Skip to main content

the blackberry garden

A blog about my garden, my inspiration to garden and things about gardening that make me happy.

Search This Blog

Home
Introduction to the garden
Product reviews
Book Reviews
Tree Following
Plant Trials
Irritating Plant of the Month (IPotM)
My writing for other sites
Nice mentions
The Questions
The Blackberry Garden Plant Of The Year Award

Posts

A visit to a plant fair that ends in successful mouse ears

Asarum pulchellum Aspidistra Hosta Blue Mouse Ears Hosta Mouse Ears Hosta Stiletto

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Irritating Plant of the Month - a tale of two tree peonies

IPotM Irritating Plant of the Month Tree Peony

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

There has been plant buying

Coleus 'Great Falls' epimedium rubrum lathyrus Beth Chatto onorpordum acanthium pelgagoniums

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Book Review - Garden Wildlife and Indoor Wildlife by Gerard E Cheshire

Garden Wildlife Gerard E Cheshire Indoor Wildlife Pen and Sword Publishing

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

The B Word update

Cabbage Duncan Courgette GYO Kale Vegan gardening vegetable gardening

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

The launch of the 'Stihl Hillier Garden' exhibit for RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019

Cordyine 'Pink Star' Eryngium 'Blue Wave' Hilliers Nurseries Isoplexis 'Bella' isabelliana Lily Gomm RHS Chelsea Flower Show Weigela picobella 'Rosa'

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Tree Following April 2019

quest for a quince quince blight Quince Major Quince Minor tree following

+

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Alison Levey

Copyright

©Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden, 2011 to 31 December 2019 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Privacy Notice

The Blackberry Garden does not collect, process or store your data. Your data will not be processed or used by The Blackberry Garden and therefore will not be shared with anyone else by The Blackberry Garden.

Data about webpage traffic is collected by Blogger, but it does not identify individual users toThe Blackberry Garden and The Blackberry Garden does not store or use any individualised data relating to traffic.

Follow by Email

Follow me on Twitter

Follow @papaver

Bloglovin

Posts

Posts

All Comments

All Comments

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Popular Posts

Product Review: Stihl RMA 339c Lawn Mower

Regular readers will know that I have reviewed a few products for Stihl from their domestic battery range. It was therefore a delight to be asked if I would review their new RMA 339c rechargeable lawnmower. I have not paid for this product but as ever my words and opinions are my own.
This is a handsome lawnmower. Stihl have until fairly recently made and sold lawnmowers under the trade name 'Viking', now they started branding them in the Stihl orange and white that we know and love.

This mower has a cutting width of 37cm. This is a good width for my lawns, not too small to mean it takes me a long time, but nippy enough that I can mow around things where I need to. It is quiet compared to non-rechargeable mowers and weighs in at 16 kg, which is quite light.

The first thing that made me like this mower was when I went to collect it.
It fitted in the boot. Admittedly the grass collection box has to sit on the passenger seat, but I had been worrying about how I would get it…

So goodbye lavender edge......

Let me rewind to 2007 when the front garden looked like this:
I declared this front garden boring and decided a knot garden was what it needed. I sometimes wonder if I should have left well alone. Yes it was dull, but the front garden seems to have been a constant battle I have never really won. I could just have mown it once a fortnight, yet that was just not what I wanted to do.
The garden was laid out as tiny box cuttings in the spring of 2008; by 2013 it looked like this. Yes even then the lavender hedge was a bit sprawly but it had a lot to redeem itself with. In the summer it was always alive with bees and butterflies and it was a joy to brush past as the scent would be released. I did love the lavender edge.
But then the lavender edge got old and sprawly. I kept it pruned but it was long past its best. So the other day I was weeding under the (out of shot) Magnolia tree and I started to weed along under the lavender edging. This was going quite well, there has been no …

Product Review - Gro-Sure Smart Ground Cover

I was asked a few weeks ago if I wanted to trial some Gro-Smart Ground Cover, which is made by Westland. I hesitated a little before agreeing as I am not someone who generally mulches areas of the garden. One look at my weed population will confirm this but I do like to have self-seeders and mulches will keep them controlled as well as the weeds. After some thought I realised that it could be really useful in my vegetable borders where I do want to restrict self-seeders from colonising. A short time later a bag duly arrived.
The first thing I noticed is that it is incredibly light. I braced myself to lift the bag and it was really easy to lift.

Then I set to spreading it out where I am growing beans this year. I am not growing a lot of veg this year but nothing beats the taste of freshly picked french beans.
I spread it so it was a few centimetres thick as the instructions stated. I made sure the bed was well weeded and I also picked a day after we had had quite a lot of rain.…

Archive

2019 41

2018 163
- December 12
- November 13
- October 13
- September 13
- August 13
- July 13
- June 12
- May 15
- April 17
- March 15
- February 13
- January 14
2017 198
- December 15
- November 16
- October 17
- September 15
- August 18
- July 17
- June 15
- May 19
- April 17
- March 19
- February 15
- January 15
2016 198
- December 17
- November 17
- October 16
- September 17
- August 19
- July 17
- June 22
- May 17
- April 15
- March 15
- February 13
- January 13
2015 183
- December 15
- November 17
- October 16
- September 16
- August 18
- July 17
- June 15
- May 15
- April 14
- March 15
- February 13
- January 12
2014 168
- December 14
- November 13
- October 15
- September 14
- August 13
- July 15
- June 12
- May 14
- April 17
- March 14
- February 13
- January 14
2013 161
- December 14
- November 12
- October 16
- September 13
- August 12
- July 14
- June 13
- May 14
- April 14
- March 13
- February 12
- January 14
2012 157
- December 13
- November 13
- October 13
- September 13
- August 13
- July 13
- June 13
- May 14
- April 13
- March 13
- February 13
- January 13
2011 124
- December 13
- November 13
- October 13
- September 11
- August 12
- July 12
- June 14
- May 10
- April 11
- March 9
- February 6

Show more Show less

Followers

Pageviews last month

Vuelio

iVisa Global Blogger Award

AVS Fencing Top 10 Most Influential UK Garden Bloggers

http://www.avsfencing.co.uk/the-most-influential-10-garden-bloggers-the-uk#post … #gednbloggers

Top 13 Gardening Blogs

WhatShed Top 13 Gardening Blogs

Fennel and Fern

tree following

Wayfair

Back To My Garden

Guest spot on BTMG Podcast

Paperblog

Other sites of interest

Grabco Soil Guide for Gardeners
Grabco Gravel Guidance
PHSGreenleaf Our Favourite National Trust Gardens
NRS Gardening Guide
Sarah Raven

Report Abuse

Powered by Blogger

©Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden I confirm the subscription of this blog