Year: 2020

Glorious Gardens and Busy Bees!

Any opportunity to get outside into a garden, park or woodland and surround yourself in the beauty of nature, has to be a great opportunity and one to be experienced with relish.

Better still, there are those areas where we can play a vital role, and where we can plan colour schemes, borders, structures and planting plans to our hearts delight.  I’m of course referring to the simple beauty of our gardens, and if you are lucky enough to have one, you’ll know how much pleasure you can gain from working in it and studying the simple things.  Like for instance, watching the bees and other pollinators hard at work busily harvesting the nectar and pollen from your garden blooms, or the sheer delight looking at the abundance of nature to be found there amongst the array and carpet of colours you’ve planted. Your hard work has created so much beauty and at this time of year you should be justly proud when looking at the many buds, flowers and shrubs you have tended as they come into their full glory.

Our bee-friendly garden

The immense benefit you feel from being outside is tremendous and it’s both psychological and physiological.  When we engage in nature in this way, by spending time outside and breathing in fresh air our well-being improves.  It’s good for us in so many ways boosting our mental stamina, happiness, fitness, creativity – and so much more.  For children it can even start them off with a lifelong passion for nature and learning as their inquisitive minds take in all of the new experiences.

We at Tales from Mother Earth like to see gardens with wildflowers in them, using plants that are native to our shores, where our insects can happily thrive.

For us it’s all about looking after bees and allowing them to prosper. 

A busy bee doing what they do best

Bees pollinate our crops, allowing us to grow the fruits and vegetables we need to live. Sadly, bees across the world are in trouble and are facing an unpredictable future. This is due to habitat loss, farming practices and of course climate change.

By clearing an area of your garden and planting wildflowers we can help bees get the source of nourishment they need to survive. By doing this, we in turn feel better as our mental health improves as we know we are doing something worthwhile – helping nature.  This in turn, can, and should be shared with children, as they will inherit the world one day and we must pass on the amazing goodness and wonder of nature to our younger generations.  It’s all about education and engaging children to understand the we all can help and make a difference no matter how small we are.

We at Tales from Mother Earth are a creative team of five friends who are passionate about developing young minds regarding conservation and helping children understand how their actions, no matter how small, can make an impact for good. We chose to do this by writing super stories and marvellous music, retelling the tales of our natural world in today’s climate. 

Phoebe the Bee is an educational tale about a worker bee who through her courage and determination manages to save the hive and her family when her natural environment is threatened by modern development. Phoebe the Bee is our first story which we hope will ignite the conservationist in all who read it and empower them to help in some way. Take action by following the conservation tips and help bees today.

Every one of us can help and do something that can benefit our wildlife directly. Little actions such as, picking up rubbish, planting wildflower seeds and feeding the birds can all help. 

Bees need wildflowers… so let’s go and plant some!

Ronald Pratt is a mechanic specialist who also enjoys working in the garden to make the perfect landscape. He can repair everything that’s related to a house and garden. Everything in his house is made by his hands. his free time he prefers surfing the Internet, reading and sharing his knowledge creating content.

Top 5 Essential Home Garden Tools to Make Your Life Easier 

Description: Are you new to gardening and wondering what garden tools should be in your essential kit? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned gardener who wants a better experience. Did you know, the right equipment can make all the difference when it comes to gardening? Follow our guide to garden tools for all our top tips!

Gardening is a relaxing hobby and a great way to stay active and enjoy time outside. Having the right set of garden tools for you can make all the difference when it comes to nurturing your outdoor space. The perfect equipment for your needs can save you time and energy and help prevent physical strain on the back and joints. With this guide to essential garden tools, gardening will be your new favorite hobby in no time! 

Pruning Shears or secateurs 

Pruning shears are perfect for trimming back borders, and chopping back hedges and shrubs, a good pair of pruning shears should be in your garden tools kit. A pair of secateurs are invaluable for taking cuttings to reproduce your favourite plants. You can buy all types of pruning shears and secateurs to meet your needs. When choosing a pair, consider whether you need a long reach to save you leaning or bending too much. You should also make sure that you can grip the handles securely. A pair of sheers or secateurs that fits your grasp just right will give you more flexibility and ease of maneuver when gardening so you can get creative. 

Trowel and Spade 

A hand trowel and small spade are essential garden weeding tools for any seasoned or first-time gardener. A lightweight trowel allows you to effortlessly remove weeds, and a small hand spade can help you uproot plants to be moved. Imagine the fun you could have redesigning your garden with these garden hand tools! New to gardening? Start small and try weeding and rearranging perennials that survive all year round and respond well to being moved. 

