GLAM, beautiful and gaga for gardening – This Morning presenter Daisy Payne has appeared on our screens after her horticultural journey was spotted on social media by TV producers.
Now the 27-year-old – known as @fromgardentogarnish on Instagram – he released a new book called ‘Start growing‘ – described as ‘a year of joyful gardening for beginners’.
Containing 40 easy, cost-effective projects suitable for beginners, she told Sun Gardening: “It’s the book I wish I had when I started gardening.
“I would like more young people my age or younger to participate, as there are many benefits. It’s really important to swap screen time for some green time.
“When I first started, I struggled with a lot of the gardening books that were out there—they assumed knowledge and assumed I had a lot of money, which I don’t.
“This is for people who have never gardened before.”
Daisy’s top tips for beginning gardeners.
- Start small – because if you’ve never gardened before, you may bite off more than you can chew – which can be very demotivating. It’s better to focus on the little things and feel like you’ve succeeded to build your skills and confidence
- Learn to love mulching – love it, understand it, do it all the time, it solves so many problems – you just need to find a way that suits your space.
- Understand your soil – the best gardens are those that are harmonious and don’t try to fight environmental conditions. Understand what you have – and what will work in practice.
It is very important to change screen time to some green time.
Daisy Payne
- Don’t just go to the garden center and pick out what’s blooming. Be slow and steady in choosing the right plants. Don’t try to build your garden over a weekend – do it over a longer period of time, so you can make the right decisions, suited to your soil and the space you want to create.
- Don’t worry if something doesn’t work or dies. Look at the positive aspects of what you are learning and making mistakes or if it is not going according to plan. Have fun, don’t take it too seriously. Sometimes you learn more from your failures than from your successes.
Start Growing by Daisy Payne (Ebury Press, £14.99) is out on June 6
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STOP THE FLOP
We’ve had the Chelsea Flower Show – and now it’s time for the Chelsea Chop.
It’s an easy way to cut back herbaceous perennials to encourage bushiness, side shoots and to prevent failure!
It also promotes longer flowering – so you’ll have color later in the season too.
Perennial herbaceous plants are those that die completely in winter and begin to grow leggy very quickly when the soil warms.
But if you reduce them by a third to half – that should stop the problems.
Gardening Hero Beth Chatto previously said: “For an even longer display, you can cut some stems from a plant by a third, but do not cut other stems from the same plant.
“The uncut part will flower first and the cut part will flower later.”
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CUT TO THE CHASE
‘UK Flower Week‘ begins on Monday with the aim of shining a light on the British cut flower industry.
Run by Flowers From the Farm – the industry body that promotes small producers of local and seasonal British cut flowers – this year’s theme is “Igniting a Passion for British Cut Flowers”.
For a list of flower-filled events to inspire and engage; from flower flashes, pop-up stalls and showcases – to talks, flower field tours, workshops and sustainable floristry demonstrations, visit www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk/events
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FLOWER POWER
VOLUNTEER week starts on Monday and there are lots of chances to get involved with gardening across the country.
From sowing wildflowers in Royal Parkscommunity gardening – find out more at www.volunteersweek.org/get-involved/
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DO GARDENING FOR CHILDREN
It’s the last weekend of National Children’s Gardening Week – and there’s still time to enter a prize draw for the chance to get your hands on The World of Peter Rabbit seed kits.
Penguin Random House Children’s and Seed Pantry will randomly select 500 winners to distribute Peter Rabbit Veg Patch grow kits to families on June 24th.
Neil Whitehead, founder of Seed Pantry, told Sun Gardening: “The team at Seed Pantry are so proud to partner with The World of Peter Rabbit to bring our grow kits to families in time for National Children’s Gardening Week.”
“The trend of gardening and growing your own food and flowers is increasingly popular and our new Peter Rabbit collection is a great addition to our growing range of outdoor products for all ages.
“Gardening is a fun and rewarding activity, and it is so important to engage children from a young age to understand where their food comes from and to enjoy the many health and wellbeing benefits that nature-based activities provide.”
This is a prize draw, so entries must be received by 23 June 2024 at 23:59 GMT. See the T&C here: https://www.seedpantry.co.uk/prize-draw-terms-and-conditions
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THIS WEEK’S WORK
My gardens have collapsed all over the place after all the rain – so it’s time to stake and support your leggy perennials.
BEST TIP
Try to keep your alliums going a little longer – they need energy to come back next year – but they are also great for drying and spray painting for indoor flower decorations.
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TO SAVE!
Get your weeds out with this £19.99 Dutch hoe from the initial base
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Or go to £8.99 version da Gama.
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TO WIN!
ONE lucky reader can get their hands on one Navimow iSeries robotic mower – Powered by Segway – worth £949!
Packed with AI-powered features, including an AI assistant mapping function, it’s easy to set up via the Navimow app to deliver a lush lawn every time.
To enter fill this FORM
Or for more details and to enter, visit www.thesun.co.uk/SEGWAY
Or write to Sun SEGWAY Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone number. UK residents aged 18+ only. Ends at 23:59 GMT on 15/06/24.
Full T&C HERE
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LEARN!
LEARN!
Q. I have a front garden with roses and they all bloom at different times. I thought it was because some were planted in the spring and others in the fall. Is there a method to sync them please? Ray Snowden, Retford, Notts.
A. Roses bloom from spring through fall – and while there is no way to synchronize the different types and cultivars, with careful trimming – early and often – you should be able to get them to bloom all summer long so there is less scatter. Be sure to cut off the faded or damaged bud just above the first set of full, healthy leaves. And fertilize, feed and water.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
