Rooster booster

My family think it's pretty bad to be prattling on about the benefits of chicken poo - but there you have it. When you find something that really does make a difference to the growth rate of your plants then it is in a gardener's nature to shout about it. I was slightly late in putting in my spuds this year but with a healthy layer of chicken pellets just above the surface of the soil - so that the stalks hit it just as they are coming up for air - really does spur them on. And if you have plenty of greenery on top then that is fuelling the potatoes underneath the ground. The nitrogen in the poo (which is available from good garden centres) is kinda like putting rocket fuel in a car and also provides a welcome boost for the cabbages, calabrese, wild rocket, cauliflower et al that I have planted up in the vegetable patch. They'll be outgrowing their cloches soon...

Hot and muggy

Very sticky to be in the garden today. My courgettes plants love it and are going from strength to strength in their pots. Peppers and tomato plants aren't enjoying the changeable weather though, especially the cooler temperatures

Wet, wet, wet

Not so nice for those on holiday - but my garden is beathing a sigh of relief from the rain showers. Only trouble is, the weeds are also benefitting from the change in the weather. Does anyone have any tried and trusted methods for eradicating bindweed, dandelions and a nasty form of buttercup that sends out runners?

Summer arrivals

I always feel that summer is well on the way when I am planting out my Cosmos - what a riot of colour. Another summer arrival is that great sun worshipping succulent mesembryanthemum 'Magic Carpet Mix' (pictured right) - they were really showing off their dayglo colours on Saturday and Sunday. I'm also hoping for great things from two other annuals in my hanging basket - Felicia amelloides Variegata, with its lovely speedwell blue flowers and the creamy argyranthemum Monro Lemon Anemone. Sadly, my brachyscome Strawberry Mousse is suffering so had to give it some harsh love and cut it back so it can recover.