Sharpening File

It’s crucial to keep the blades on your garden tools sharp so that you have the easiest time possible using them. Dull blades can make it harder to cut through stems and reduce their grip, potentially leading to slips and accidents. Wondering how to sharpen garden tools? A large file can be used to spruce up almost any blade. Try this on your trowel points, your shovel edge, or even your mower blades. 

Garden Hose

A garden hose is a life-saving addition to your garden tools kit, especially if you want garden work that is light on your joints and doesn’t require too much bending. Rather than lug a heavy watering can around, a hose allows to you water plants from an upright position. This reduces stress on your back and eliminates heavy lifting. Great news – it’s also better for your plants as the spray nozzle on hoses allows you to water even hard to reach plants.

Knee Pads and Gloves 

Kneeling for prolonged periods can be tough on the knees. A cushioned pair of knee pads can really reduce strain and allow you to enjoy your garden for longer. Gloves are also essential garden tools because painful cuts and scratches are a real possibility when you’re working with sharp branches or plants with thorns. Remember, the more protection you have when gardening, the more likely you are to enjoy and repeat the experience, helping you reap the benefits of regular gardening for longer!

Happy Gardening!

Design Strategies for a sustainable home landscape

For many homeowners the concept of a sustainable landscape is a yard that needs little water or maintenance to survive.  Such a typical landscape includes a small lawn, few ornamental plants, a large natural area, and a fair amount of rocks and gravel or other hard surfaces.  Unfortunately this image gives the false impression that a sustainable yard must look desert-like, have a large hard surface, or look wild and unkempt.  The reality is a sustainable yard can be lushly planted, attractive, and undemanding.

The key concept is to choose the right plant and the right hardscape material (hardscape includes structures such as ponds, walkways, garden walls and rock gardens), then put these in the right place for the right purpose.  Doing so means your yard will be sustainable because it is functional, environmentally sound, low maintenance, cost effective, and visually pleasing. 

Many strategies can be incorporated in your yard to make it more sustainable.  The list below offers a wide variety of ideas to choose from:

Select the Right Plants

Think about the yard over many future years and seasons.  Although all newly installed plants will require water; choose plants that need little water once established.  Plant more trees.  They need less water once established and provide shade, which reduces temperature and evaporation of moisture creating a pleasant microclimate.  Consider vegetation that will produce food for wildlife. 

Keep up the Maintenance

Use naturalistic pruning techniques that maintain a neat, but un-sheared plant.  Use the natural form or habit of the plants as your guide for the trimmed form.  Use plants with the appropriate size and habit to avoid constant pruning.  Use mulch to control weeds. 

Protect the soil

It’s much easier to grow plants adapted to the existing conditions than to change the soil.  If improvements are needed, keep the plant beds small and amend the entire planting bed, not just the hole for the plant.  Use compost and mulch to build healthy soil and improve plant resistance to pests and diseases. 

Use reclaimed, recycled or local hardscape

Reclaimed materials are the greenest option.  Reusing material reduces waste and the need for virgin resources and uses no manufacturing energy.  Use reclaimed or repurposed metal for fencing and structures.  Use reclaimed brick, concrete and aggregate.  Use materials made from recycled plastic, such as recycled plastic lumber.

Use natural pest control

Use artificial habitats, such as bat boxes and bird house, to encourage natural insect control.

Design for energy efficiency

Use landscape, such as trees and shrubs, to slow wind and mitigate temperatures.  Winds that skim across asphalt or other hard surfaces tend to pick up and transport summer heat into the yard and home, while winter winds tend to carry heat away from homes.  Climbing plants can be helpful because they create a layer of still or slow-moving air around the building, yet still allow wind flow through windows and doors.

Noise pollution

Loud, noisy power tools, such as leaf blowers, contribute to noise pollution, especially on weekends.  Switch to hand tools such as rakes.

Pick a few of these strategies that are best suited for your yard and your capabilities.  Even if you can only use a few ideas you will be contributing to the ecological heath of your neighborhood.

When I’m not working with homes, I like to help people out with home-related questions, and I found a lot of guides covering this subject were a bit overwhelming at times. I wanted to make something comprehensive that demystifies this process for people hesitant to get started. I think a little knowledge goes a long way — especially when jumping into something new.

As people realise how composting can be a relatively simple and effective way to improve their gardens and reduce waste, they may wonder why they did not start doing it sooner. About one in three homeowners in the United States compost at least occasionally, with nearly one in five doing it on a regular basis. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans throw away over 250 million tons of trash per year. At present, around a third of this refuse is recycled or composted.

