Posts Tagged ‘gardener in west midlands’

Here at Garden Chief we do love the vibrancy of a poppy, whether it is a self seeder found growing wild or a carefully placed, beautiful ornamental, each has its place in our English landscape.

However this blog post is about a rather more unusual poppy – Papaver Somniferum, the medicinal lilac morphine poppy.  Thanks to the glorious summer sun that we have been lucky to have had so far this year there has been a bumper crop and it can be seen growing in abundance across Dorset, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire

It’s nearly the Bank holiday here in Cannock and summer has arrived. This week has been very busy for Gardenchief fulfilling new contracts for the new season.

I have taken on a new member of staff this week which has been a revelation to me, a case of having to due to due to my workload.

Anyone out there needing quotes for work will need to book early and i’ll do my best to accommodate your needs.

Last year my tulips were in full flower by the end of April – we

At 11.02 GMT today the sun crosses the Equator.

And, for the next six months, the days will be longer than the nights. Spring has sprung and we can finally banish the winter blues.

Well, that’s the theory.

In practice, however, the nation continues to shiver beneath several layers of clothing, very little is growing in the ground and our weather forecasts continue to warn of ice, snow and severe wind-chill.

The statistics are even more sobering. So far, March 2013 has been colder than both this winter’s December and January.

The average temperature (day

Well strictly speaking this isn’t my first, but it’s the first time i’ve mowed ours this year.

The crocuses on our deck at Gardenchief Towers came out as i was mowing, took them about 40 minutes to appear. As our garden is South facing it was lovely and warm with a real glimpse of Spring!

I also re-covered my trailer and added a new roof cap and some signs, it’s so nice to get out there in my t-shirt again.

Next week i’ll be up Cannock Chase again on another course, City and

This week i’m on a City and Guilds tree course (cs38) up on Cannock Chase. Conditions have been interesting, mostly very windy.

The course allows me to enter trees with ropes and harness and peform aerial rescue of anyone injured whilst carrying out tree work.

It seems that here in South Staffs the weather has turned very mild indeed. It has been up to 12 degrees and very much ‘t-shirt’ weather for me.

I have noticed too that my lawn is growing at a fair old pace which is unusual for this time of year.

Scientists say that until recently, the chilly average winter temperature of under 5 degrees c kept lawns dormant until March. But milder weather between November and February has allowed grass to thrive, leading to an unseasonable surge in sales of mowers

Cold weather does not mean that all outdoor gardening must end. The gardens here in Cannock aren’t looking their best, but now is a good time for some of those garden jobs that will help you be better prepared for spring.

For starters, clean up the perennials and leaves that you allowed to remain, whether as food for the birds or to add some winter interest to your garden. Cut back ornamental grasses, and such. This will help alleviate compaction that occurs during the winter months. And you do not

My lovely wife has been making Christmas wreaths in one of her crafting classes, they turned out really well. I collected a load of greenery, Holly, Yew, Conifer and Moss from customers gardens (i did ask!) in the Cannock area. The picture is of one on our front door.

Now this caught my eye on the news up in Cannock today, no reason to discriminate against odd shaped veg in my opinion. All shaped veg and fruit are accepted at gardenchief towers. Most home grown garden veg isn’t up to supermarket shape standards, and more the better for it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/27/ugly-fruit-vegetables-supermarkets-harvest

All this week i’ve been up Tixall, Stafford and Cannock Chase doing more training. This time trying to gain more City and Guilds certification. It’s the last day tomorrow, i’ve really enjoyed it, been with a great bunch of lads.

Thanks must go to Martin of Ian morgan Arb for excellent training, professional, curteous and very knowledgable.
Here’s hoping to pass my assesment next Tuesday!

EDIT: I did indeed pass, i now have my CS30/31 accreditation.