Urban Gardening News: Growable Calendars, Agroponics and Winter Gardening

All the latest garden news and the best UK garden events to look out for in July.

If you’re going to puppy-proof your garden, there’s lots of advice out there. Not all of it works.

It seems strange, I know, to talk of growing winter crops for the polytunnel or glasshouse, smack-bang in the middle of a very sultry Irish summer. But the simple truth is that the secret to making the best, and most productive use, of these valuable covered growing spaces throughout the year has always been to plan and propagate very far ahead.

The Beginner.

In the world of sunshine, coconuts, and piña coladas, one really finds himself at home, relaxing to the sunny vibes. If you, too are someone who enjoys the tropical feel, then here are some great Beach Plants You Can Grow Indoors.

These Winter Flowering Shrubs with their unusual textures, foliage, colors, fragrance, and flowers can beautify your garden. Some even decorate themselves with bright and vibrant berries.

Grow an indoor herb garden like this on your kitchen window. The how-to article is here. Check out more indoor hanging herb garden ideas.

With rumours of (the probably temporary) arrival of cold weather, I decided that it was time to tuck up my evergreen agapanthus – Agapanthus africanus. The weather has been so mild that any frost could do quite a lot of damage since many plants have continued growing lost past their usual season. Most will have to take their chances but the large pots of agapanthus have now had a deep mulch of Strulch www.strulch.co.uk – the wonderful mineralised straw mulch which will hold air and insulate the plants – and protected with fleece covers that will keep them cosy from now until spring. They may not be very decorative, but the pots are far too big to move undercover, and it’s better than losing the plants. The lime tree

Why not see a few more modern gardens from some of the other shows.

When it comes to gardening it’s often the flowers that grab the attention and almost everyone seems to overlook the foliage. But leaves are the back room boys, the unsung heroes who do all the hard work and let some pretty blossom take all the credit. Ironically, if we gave foliage as much attention as we afford flowers our gardens would probably be a whole lot better. In winter of course, due to the absence of dazzling floral displays, we have a little more time to consider shapes and forms, colours and textures of leaves. I barely notice th

You may have heard talk about the benefits of elderberries, or even come across elderberry syrup on the shelf of your local health food store. But you likely never heard anything about the flowers.We link to vendors to help you find relevan

Why anyone would visit a garden in the winter is a bit of a mystery to the non-enthusiast, but for those in the know it provides the perfect opportunity to see the bones of the garden. Ok, you do need to wrap up in your warmest clothes and wear waterproof footwear, but it does allow you to see how the experts maintain, protect and prepare for the coming season. Which is why I went along to Great Dixter’s Winter Open Weekend. The snowdrops were