Winter Tips

If you are lacking colour in the garden, then why not get some of that colour with a winter flowering container to keep you smiling until spring.

Make sure to feed your flowering plants with potassium rich fertiliser to guarantee a long colourful display over winter.

You can also rely for some colour in your interior plants. And if you have a good spot for your geraniums at home they will keep blossoming!

Remember to avoid sources of heat ex. Radiators underneath or next of your plants. Freshness is usually good.

 

If you haven’t done it yet, is time to mulch your half hardy perennials using straw or bark. Remember that the mulching should be around 10 cm deep to be effective. 

Alternatively, you could use a thick layer of leaves from other shrubs in your garden. It is also important to give some protection to foliage against frost covering those plants with a frost resistant material ex. Fleece. You could ask in your garden centre about the options that they have available.

Don’t just drop the material on top. It should have some kind of structure to allow space for the plant and air circulation.

Autumn and Winter Window Box and Planter Ideas

As our hopes for an Indian Summer fall and the unavoidable change of season threatens with killing our seasonal Summer displays and non-hardy perennials, it is time to think about the future and our new window box or container displays.

Red Lonicera's berries

If you have the space or the intention to keep some of your non-hardy perennials this is the moment to get organised with the space and materials that you are going to need to provide over winter shelter to you lovely plants.

It also time to think about what colours and plants you would like to use for your autumn and/or winter display. And, of course, also time of choosing those lovely bulbs for an early spring display. Autumn is the planting period for ornamental onions, crocus, hyacinths, narcissus, tulips and trumpet daffodils that will flower in Spring.

Blue bells

 

Window boxes are versatile and the colours will light up your home with a welcoming feeling. They can be filled with plants (real or artificial), branches (dogwood, viburnum, holly, etc) and other decorative materials or even fruits ex: Pumpkins, pine cones, etc.

Red Phyracantha berries in autumn/fall

 

So tidy up your garden and get ready for the new season!

Slug and Snail Control

As the Summer is coming to a end we have less work in our ornamental gardens. Snails and slugs have had wonderful meals during the wet summer months.

There are few things that we can do to protect our plants from them while looking after the environment:

1. When choosing seasonal plants try to get those les sensitive to their attacks. Ex: those that have thicker leaves and velvety leaves as they don’t enjoy them in the same way. I know this can limit our choices a lot but you could always mix them with other plants taking the risk for half of the display and not all of it.

 

2. There is available in gardening shops and also on line snail copper tape. In this case, one needs to measure the perimeter of the pot just before its ridge. Then, cut one of the sides of the tape in zig-zag shape like if you were trying to make a crown. Finally, stick it on the pot at the same high that you had measured before with the lineal side facing upwards.

3. Try to attract them to a beer can, although you will kill them using this option.

 

4. Some people advise to put the pots on top of gravel or broken shells. As far as I am concern this option doesn’t stop them from success.

5. There are also pellets that would kill them but please consider any other option before this one as it could harm beneficial wildlife ex: Hedgehogs.

 In my opinion, it is a matter of trying to keep the big weapons for extreme situations and avoid chemical products as much as we can. This is part of something called Integrated Control of Pests or Integrated Pests Management.

This is Bumblebee Young Gardeners Club

 

In these workshops children are guided to discover how they can help to look after their enviroment. They learn about the secret life of wildlife around them and how to be a responsible young gardener.

These workshops are planned activities for under 5's and can be adapted for a 7-11 range of age.

If you are intersted in hosting or organising any of these workshops at home or other venues, please get in touch.

 Repot your first plant. 
 Discover the gardener's prickly friend. 
 Helping the stag beetle to survive.  
 Bee a bumblebee!

They get their hands on repoting a plant and learning how to look after it.

And as they are becoming young gardeners they can also find out about the gardener’s best friend, what can we do to help each other? who do you think it is? It’s a prickly answer…

Photo provided by PTES

Who likes stag beetles?, a short lesson about their lives and about how we can help them to survive as responsible gardeners.

Photo provided by PTES

Bumblebees need your help! Come and low buzz! Bee a bumblebee!

Patio and balcony planted pots

These are some examples of planted pots suitable for patios, balconies and small areas:

 

Window boxes: "Rainbow"

This is an example of how to brighten up your property and give it a personalised touch.

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The façade, front garden and pathway at the entrance of this property have been renovated recently. These clients needed a homely and colourful touch to go with it. The Rainbow flower box style is happy, fresh and colourful, it is just perfect!

This is how it looked before:

This is how it looks after the installation:

Similar designs are available from £230.

The colours are combinations of different shades of pinks, purple, yellow and a touch of red. Some of them cannot be seen in the picture yet because the buds are about to open. The price above includes the containers in the arrangement.

The photos above show these arrangements at their first stage. The plants are not fully developed yet. This allows them to get established in their new container (in this case, window boxes and hanging basket) and get ready to show off all their beauty during the Summer months. Enjoy it!

Window boxes: “Mediterranean”

This is an example of a “Mediterranean” style window box. This design is integrated by three window boxes that are part of a balcony project where these, and other containers, were provided by the client. 

 Unconventionally, two window boxes were placed on the left hand side of the balcony and one on the right. The purpose of this is having and area in the middle where to place a table with two chairs. This allows the house owner to have a coffee in sunny days while enjoying her flowers and having a view of the street. 

Similar arrangements are available from £190 .

Tabletop pots

Similar designs are available.

These are examples of small tabletop pots for interior and exterior positions.

They are ideal as house warming presents, Mother’s Day gifts, birthdays, ‘my first plant’ (for young gardeners) and other special occasions. They can be made using your favourite plants to suit your taste.

We can work with different pot sizes. The smallest, for plant combinations, is 17,5 cm (7 inches) diameter. See photo above.

 Above: A 'thank you' present for someone special. 

On the right: Small and colourful patio container.

Window boxes: “Cottage”.

This type of window box is an example of what we call a ‘cottage’ window box. It is made using a combination of grasses, herbs and flowers to inspire you a country house feeling. Of course, the dog is not included!

This is a wider view of the same window box. Trailing varieties at the front will give us masses of flowers and colour contrast. At the back, upright stems, flowers and combinations of foliage complete the design.
One month later:

 

Luci Bloom Design services

Get some extra time for yourself and enhance your home with a colourful display.

If you find difficult to change an area of your garden (planting design) or you are interested in a new design, or if you do not have the time to rearrange your window boxes, patio pots and other containers our service is perfect for you.

This is how we work:
We visit your property and interview you about your taste, likes and dislikes. We take mesurements and create a design for you. Then, we talk it through and finalise it. It is as easy as that.

This is what we do:
We are specialists in personalised arrangements for window boxes and hanging baskets, patios and balconies, terrace or interior containers.

You can renew the plants on your windowsills or just refresh them.
We are happy to use the containers that you already have.

Choose from seasonal flowers or perennials or a combination of the two.

This is how it is priced:
 Prices shown on other posts are orientative. Promotional discounts would be applied on those amounts. They include the inictial visit, sorting the materials, labour, plants, nutrient-rich soil, crocks and other necessary materials or extra work depending on the project. Variations in prices are due to different causes ex: The client provides the pots or not.

"Each projet is different and special, just like you are".

 This is where we do it:

We serve clients in North London including: Muswell Hill, Finchley, Highgate, Crouch End and beyond.