popular and easy-to-grow plant for the home that gives all-year foliage interest with versatile growth that can either trail or climb, and ‘Pink Princess’ is a new and unusual variety. The glossy evergreen leaves are heart-shaped, giving rise to its other name of ‘sweetheart plant’. ‘Pink Princess’ philodendron slowly reaches a maximum height of 1.5m and spread of 1.2m if given a moss pole to climb up. Alternatively, pinch out the growth regularly to grow ‘Pink Princess’ as a bushy or trailing house plant. Note that philodendron is toxic to humans and animals and can cause skin irritation, so take care when handling.

Box, Buxus sempervirens, is a British native tree, most commonly used for hedging and topiary thanks to its small, evergreen leaves and dense growth. In April and May, it produces insignificant yellow flowers, that are nonetheless rich in nectar and popular with bees. Left untrimmed, a box plant can reach 5m tall, but most never reach this as they are clipped regularly.

My flowering cactus was magnificent for Christmas, but now I have to wait for it to flower again. Is it possible to slip it? Or make it bloom again?

Commemorating John Tradescant (died 1637), gardener to Charles I (Commelinaceae). A genus of 60 species of hardy perennial and greenhouse plants from North America and tropical South America. The hardy varieties are commonly called spiderwort, flower of a day,

There are several important stages in the cultivation of a plant and one of these is the planting of plants in pots. This is known as potting. The move is dictated by the vigor of the plant, especially in its root system. Once it outgrows its original soil area in a pot it is necessary to provide more room for the root development and the plant has to be moved on or potted into a larger pot. If the plant is being raised from seed or a cutting, it will be necessary to give it more root room eventually and the next move is into a small pot.

The growing and collecting of cacti has been a popular hobby in this country for many years. Their varied shapes and colors together with the colored spines make them fascinating and their spectacular flowers are an added interest for the grower. Some of the larger types may not flower in this country owing to the lack of intense sunshine, but many hundreds of other species should flower every year.

Photinias are large shrubs or, occasionally, small trees, grown principally for their handsome foliage as well as attractive flowers and fruits, depending on the type. Most photinias are evergreen and by far the most popular and colourful is Photinia ‘Red Robin’, which makes a superb display of leaves that are bright sealing-wax red when young. Photinia is easy to grow in the right conditions, hardy except in cold or exposed sites – and is prone to frost damage – and suits a range of sites and uses around the garden. Photinias are reasonably fast growing, typically putting on 30cm of growth per year, making them an ideal option for a hedge. Depending on the variety, photinia grows from between 1.5 and 4m high and wide.

Fishbone cactus (Disocactus anguliger) is a true cactus native to tropical Mexico, where it grows epiphytically (without soil) from tree branches. Unlike most cacti, which are associated with dry, desert-like conditions, fishbone cactus thrives in humidity.

Bay (Laurus nobilis), also known as bay laurel or the bay tree, is an evergreen shrub with aromatic leaves, known as bay leaves. Laurus nobilis one of the oldest shrubs in cultivation, introduced to British gardens in from as early as 1650. It’s an essential foliage plant for herb gardens – bay leaves can be used in a variety of dishes, including soups and stews and even ice cream, and are the main ingredient in a ‘bouquet garni’. They can be dried for storing or used fresh.

Q: Any advice on the best way to tackle creeping buttercup without using weed killer? It’s starting to take over some of my flower beds, where it’s smothering perennials and smaller shrubs. MJ, Co Kilkenny

Spider Plant Takeover I was warned that spider plants can get out of control, but I had to find out for myself... The prolific spider plant

Q: Could you please recommend a good peat-free seed compost? I’ve tried a few over the last few years but haven’t had great results. I’d really like to do the right thing environmentally but am now at the point where I’m sorely tempted to go back to using a conventional peat-based compost. CF County Kerry

Orchids seem to do best if a greenhouse is devoted solely to their cultivation, though some types such as Odontoglossum grande and Coelogyne cristata will succeed very well in a general collection of plants.

From the time of the Greeks and Romans, various fungi have been eaten as a delicacy and the expert can find many varieties growing wild which are equal, if not superior, in flavor to the mushroom (Psalliotta campestris). But there are also a number of poisonous fungi, some deadly. The field mushrooms which appear in profusion in meadows in the moist autumn days are perfectly safe, but the inexperienced townsman would be well advised to make sure first that he is actually picking field mushrooms, because some poisonous fungi are very similar. Cultivated mushrooms are absolutely reliable and a valuable food as well as a delicacy.

Peat is an acidic growing medium, which thanks to its excellent water and nutrient retention is traditionally used in garden composts. With a low pH it’s ideal for growing acid-loving plants such as blueberries, heather and Camellia sinensis, and peat-based composts have been widely used in horticulture – most garden composts contain some peat, and most garden centres still sell plants growing in pots of peat-based compost. However, due to its environmentally damaging effects, from late this year, the sale of peat-based composts in gardens and DIY stores will be banned in the UK. Issues with peat-free composts, such as expense, availability and performance have hindered its take up in the past but thankfully, compost manufacturers have responded to these concerns with research and investment and a broad range of high quality, peat-free composts are now widely available, with some even costing less than their peat-based counterparts.

Rhubarb is easy to grow, and an excellent choice for beginners and experts alike. Especially if you want a low-maintenance option for your vegetable garden.

I prefer to top-dress my flower beds while my perennials are napping safely underground, but I often find myself doing this while the plants are up. That chore is made much easier with a 58-ounce cast-aluminum scoop. It’s small enough to maneuver among plants but holds enough compost, mulch, or—as shown here—composted wood chips to cover real estate quickly. Lastly, it leaves a hand free to hold plants aside while I’m applying the product.

Plant trends change every year but they are here to stay for a long time to come! This year calls for a little change, and keeping that in mind, we have some cool ideas you must copy for an appealing indoor setup with nature’s best!

A small vegetable garden sits in front of the guest house at this elegant Georgian home in Oxfordshire

Snowdrops work well in a mixed planting in a container, but equally well planted as a group on their own

A backyard is no place for a farm. My earliest vegetable gardens were small-scale imitations of large-scale farms. I rototilled the soil, spread bagged chemical fertilizer all around and built neat hills and straight furrows. I worked as a tractor. Then I unleashed a flood of water to fill the furrows and bring life to the land. I engineered like a god. Months later, I would make my daily rounds to harvest what I could from the hard, gray soil that was cracking under the intense summer sun. Farming was a tough life.

How to Plant and Grow ‘Sugar Daddy’ Peas Pisum sativum ‘Sugar Daddy’