All Change

Like the seasons and a garden, everything changes and it’s all change here at Garden Divas and The Horse Diva HQ.

We will be moving to new premises (hopefully very soon) on the other side of town where we will have more space for display and will also be able to welcome local customers during the day. Alongside this our two websites are being reprogrammed to be “mobile friendly” and easier to use on a phone or tablet – Hoorah. So do keep a eye out for our new look.

As with all changes though it has not been the smoothest of starts to 2016 but we are digging deep, finding loads of new products for all you garden and horse lovers and working hard to make sure shopping with us continues to be a smooth affair!

Winter seems to be never ending and I’m longing to get back to some proper gardening but have also realised my limitations due to age (oh yes I did have a big birthday in January) and time restrictions due to the growth of the business. So there are changes afoot in the garden. Raised beds have been built in my veg patch.

 

New Raised Beds

This has obviously made the available “growing” area smaller, but easier to work with and has used up loads of homemade compost. Since I have “grown my own” in some shape or form since I was young I cannot see me ever giving up this side of gardening so this seemed a fair solution. At the moment there is rhubarb, a collection of self set Foxgloves and some wallflowers that didn’t get planted into the borders! But come the spring I will be shall be planting the usual potatoes, carrots, shallots this year instead of onions, dwarf beans I think, dwarf sunflowers for picking, some sort of brassica, mangetout peas, salad leaves plus I want to get some fresh strawberry plants soonish. Then there’s tomatoes & peppers for the greenhouse and ……………. See I can get carried away very easily!

I’m also hoping to revamp a back border introducing a little more structure with evergreens etc which can be interplanted with summer colour – more of that next time.

In the meantime we Mums should be looking forward to a little “ME” time on Mother’s Day on Sunday 6th March and if you want to make a change from giving flowers to your Mum how about giving her one of Sophie Conran’s award winning Seed Sets – choose from Edible Flower, Wildflower or Herbs. All beautifully packaged and at £9.95 per pack these will last a lot longer than a shop bought bouquet!

Sophie Conran Seed Collection

Happy Mother’s Day and Gardening to all

Gilly

PS Do let me know what changes you are making to your garden this year.

Children’s Gardening

Summer is here and it looks like loads of you will be out enjoying your gardens with little ones – our orders for children’s gardening tools and gloves have shot up over the last couple of months.

Best Seller

At the top of our best sellers is the Gruffalo Garden Tool Bag complete with 3 mini tools plus minature watering can closely followed by The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Peppa Pig tool boxes and stools. These have been flying out but sadly the VHC and Peppa Pig ranges are being discontinued so grab yours while you can.

Peppa pig stool for when you need a rest

We now also have a cute range for the slightly older child called Little Thoughtful Gardener from manufacturers Wild and Wolf Ltd. These smaller sized tools and watering cans complement the adults ” Thoughtful Gardener” tools and accessories perfectly and we offer a combined set of tools in this range for both little and large gardeners!

Little & Large Gardeners Tool Sets

Getting children involved in the garden and perhaps growing a few easy things such as carrots, lettuce, radish, beans etc is thought to be a good way to encourage them to eat more fruit and vegetables and even try different varieties. A warm tomato or two from the greenhouse, picking the peas and eating them raw or digging up potatoes to see who gets the most from just one root are always worth a try.  Plus see who can discover the funniest shaped fruit or veg like my latest strawberry.                                                                                                

I loved being outside as a youngster, climbing trees to get the tastiest apple from the top,(no health and safety then) making mud pies and serving them for “tea” – yuk. Never had a pair of gardening gloves until I was in my 30’s so always got dirty.  Did that make me a gardener?? Not really sure but it gave me an understanding of where fruit and veg came from. Sadly I read some kids today don’t have a clue!

If you don’t like the thought of your kids making mud pies with bare hands as I did, landing my mother no doubt with loads of washing, we have great gloves for little hands –The Gruffalo and Be Good to Bugs Gloves for snail hunting and Little Thoughtful Garden Gloves for weeding. Don’t forget to pop on a sunhat as your children tend to their garden – our Ladybird and Happy Hats are perfect for little heads.

