I feel that it is one of my missions to not only share my own experience and information, but to search out new and helpful information that will make gardening and landscaping easier and more fun. Each month, I receive many emails from first time homeowners who are anxious to learn how to garden. There are so many gardening books that have come onto the market in the past few years that it is mind boggling to narrow it down to one that offers the best info. ‘Cause, do you go with the one with detailed pages or the one with the best pictorials? It is hard to find that perfect combination that is just right for everyone.
Well…..I have stumbled onto a solution that many of you will enjoy and the price is great. It’s free!!! When you have phoned the nursery and spoken with me, you know I generally have music playing the background. I am a dedicated listener to Riviera Radio through the internet. (www.rivieraradio.mc) it’s what we tune to on our car radio when we visit the South of France. I enjoy the BBC news broadcasts on it. So, today, I went to BBC’s website to read further on a news topic and somehow found a link to BBC Gardening. There are so many tools that you can use. It’s amazing! http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/
The page that the link below will take you to is on “How to be a Gardener” by Alan Titchmarsh in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society. This is a short course on learning the basics of gardening and is broken down into 8 lessons or modules which include not only written text with pictures, but video clips as well. Each lesson will have an introduction page to give an overview of what it will cover. The topics covered in a lesson will always be in the upper right hand side of the page followed by a quiz that you can take to see how much you remember.
Once you complete all 8 modules, you can advance onto part 2 which goes into landscape design topics. Everything from problem solving to creating a natural garden is covered. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg2/
For those of you die hard, gotta do it now landscapers, here is a link to their virtual landscape design program. It is free and seems to be quite user friendly. You will need to jot down the dimensions and basic shape of your landscape area before you begin. Then play around and have a good time with it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/virtualgarden_index.shtml
Also, before I forget, you know how last week’s article covered late summer maintenance and adding color and texture that will extend on into fall? Here is a picture that points out exactly what I was referring to, if you didn’t catch it. Once you click onto the link (it takes just a moment to load) click just below the picture to see the arrows of where the hotspots are for properly placed late summer/fall color and texture. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/plant_recipes/lateborder_index.shtml Whew!!! That was a lot to cover for this week. Overall, it might look confusing, so just take it one topic at a time and I hope you enjoy.
Until next week………Cheryl
To respond to or suggest topics you would enjoy reading about, drop me an email at cherylsnotes@greenwoodnursery.com
