As you all know I run my own gardening gift company designing products for the UK and Europe, this means that I receive every catalogue for every new gardening product on sale to the buyers of garden centres. So I thought I would share with you all this week the trends, designs and new products that may or may not be wowing you this summer in your local shops.  Companies are continually innovating and in this financial climate, products have to work even harder for your money. So here is my pick of the most innovative.

The garden is now becoming your outdoor living room, this now seen by designers is something you can accessorize and enjoy all year round. As with your home, outdoor audio is very much a trend this year, outdoor wireless speakers, floating waterproof speakers are all solar powered and designed to play music via your iPod, phone, mp3 or other multimedia device.  Lighting again is a trend that seems to have taken off, solar panelled designs with mirrors and floating bubbles extend your time spent in your garden and up light your trees and shrubs. As with your home gardens now have pictures to hang on fence panels that are water resistant and give you all round interest, so if you couldn’t recreate the planting scheme from Chatsworth in your borders you can now have it hung up on your fence. Baubles, ornaments and Globes are now seen interplanted in our pots with our bedding to give extra colour and design to our gardens. Tree ornaments are again popular with the designers and can give you sound and movement in the garden.  However all these products are great but in Great Britain with a maritime climate we are very cold and wet so outdoor living does need two constants if we are going to maximise our space, heat and shelter from the wind and rain.  So the clever product designers have taken the designs from ships and produced large sails we can suspend over our area to protect us, these sails come in a variety of sizes and shapes and colours. Heat now can be found from our stoves, chimeras, patio heaters (wood) and fire baskets; these ensure that we do not need us to dress like polar explorers to enjoy our garden in the winter. Ponds are now aqua creations, and ornaments are mesmerising optical illusions that will captivate you, (honestly) so hold on to your seats 2012  in your garden will be stunning Enjoy

One of my joys of gardening is that I can share it with you, I find great pleasure in discussing my triumphs and failures throughout the year. I feel there is great satisfaction than being able to give away an admired plant of snipping a cutting or two to friends, so in this blog I will share my years experience in my gardening and hopefully you will get as much pleasure out of gardening in the next months as I have!

Last winter I was a little complacent with the extreme cold temperatures , I didn’t protect my Acers, Myrtle, Witch Hazel, Victoria Plum, sadly these all did not return in 2011. So this winter I will protect my tender shrubs and trees and wrap them with some horticultural fleece, tied with string.  My Winter Vegetable GroBox is already producing small broad bean flowers and pea flowers, I am going to cover with fleece though and protect from keel slugs and mice as they are really hungry this time of year. Here is a list of a few jobs I will be doing in the garden this winter.

Kitchen Garden

Protect Veg. GroBox Cabbages with netting, lift parsnips and carrots, Winter prune (lightly) bush apples and pears, Plant fruit trees, Order and plant bare rooted trees and shrubs, Remove weeds and Compost, Plant Rhubarb, Choose Veg patch for 2012, cover with plastic for early crops.

Flower Garden

Sweep fallen leaves and compost, Winter prune shrubs, Plant your favourite trees and shrubs (look at colourful leaf (red) varieties) Brush Snow off trees and shrubs, protect tender trees shrubs and plants with fleece. Take hardwood cuttings, cut under a bud or leaf and insert in the soil. 

Enjoy

One of the most colourful season’s is now upon us, with the bright leaves some smelling of burn’t chocolate(cercidiphyllum japonicum) this has really got me motivated to tidy up the garden before the long winter draws in.

As I leave a Sunny Newcastle After the great North Run , I watch with interest as parks start to planting hundreds of winter flowering plants, shrubs and bulbs to give them a burst of sunshine colour in their gardens, flats, and parks during the darker winter months approaching.

My mind now turns to our gardens here in Greater Manchester and the preparation we need to do to ensure our lives are brightened up by vibrant scented flowers and vegetables in the coming season.

So planting for winter, I recommend large bulbs of cyclamens (red) in a hanging baskets and pots, interplanted with Snowdrops (Galanthus). Winter pansies potted now will see us all the way through the season interplanted with perennial daisies (Bellis). Winter scented shrubs are a great way to brighten your pots, Sarcoccoca Confusa is my favourite. Sow Broadbeans, Spring Cabbages and quick maturing lettuce in your pots and baskets on your patio.