As much as 30 percent of residential waste can be turned into compost. This effort could dramatically cut back on an individual’s waste production. If they compost in the house or yard (make sure to check that it is allowed in your community), homeowners who are worried that the items they recycle will end up in a landfill can look for replacements they can decompose instead. People may be surprised with just how much they can toss into a compost pile. Composting can also save money by reducing the need to purchase expensive potting soil or fertilizers to promote healthy plant growth. It may also reduce irrigation needs, cutting down on water usage and utility bills. Composting is growing in popularity across the world.

To read John’s comprehensive guide to composting please click on the link below

https://www.johnquinnrealestate.com/home-composting-guide/

Hello my name is Jan Rogers, I was born July 1962. I met Mike Rogers when I was 16, he had four children living with him. We  married in  1979 (with the children’s permission).

As the years went on we had six boys together, so we totalled eight boys and two girls.

 In July 1992  our lives changed forever: after a horrific event I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and depression. It was Mike and the children that kept me going, to be honest they kept me alive.

I’ve always loved gardening and outdoors and was always very sporty. Mike managed to revive my love for the garden amongst other things. I have for many years run a community garden in Ponthafren Association Newtown. This is a mental health charity based in Newtown and Welshpool: thanks to their open-door policy, anyone can pop in for a chat, or  take part in courses provided,  and come and help in the garden.

Over the years, I’ve seen my garden, along with other peoples’ gardens ,lifting people’s moods and putting a smile on their faces. We put plants and veg out in the yard for donations so the garden is totally self-funded. About five years ago we opened the garden to the National Garden scheme,  and now we usually have two or three open days a year. This helps in a few ways –  people get to see the garden but also plays  a huge part in reducing the stigma that goes  with mental health issues . Our garden was also chosen to be filmed for ‘Glorious Gardens from Above’ , shown on BBC One.

I could manage most things in the garden but if it was fences, walls, paths etc. which needed replacing, I would shout to our  ‘tribe’.  Mike would rally whichever sons weren’t working on that weekend to sort it all (as volunteers!).

In August 2019, my whole world fell apart. We lost Mike very suddenly.  Even my love for gardening was slipping away. Over the next six months I kept busy doing nothing really, it was a blur. I couldn’t face the garden at home or in fact the garden at Ponthafren, as Mike and I were a team.

We bought a bench in memory of Mike and placed it in the garden, I had started popping in and sitting in the garden there but this was as much as I could do.

Then lockdown, PONTHAFREN had to close its doors but the staff carried on helping those that needed it, from home via phone and Zoom. The next few weeks were a blur but at once point  the police, the mental health team and the doctor were on the scene: I went to stay on the outskirts of the little village with one of my sons, his wife and four daughters. After a few weeks my son came home with some seeds as he had rented a small field, and decided to plant veg. He asked me to sow the seeds as he was working full-time but I decided to involve his four daughters. We popped the seeds into pots having picked up seed pots and trays and it just seem to grow from there. The garden was soon full of veg and sorted. I decided after several weeks I needed to face the demons and go home but we don’t have a garden for veg as our garden is full of shrubs and flowers.

It was then I thought about the Gardening for Disabled Trust Charity. I measured up and came up with a plan for three raised beds and a greenhouse.

When I got the go ahead, it was such a boost that I ordered everything but knew there would be a delay with the greenhouse due to Covid. Once the wood and soil were delivered, I was on a mission. The only thing was because of lockdown and my health problems only our son, his wife and daughters I stayed with previously could come and and help. But we managed,  and very soon I had hundreds of seedlings including tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, a range of all sorts of beans, peas, brassicas, corn on the cob and more. Our back garden was full, our porch was bursting and also the downstairs bedroom which had been empty since our last son had moved out. It was a mission in itself to keep everything watered, but it was a mission I needed to help keep me going.

Then I got thinking, I can’t possibly plant all these in this garden. So I contacted local villages to ask if I could put a table with an honesty box by the village hall. The money raised I would give to Ponhafren .

I struggled sleeping but now instead of sitting in the garden I had a focus, I had been given the money to buy the wood so the greenhouse was a lifeline when everything was slipping away. It gave me a purpose – it didn’t change what had happened but it gave me a reason to stay.

I had spoken to the police and they gave me a card with a reference number on. This meant I  was able to drive around the villages to water the plants and to collect the money. I totalled up  the money and after all the seedlings had been sold I gave it to a staff member along with the collection boxes. I had also put a fundraiser page on Facebook, so that people who didn’t have cash on them were able to pay through this. In total this raised over £1300 but for me it was as much about helping the people that were also struggling: through this, others were able to carry on and get out in the garden as it was one of the very few places they could buy seedlings due to lockdown.