So get out and enjoy your gardens with your kids or give them a patch of their own to tend to – you know they’ll love it.

I love my tool set!

Happy gardening to little and large gardeners everywhere.

It’s April – time to get growing?

The sun is shining, it’s National Gardening Week and so it must be time to get growing!

If that sounds a little bit daunting to you we have some easy to do Growing Kits for all abilities and all ages plus we are offering 10% discount on all our kits until Friday 8th May.  So if you fancy having a go at growing a few flowers or maybe some veggies just have a peep at our selection.  You only need a sunny window ledge to start things off!

The Edible Flower Growing Kit comes complete with seeds, compost discs and mini propagator so you can grow some pretty flowers for your garden and have something to eat as well. All the flowers are edible and can be added to salads or used as cake decorations. The kit even comes with a “Blooming Salad” recipe.

Bag Plants are colourful jute bags containing compost and seeds which can be started off on a window ledge, then the whole lot can be transplanted into the garden – bag and all. Just sow a few of the seeds in the biodegradable jute bag and use the rest for normal sowing.

For the younger gardener we have the NEW Plantalicious Mini Garden Growing Tubs to encourage children to grow something healthy and tasty to eat.  After Easter and a glut of chocolate that should be a good thing to do. Each tub comes complete with a gnome sticker to decorate the pots and full instructions for children. Seedlings can then be transplanted into the garden.

And for little ones who are really keen to start off their own vegetable patch then the The Little Thoughtful Gardener Growing Kit including mini pots and tray plus radish, carrot & lettuce seeds and compost makes a lovely gift for the budding gardener.

Perhaps though, like most of us, you are stuck at a desk whilst the sun shines, pining for your garden. For fun why not give a Potman a home and attach him to your computer screen having sown a few seeds in the little pot on his back – those little green shoots will remind you of your garden and all the jobs that will need doing in the coming months!

Check out all of our kits here and don’t forget these make super presents too.

Everything comes with full instructions on how to sow your seeds. Once the seeds have germinated on your window ledge the young plants can be hardened off (very important) – that means moving them outside during the warmth of the day for a couple of hours and gradually increasing that time.  They must be brought back inside during the night to protect against drops in temperature. Do this for at least a week before planting them in the garden.

Be warned though that sometimes we can be tempted by the unseasonable weather and plant out too soon – it may be warm for some of us but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more chilly days and frost to catch those tender plants.   Instead perhaps use these lovely days to dig over, weed and generally tidy your garden and keep your seedlings toasty for a few more days. And don’t forget to label everything!

I have seeds galore still to be sown – carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, zinnias, courgettes, tagetees et al but I have plenty of time – I think!
Whatever you do – keep busy and enjoy your gardens

A woman in her garden – summer 2014

I’ve not had a lot of time this summer to stand (or sit) and stare in my garden – the weeks have just flown by and I began to look at what I am trying to achieve in the garden and where if poss I could cut corners.
My garden is large – about 3/4 acre and I absolutely LOVE being outside. However it is a rather like the Forth Road Bridge and by the time I have finished one bit the other is yelling out for attention!! Weed me!! Water me!!
Talking of watering I spend a lot of my evenings in the summer watering the pots and planters I have so I thought I should count them up. Do you know I have a total of 22 pots and hanging baskets, not including the pepper and aubergine plants in pots in the greenhouse!! That’s ridiculous so no wonder I am tired some evenings. My husband tends to water with the hose (when I remind him) but I like my trusty watering cans – the V&A Roses Watering Can
has helped me all summer – it is not the finest of sprays from the rose but has been great for my established pots. Rose is detachable too..

I love the stackable Keira Watering Cans
– they don’t take up too much space in the greenhouse and the elegant pouring spout is great for getting right into the pots and hanging baskets. Thankfully “his lordship” has installed an automatic watering system for my greenhouse bed which is a real time saver.