This is our last chance in the few dry Autumn weeks to be able to put some order in our gardens and prepare for the dormant growing season. Our Lawns are temperature dependent so our lawn grass will grow above 5’oC, so if we have a warm Autumn we are able to mow the lawn as often as the temperature rises. However to prepare the lawns for winter we need to lengthen the mower blades when we cut, leaving 2/3 inches of grass to overwinter and protect young grasses from frost and snow. To give your garden an instant lift lawn edging is a must and should be done now (with an edging iron) to give a sharp finish to your garden.

As we are low maintenance gardeners, to stop weeding, our golden rule is never to leave any garden soil exposed as it will attract weeds. Therefore we cover any exposed soil with either a mulch or groundcover of your choice. If your garden is contemporary and modern go for either blue slate or glass chippings remembering to put a permeable membrane down first. A low cost option is either chipped bark or if you prefer a living barrier, flowering evergreen groundcover plants such as Ajuga Reptans, Vinca Major, Lamium, and Pachysandra Terminalis Green Carpet. These will cover your borders quickly forcing out ant weeds, however these plants once established should be pulled back and any spare plants given to your friends. Remember to give the spare plants in your garden as gifts, dressed nicely with ribbon it is a great low cost gift option.

Jobs for this weekend

Fruit

• Prune Blackcurrants and Gooseberries just over a bud (keep cuttings, place in soil to propagate new plants).

Lawns

• Lay new turf now.

Borders

• Prune Roses

Plant Winter flowering heathers

With us all being in the middle of  Midsummer  we can use those extra daylight hours in the evening to relax and enjoy our outside living space.  Chelsea Flower Show this year was full of ideas of natural planting, native wildflowers, trees and shrubs. Also new gardening shows have dominated the airwaves with ITV’s Alan Tichmarsh doing battle with BBC2’s Gardener’s World, all the get more interest in gardening.  So we have no excuse to get out, eat, drink relax and grow. So the range of colour (geraniums), Texture (grasses), Scent (lemon thyme/lavender) and Flavour (Strawberries) offered by these plants is unrivalled, and there is space in any garden, window box and pot, for a selection of edible, useful and pretty plants. Our Wildflower GroMat’s have been a best seller this year, followed by our edible garden ranges, we have signed up to the BEEKEEPERS Association so watch this space as I am studying hard to pass my BEE keepers exam!

Ever since I have been gardening, I have always loved water in the garden, my favourite water fountain is in Chatsworth Garden (well worth a visit) The famous waterworks include the 300 year old Cascade, the trough waterfall in the rockery and the enormous gravity-fed Emperor fountain. To my garden where I have dew ponds and small pools dotted in and around the borders.  For the plants-man, the pond or garden pool provides a growing environment for water loving plants which thrive in the boggy soil.  You can make a pool of any size, one of my favourites is sinking an old plastic washing up bowl in the borders, filling with gravel in the bottom and some charcoal (to keep the water sweet) and placing old branches in and out of the pond so the wildlife can crawl in and (most importantly)out of your pond. Leave the tap water for a couple of weeks to remove the harmful chemicals and place some pre-potted water lilies in your garden.  Alternatively you can make a pool with a liner, dig a hole,  layer with sharp sand, place liner on top, fill with water, cut edges of liner (or dig them in)once pond is filled with water and never before. Enjoy.

It’s not surprising that we all feel a lot more happier working towards the weekend, the light nights have really opened up a new life to us all after we have returned home from work. One of the great luxuries of life is to have a little time to yourself, so with this weekend approaching try to ensure you use every hour, and enjoy every minute. Planning is always key to success in life and in the garden it is the foundation to an effective gardener. If you plan to buy garden plants this weekend, try to call in after work taking advantage of the late night openings in most garden centres and retailers. It always seems such a waste to spend hours queuing in your local stores when you can be in the garden.  This weekend I shall be planting up my pots with a few more vegetables, I always feel extra sowings of peas and beans will never go unused in the kitchen. My borders definitely need mulch, so I will be placing a layer of chipped bark on top to suppress the weeds; this is great for the birds as they throw the bark around the garden looking for insects and worms.  The leaves on my Acers are just unfolding to reveal their bright red flame colouring. The Pieris is just about to flower with forest flame giving the brightest show in the border contrasting well with my favourite tree Cercidiphyllum japonicum or the katsura tree. As we are a little behind here on our hill I am still awaiting the splendour of Magnolia Stellata in flower with the delicately scented petals and the fabulous star shaped flowers, however I have noticed a lot in flower on my travels and it really is a good investment plant for the garden.

