Gardening Posts Archives | Page 20 of 122

What to do when bad weather prevents planting

by Thompson & Morgan | Jan 12, 2022 | Gardening Posts | 2 Comments

Unexpected late frosts or snow or can undermine the best laid plans
Image: Shutterstock

When bad weather stops you from immediately planting out your order, don’t despair. With a little bit of care, your plants will survive intact until conditions improve. Here’s how to look after your freshly ordered roots and plug plants when unexpected snow, late frosts, severe rain or the fickle British weather prevents you from getting them into their final positions straight away. From artichokes to strawberry runners, here’s what you need to do.

Thompson & Morgan

The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

www.thompson-morgan.com

Houseplant Lighting Guide

by Annelise Brilli | Jan 7, 2022 | Gardening Posts, House plants | 5 Comments

A sunny bay window decorated with a variety of houseplants

Image: Shutterstock

Houseplants function as living décor, making your home look beautiful. They also introduce nature into sterile indoor environments, injecting mood-boosting natural greenery. Finding creative ways to display your plants is the fun part, but before you do that, it is essential to consider the living conditions which plants require. The most important of these is light.

Annelise Brilli

Annelise Brilli is the Horticultural Copywriter for Thompson and Morgan. Annelise caught the gardening bug from her mother, whose tiny backyard was crammed with a huge collection of plants. As an adult, she had a career change into horticulture, gaining a training apprenticeship with the National Trust at Powis Castle Garden in Welshpool. She went on to work in a range of private and public gardens, later running a garden design and maintenance business. She is passionate about sustainable gardening and has developed her own wildlife-friendly garden which she has opened as part of Macmillan Coastal Garden Trail.

Decorating with Houseplants

by Annelise Brilli | Dec 15, 2021 | Gardening Posts | 2 Comments

This guide to decorating with houseplants shows you how to get creative with plant shape, texture, colour and size. Plants breathe life into sterile spaces and which houseplants you select and how you arrange them will affect the dynamics of your space and create different moods.

Annelise Brilli

Annelise Brilli is the Horticultural Copywriter for Thompson and Morgan. Annelise caught the gardening bug from her mother, whose tiny backyard was crammed with a huge collection of plants. As an adult, she had a career change into horticulture, gaining a training apprenticeship with the National Trust at Powis Castle Garden in Welshpool. She went on to work in a range of private and public gardens, later running a garden design and maintenance business. She is passionate about sustainable gardening and has developed her own wildlife-friendly garden which she has opened as part of Macmillan Coastal Garden Trail.

The rough guide to beans by Real Men Sow

by Thompson & Morgan | Dec 8, 2021 | Gardening Posts, Vegetables | 0 Comments

This mixed bean collection adds colour to the vegetable plot as well as the plate
Image: Climbing Bean ‘Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan

To help you produce an abundance of beans this year, we turned to an expert grower for practical advice. Jono, the original founder of the ever-popular gardening blog, Real Men Sow, is a man whose own hard-won experience has taught him how to get the best from his beans. Here are his top tips for sowing and growing bean seeds in your garden or allotment.

Thompson & Morgan

The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

www.thompson-morgan.com

Oh peas behave!

by Sam Corfield | Dec 7, 2021 | Gardening Posts, Vegetables | 2 Comments

Peas can be sown successionally for a continuous crop throughout the summer

If you love the idea of sowing pea and bean seeds and want to try growing them at home or on your allotment, we asked trained horticulturist, Sam Corfield, to talk you through his pea season. A man who likes to keep things simple, here are his top tips to help you enjoy excellent harvests with minimum fuss. Whether you want to grow juicy garden varieties, succulent sugar snaps or mangetout, this simple guide will have you growing your own peas in no time.

Sam Corfield

Having trained at Duchy College in Cornwall, he then spent 10+ years on and off working at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. In between Sam has setup a garden at RHS Hampton Court show, lived and worked on large private garden in New Zealand and worked for the BBC as a Natural history cameraman.

Sam now advises, designs and builds vegetable gardens for businesses, allowing them to grow their own crops. He tends to grow slightly more unusual crops and loves experimenting!

samcorfield.co.uk/

Growing raspberries with children

by Sue Sanderson | Dec 6, 2021 | Fruit, Gardening Posts | 0 Comments

Raspberry 'Ruby Beauty'® (Summer Fruiting) from T&M

Children love growing things they can pick and eat straight from the plant, and soft fruits are particular favourites. Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’ is a dwarf variety that grows to about 3ft tall, and is perfectly happy in the ground, in a container, or even on a sunny balcony.

