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25.06.2024 - 09:13 / houseandgarden.co.uk / Hazel Sillver
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) is one of the easiest plants to find in the wild, since its strong, sweet scent hangs on the air. Native to most of Europe, it is a common sight and smell in our woodlands and hedgerows in summer, twining itself around trees and scrub and luring a wide variety of wildlife. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon describes Titania's sleeping place as 'quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine'. It is certainly a plant fit for a queen, since each of the flowerheads resembles a crown of cream and gold, formed of a ring of tubular blooms.
These very slender flowers are pollinated by moths (such as the hummingbird hawk-moth), using their long tongue-like proboscis, and honeysuckle perfume intensifies at twilight in order to attract them. But the blooms are fragrant during the day as well, because they are visited by long-tongued bumblebees. After the flowers come the bright-red glossy berries, which provide food for birds, including bullfinches. L. periclymenum is also a vital plant for dormice because its bark is the main material they use to build their nests, after shredding it, and they eat the flowers.
In the garden, honeysuckles are one of the least demanding climbers for partial shade. Since they don't require a huge amount of pruning, they can be grown through other plants. Their scent enchants the scene, especially at night, so once you've grown one honeysuckle, you may find yourself quickly planting more.
Lonicera periclymenum
The offspring of our native woodbine (Lonicera periclymenum) are the best varieties to buy for perfume. L. periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' is a good choice, producing a mass of gold and ivory flowers that fill the garden with scent from midsummer to early autumn. For
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Struggling to extend your growing season and protect plants from adverse weather? A greenhouse can be a game-changer for gardeners, even those new to the concept. In this guide, we'll cover essential tips for setting up and maintaining a greenhouse garden effectively.
There’s no shortage of reasons to thrift home decor. In addition to being more sustainable, shopping secondhand is typically more cost-effective than shopping new.
A wormery is a great way of recycling kitchen and small amounts of garden waste, using worms to turn this material into nutrient-rich natural compost. A sump within the wormery also holds any excess liquid produced during this process and this can be used to feed your plants too. Simply drain it with the tap, every few days, dilute it to a 1:10 ratio of water and you have a nitrogen-heavy liquid feed ready to use. Wormery composting worms are different species to the earthworms you see in your garden, which aren’t suitable, and are known as brandlings, red, manure or tiger worms. They live inside the waste in the wormery bin and thanks to big appetites and a fast metabolism, quickly break down food waste likeegg shells, vegetable peelings and tea bags and turn them into compost for your garden. For help getting started our helpful step-by-step guide explains how to set up a wormery
You can’t even begin to garden without the proper preparation of your soil. Well-maintained, aerated soil is necessary for your plants to be as strong and as healthy as possible. However, this is often quite a daunting task, requiring soil to be rejuvenated through loosening and turning over. Forks make this easy – they’re one of the simplest but most effective tools in the garden. Not only are they great for cultivating and getting areas of soil ready for planting & sowing, they’re also designed to easily lift and transplant plants. There are several different types of forks, and most people’s go-to is a digging fork. However, these forks can be unwieldy, and ill suited to smaller areas of the garden like borders. They can also be a little too clumsy for more delicate tasks like transplanting plants and harvesting from raised beds. Border forks offer an easy alternative. A little smaller and narrower than digging forks, they’re great for getting into tight spots without compromising on strength or efficiency. They offer a finesse that makes them great for weeding, or lifting clumps of perennials from cramped borders. Their lightness also helps if you have mobility issues, or if you lack strength and stamina. A good border fork turns all of the above from a backbreaker into a breeze. It should be indispensable; a lifetime companion in the garden.
Gardening is not just a hobby, it is a way of life that allows us to get closer to nature. In our country, only 50 no deposit free spins in casinos can compete in terms of popularity with gardening, which has a special place in the hearts of millions of people. The history of British gardening goes back centuries, and this activity continues to attract more and more enthusiasts. In this article, we take a look at the best garden centres in the UK that offer a wide range of plants and gardening products, high quality service and many additional services. Whatever your preferences and level of expertise, you are sure to find something useful and interesting for you.
Layout and flow is so important in kitchens, often the hub of the home where everything happens—cooking, eating, gathering, etc. If a space doesn’t have the best layout, it can feel cramped and inefficient. That was the case in this San Diego kitchen in a 1922 Craftsman-style house.
A harmonious Dorset rose garden designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman
From novices to experts, all gardeners need a trusty spade and they’re often the first tool that gardeners will buy when starting out. These staples of the shed are invaluable and can help with dozens of jobs around the garden. Digging spades are the most common style of spade and are the go-to spade for beginners but there are also several other styles and models of spades, which are designed with particular jobs in mind.
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