Our trip away in the summer included a stay (courtesy of the lovely Horse Diva) to Barnsley House in the Cotswolds

 

 

– this was the former home of Rosemary Verey , the internationally acclaimed garden designer who died in 2001. Rosemary designed the gardens at Barnsley House in a manner that is not grand but just the perfect place to unwind with knot gardens, statues, a Laburnum Walk, various “garden rooms” and an ornamental fruit and vegetable garden. Although well maintained they are not immaculately weed free and beyond the reach of the average gardener with limited time – a bit like me!!
If you are ever in that part of the world I urge you to make a visit – combine it with afternoon tea – it’s the perfect pick me up for tired gardeners.
Now all I have to decide is do I really need 22 pots and planters to water ??

A woman in her garden – April

I’m late, very late in my gardening diary. I’m even writing this missive about April in the garden in May!!
Unfortunately we were rocked by two family bereavements with 6 days of each other in late March and energies and time were needed to deal with that. Gardening was the last thing on the “to do” list but it was with somewhat welcome relief to spend the final two weekends of April “catching up” on those sowing and planting tasks. There is nothing like being in the garden to soothe the soul!
But it has meant I have to make some shortcuts. For the first time in ages I have bought tomato cucumber and pepper plants for the greenhouse rather than growing from seed. Seed potatoes have been quickly popped into the ground late (the advantage being tho that they were not through when we had that recent cold and frosty couple of days).

No time to buy new seeds except for some bargain Calendulas at the local supermarket which are being scattered around the garden for summer colour. Instead I have used everything in the Seed Tin – some with aged “sow by” dates and old packets with just a few remaining seeds – peas, runner beans, carrots, parsnips – they have two chances!!

I also sowed a few seeds collected from a hollyhock last year, plus zinnias and tagetes direct into the greenhouse border. Altho very late to start these off from scratch I really do object to paying £3.95 for a tray of 6 tagetes plants as seen recently – they are so easy to grow!
In the flower borders a visit to the Garden Centre provided me with some new established plants to fill in the gaps in an area I really wanted to redesign – perennial geraniums, foxgloves, geums, phlox, hebes, a daphne may all help to bring the said area together. I have also added a couple of obelisks to add height and interest.

There is still loads to do as there always is in a garden of this size but at least I have something in the ground and fingers crossed I may get results.
My late mother-in-law was a keen gardener especially of flowers and my last conversation with her was about our morning in the garden, even tho she was in the grips of dementia. Her flowers gave her such pleasure.
“We come to the earth, we return to the earth and in between we garden”

Wishing for Warmer Weather

Well it’s not exactly been great weather for gardening recently but I have still managed to do a few bits and pieces in between the snow flurries, ice and gale winds.

I am very lucky to have the ever handy Andy who has now made me a new black planter which I am filling with a pyramid box and box hedging with yellow Crown Imperial – all bought from the fantastic plant stall on Hitchin Market – Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  This is work in progress as I started it on one of our slightly warmer days!

Handy Andy has also made me a new mini polytunnel and rejuvenated raspberry cage.

I have also managed to get out and cover up some of my raised beds with fleece in the hope it might warm up the ground (well it’s worth a try isn’t it!).  In addition I have added some of our new products to my very own garden.  These new Eco bird feeders have gone up in my garden to keep the birds fed during the snow.  You can feed fat balls, apples, cheese etc with these feeders which are made from recycled plant pots.  A very innovative product that can be used over and over again to keep those birds well fed!

Like the rest of the UK I am wishing for some much warmer weather so I can get outside and enjoy some sunshine whilst doing a spot of gardening.  I have to say I wouldn’t have attempted any gardening at all without my gardening gloves as my fingers seem to be instantly numb in the chilling winds!  We have a super selection of ladies gardening gloves available so depending on your gardening tasks to be completed, we have a super stylish pair for every job, including the designs below.

Fingers crossed it won’t be too long until the sun is shining and the plants are growing- here is a lovely photo I took in my garden this time last year, bit of a difference to the colours out there today!