As a thornless variety, children will love the easy pickings too, which is why we sent some plants to our horticultural expert, Sue Sanderson and her little helper to try out. Here’s how they got on with a raspberry that, while short in stature, is easy to grow and produces an excellent harvest of sweet, succulent fruit…

Sue Sanderson

Plants and gardens have always been a big part of my life. I can remember helping my Dad to prick out seedlings, even before I could see over the top of the potting bench. As an adult, I trained at Writtle College where I received my degree, BSc. (Hons) Horticulture. After working in a specialist plantsman’s nursery, and later, as a consulting arboriculturalist, I joined Thompson & Morgan in 2008. Initially looking after the grounds and coordinating the plant trials, I now support the web team offering horticultural advice online. I have a keen interest in drought resistant plants and a passion for perennials, particularly hardy Geraniums. I previously stood as regional secretary for the International Plant Propagation Society which gave me lots of opportunities to see what other horticulturalists were up to in their nurseries and gardens.

Why you need to grow Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’

by Thompson & Morgan | Dec 5, 2021 | Fruit, Gardening Posts | 4 Comments

Summer-fruiting Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty' in container

If you’d love to grow raspberries but lack the space in your garden to accommodate rows of towering canes, Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’® is the solution you’re looking for. This space-saving raspberry has all the deliciously sweet flavour you’d expect from a modern variety, but you don’t need a veg patch to grow it – in fact, this little beauty grows to just 1m in height and is perfectly happy in a container on your patio or balcony.

Being compact makes ‘Ruby Beauty’ easy to net to protect the fruit from hungry birds. And because its stems are thornless, the fruit is easy to pick too. This plant requires little, if any, support but you may choose to add a few canes around the pot to help hold up the fruit.

Thompson & Morgan

The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

www.thompson-morgan.com

Rise of the bedding plants

by Terri Overett | Dec 1, 2021 | Flowers, Gardening Posts | 4 Comments

Begonia semperflorens ‘Organdy Mixed’ F1 Hybrid from Thompson & Morgan

Bedding plants became incredibly popular in the Victorian era, when specialist plant hunters were dispatched to find new and unique specimens to add colour and interest to gardens. The surge in interest coincided with the abolition of the glass tax. This meant that, for the first time, more people were able to erect modest glasshouses in their gardens allowing them to grow a wider range of the new bedding plants that were brought back from warmer parts of the world. Here’s why this Victorian status symbol has stood the test of time…

Browse our wide range of bedding plants for inspiration.

Terri Overett

Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.

www.thompson-morgan.com

Best interiors Instagrammers to follow

by Thompson & Morgan | Nov 29, 2021 | Blogs we love, Gardening Posts | 0 Comments

Colourful backdrop for interior design from @poppyrobin_myhome

Do you want to give your home a stylish new makeover and change things up a bit? Here are some of the best Instagram accounts to provide inspiration. Not only do these clever creatives offer a peek at their truly lovely homes, they share top tips to help you achieve the look yourself. Whether you’re hunting for ideas or just enjoy having something beautiful to admire during your coffee break, these are the Insta accounts to follow…

Thompson & Morgan

The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

www.thompson-morgan.com

Choosing hedge plants to save funds!

by Sue Sanderson | Nov 24, 2021 | Bare roots, Gardening Posts, Hedging | 0 Comments

Bare root hedging plants collection from T&M

Bare root hedge plants are a cost-effective way to create a boundary
Image: Thompson & Morgan

Bare root plants are often far cheaper than potted plants. These young ‘whips’ establish quicker than more mature specimens and will soon catch up in size. Given the quantity of plants that are normally required to create a hedge, it’s a ‘no brainer’ to buy your plants as bare roots – in fact bare root hedge plants are by far one of the greatest savings you can make in the garden. Here’s the best way to spend that hedge fund…

Sue Sanderson

Plants and gardens have always been a big part of my life. I can remember helping my Dad to prick out seedlings, even before I could see over the top of the potting bench. As an adult, I trained at Writtle College where I received my degree, BSc. (Hons) Horticulture. After working in a specialist plantsman’s nursery, and later, as a consulting arboriculturalist, I joined Thompson & Morgan in 2008. Initially looking after the grounds and coordinating the plant trials, I now support the web team offering horticultural advice online. I have a keen interest in drought resistant plants and a passion for perennials, particularly hardy Geraniums. I previously stood as regional secretary for the International Plant Propagation Society which gave me lots of opportunities to see what other horticulturalists were up to in their nurseries and gardens.

Thompson & Morgan Gardening Blog

What to do when bad weather prevents planting

Houseplant Lighting Guide

Decorating with Houseplants

The rough guide to beans by Real Men Sow

Oh peas behave!

Growing raspberries with children

Why you need to grow Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’

Rise of the bedding plants

Best interiors Instagrammers to follow

Choosing hedge plants to save funds!

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