As our gardens are now redefined as outdoor living spaces the retailers are ensuring we furnish our gardens with all the hardware and gadgets to make our lives complete. The garden is an important space for all the family to enjoy but you can pot up your kitchen garden with all the vegetables, herbs and flowers for your home use. Make a list of your favourite vegetables and buy the seeds to grow your own. Even if you have bought seeds and they are out of date, still sow them as some of the seeds will germinate. Herbs are great to be potted up around your patios, use rosemary with your meats or char grilled vegetables, sage with your stuffing’s and lemon balm in your cakes. Sadly my Myrtle has taken a bit of a beating this winter with the prolonged freezing temperatures; however there are a few green leaves so I am hoping a warmer summer will pull it through. Patience is key in gardening and always waits to see if your plant shows any signs of life before removing them forever from your display.

If you plan to get out and about this weekend, visit our local country parks, homes, gardens and get inspiration for your garden from our local experts who are always available to offer advice and support. Have a wonderful spring.

Sowing

In a heated propagator or on a windowsill, pot or container sow, cauliflower, onions, leeks and broad-beans and peas also alpine strawberries. Plant early potatoes, and Beans for a very early crop.

Work

Start forcing Rhubarb (cover with a large plant pot), prune outdoor Vines, Apple Trees, Pear Trees. Prune damaged branches of trees and shrubs,  Plant bare rooted trees and shrubs to fill in gaps in borders, hedges and gardens. Think about the colour these plants will give you in the Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, if your garden looks spectacular in the Spring but a little dreary in the Winter go for your Winter Flowering Evergreen or Variegated Trees and Shrubs, Hollies are exceptional at giving you a burst of colour, especially Golden King or Queen. 

Jobs in the gardener’s calendar.

Order seeds.

Defrost birdbaths and top up with clean water

Sow  peas, beans, winter cabbage, ruby chard in pots

Grit paths 

Wishing you all a fantastic 2011, I cannot wait to get out in the garden to get a head start on the borders giving my plants the advantages of an early start. It was a welcome site to see my grass emerge unscathed from the long periods of frost and snow, fungus diseases (snow mould) do tend to become a nuisance in the winter.  Looking at your borders try to cut down your herbaceous plants to soil level, looking at the gaps now is the best time to order your seed catalogues, bare rooted trees and shrubs and Groboxes. I’m focusing this year on more winter flowering shrubs to give me berries throughout the winter  Chimonanthus praecox ‘Wintersweet’ is one of my favorites as Sarcococca confusa ‘Sweet box’, however a main concern for me this winter was feeding the ground feeding birds such as our native songbirds, so I will be planting a number of step over Apple trees. Keep your Lawns edged and protect your borders with chipped bark to control the growth of weeds.  Sort out your shed and greenhouse and try to get your shears sharpened and lawnmower serviced, if you need new tools take advantage of the winter sales.  Plan a list of your landscaping projects for 2011 and most importantly have a fantastic gardening year!

I always feel it is not worth cutting back the dead stems of herbaceous perennials (those that die down below soil then return every year) as they transform the border with silvering of frost and snow. Evergreens are star performers in the winter garden. Golden- variegated leaves make a real splash of sunshine on gloomy winter days, Holly is my favourite especially ‘Golden King’ or ‘Golden Queen’  you can also shape to any size to fit pots, tubs or borders.

Planting your Winter Vegetable garden outdoors now is perfect for sowing your Broad Beans and Peas, Broad Beans when germinated are thick stems with beautiful black and white flowers, Peas have long tendrils and stems that want to hold on to climb anything and everything!

The GroBox Winter Flower garden has a selection of winter flowering plants that add a splash of colour in the darkest days.

Feeding the Birds has benefits both ways by making the difference between life and death in the cold winter, and in return they will eat your garden pests. Sadly they do become dependent on the food you put out in Winter  so continue to do so once you’ve started. Try to ensure bird baths have fresh water and put a football in your ponds to stop freezing. Winter is a good time to plant, so keep a garden diary, then you can look back at your successes and failures. It is also a good memory jogger for garden jobs in future years.

• Decrease watering of pot plants
• Ensure good weed control, mulch with chippings.
• Transplant pot grown biennial flowering plants, ‘too big for that pot’ shrub, tree.
• Plant Vegetable, Herb, flower GroBoxes
• Sow Hardy Annuals in the borders
• Sow Grass
• Reduce your mowing of lawns to fortnightly
• Cut back herbaceous plants as their stems wither
• Remove old canes and tie in new on all berries
• On cold still nights protect tender plants from frosts with fleece
• Collect and Dry Seeds
• Harvest and store everything before it all goes.