So you see the grant you gave me has not only helped me, and my family but has had a huge positive knock-on effect. I even had emails and messages to ask if I would put certain plants down the bottom of the road so people could get somebody to pick them up and I also had a request to put a box of plants on the number 75 bus!   I thought this was certainly different but it turned out that the bus driver picked up shopping for local or elderly people that live close to him. Some of these people had always bought plants from us so were over the moon when they found out that I taken the garden home and, although on a smaller scale, carried it on.

From the plants grown in our garden at home I have also put them to good use by giving them to local people who are self-isolating and also groups that have been providing meals and delivery of these meals to the vulnerable. So again another positive knock-on effect. Alas my greenhouse came too late for this season but I have even more  plans for next season. In fact my sons are putting the greenhouse up over the next couple of weeks so I have Christmas potatoes ready to go in there all planted in pots and growing well.

Finally I just want to say a huge thank you to all involved with the Gardening for Disabled Trust  – you are truly lifesavers take care. Janet Elizabeth Rogers MBE

Lavender

Lavender is known to be helpful in headaches, skin irritations, and hair loss. It is often used in aromatherapy, owing to its marvelous smell. A refreshing cup of lavender tea is sure to lift your spirits.

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm is a perennial herb of the mint family and is helpful in headaches, insomnia, and indigestion. It’s refreshing smell and taste make it a popular flavouring ingredient.

Basil

Basil’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties make it a healthy addition to your diet. It is often used as a garnish. Basil boosts the immune system and the gastrointestinal system. It is considered beneficial for eye, liver, and heart health.

Chamomile

Chamomile is known to boost immunity and cardiovascular health. Chamomile tea is quite popular, but it can be used for seasoning as well. Aside from its medicinal properties, they provide aesthetic value as well!

Herbs can be very beneficial for your well-being, provided they are used thoughtfully. One should not forget that herbs cannot overcome poor diet, toxic relationships, and lack of sleep and exercise. The herbs mentioned above are not only healthy but are easy to grow, as well. Gardening in itself is a fulfilling pursuit, and having a herb garden is bound to cheer you up!

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. My name is Simon Gibbins. I have been strawbale gardening for over ten years now. We live
by the edge of the Viking Way in Lincolnshire. I got into this great method quite by chance. When we
moved into this house, luckily a massive garden came with it. It was completely overgrown and
untouched for years. With a lot of hard work, we got it to a manageable condition. Although my
family were all farmers from the lovely Lincolnshire Fens, my mother and father had decided to up
sticks and move to sunny Brighton, where my identical twin and I were born. I stayed there for some
twenty years and then moved back up country to Lincolnshire. So, although farming and gardening
was in my blood, I knew nothing. So, I read. A lot.
When my wife was young, she was involved in a serious car accident and injured her back. The
specialist at the time informed her that it would get worse as she got older. This was proving right.

And long periods bending in the garden cause serious pain. I started to look on the internet for a
more physically friendly way to garden. I found strawbale gardening from the States. I tried it for the
first year with mixed success and then started to really get into it and adapt it for our UK climate. It
really worked. As regards my wife, due to the height of the strawbales bending is at a minimum. You
can strawbale garden from the sitting position very easily. So, wheelchair users can really get into
this method. Plus, because you can put strawbales on any surface including concrete, its great for all
round wheelchair access. With strawbale gardening you see, you don’t need soil, so it follows that
you can have a fantastic garden almost anywhere.

I was having a well-earned pint in my local hostelry, when a pal suggested that maybe I start a
Facebook page on the subject. And so strawbaleveguk was born. I began to think that maybe there
was something worthwhile in this strawbale gardening method. I kept experimenting because an
essential part of the process is getting the bales to compost inside, fast. You do this by adding
differing quantities of water and a composting medium such as organic lawn feed. I designed a
maturing schedule over about seventeen days that suited our climate.
I secured a Virgin start-up loan and with the help of Lincoln University I produced a DVD on the
subject entitled The Strawbale Gardeners Handbook Vol 1. I believe the only one made specifically
for the UK climate. They also helped me put together a website www.strawbaleveg.co.ukI now visit groups with my workshop which is informative and great fun. I have grown many types of 

vegetables in strawbales including runner beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cabbages,
and many more. It is a very environmentally friendly way to grow vegetables as nothing is ever
wasted. When the strawbale is “tired” this can be up to two years later it makes first class compost.
Plus, a strawbale garden looks great. I now have many followers who advocate strawbale gardening,
I do hope that you will give it a grow. I now have a brand-new e-book that has been featured in
Kitchen Garden magazine. I am always available to help where I can. I can be reached through my
website www.strawbaleveg.co.uk simply go to the get in touch page.
I do hope this has been interesting and informative and encourages you to give it a grow.