All posts by Abbie-M

So many sizes, colours and shapes

🌿 What Are Hostas?

• Hostas are shade-loving plants known for their beautiful leaf shapes and colors.

• They are perennials, which means they come back every year.

🍃 What Do Hostas Look Like?

• They grow in clumps of leafy foliage.

• Leaves can be green, blue-green, yellow, or even striped.

• Some hostas also get purple or white flowers on tall stalks in the summer.

🌞 Where to Plant Hostas?

• Best in shade or partial shade.

• They don’t like too much direct sun, especially in hot climates.

🌱 How to Care for Them?

• Water regularly – they like moist (not soggy) soil.

• Add mulch to keep the soil cool and damp.

• Fertilize lightly in spring for extra growth.

🐌 Watch Out For:

• Slugs and snails – they love to munch on hosta leaves.

• You can use slug bait or traps to protect your plants.

🌼 Fun Fact:

• There are thousands of hosta varieties, from tiny ones to big leafy giants!

Making your own compost is easier than you think!

Whether you’re enriching your soil, mulching your plants, or creating a nutritious potting mix, composting helps recycle waste and boost your garden’s health.
Don’t let myths hold you back—follow these four steps to get started:

Get to know your Greens and Browns
A successful compost pile relies on two essential ingredients: carbon-rich “browns” and nitrogen-rich “greens.” Maintaining the right balance between the two ensures efficient decomposition and prevents odors.

Carbon-Rich “Browns”

These provide structure to the compost and help with aeration:
✔️ Cardboard (egg boxes, paper towel rolls)
✔️ Dried leaves
✔️ Wood chips & sawdust (untreated)
✔️ Straw & hay
✔️ Shredded paper (non-glossy)

Nitrogen-Rich “Greens”

These decompose quickly and provide essential nutrients:
✔️ Vegetable & fruit scraps
✔️ Fresh grass clippings
✔️ Fresh leaves & plant trimmings
✔️ Coffee grounds & tea leaves
✔️ Manure (herbivore only, like cow, horse, or chicken)

Now that you know your greens and browns, you’re ready for the next step! 🌱♻️

Get the Right Balance

While all organic matter will eventually decompose, balancing the ratio of carbon-rich browns and nitrogen-rich greens helps speed up the process and prevents common composting issues.

For everyday home composting, aim for a mix of 3 to 4 parts brown material to 1 part green, measured by volume (not weight). Layer greens thinly rather than piling them up, ensuring even contact with browns for better aeration and decomposition.

Troubleshooting Compost Problems

🔴 Too Much Green (Nitrogen-Rich) Material?
🛑 Signs: Compost is wet, slimy, and has a strong odor.
✅ Fix: Add more browns (shredded paper, straw, or dry leaves) to absorb moisture and restore balance.

🔵 Too Much Brown (Carbon-Rich) Material?
🛑 Signs: Compost is dry, slow to break down, and lacks heat.
✅ Fix: Mix in more greens (vegetable scraps, fresh grass clippings) to add moisture and kick-start decomposition.

👉 Golden Rule: It’s always better to have too many browns than too many greens—extra browns just slow the process, but too many greens can cause bad odors!

With the right balance in place, your compost pile will decompose efficiently, creating nutrient-rich soil in no time. On to Step 3! 🌱♻️

Keep things covered

Covering your compost heap is essential for maintaining the right conditions for decomposition. A cover helps by:
✔️ Protecting from excess rainfall, preventing waterlogging
✔️ Retaining heat, which speeds up decomposition
✔️ Reducing odors, keeping pests away
✔️ Slowing down moisture evaporation, keeping the pile balanced

Choosing the Right Cover

🔹 Natural Covers (can be composted later!)

• Thick layer of cardboard
• Dried leaves or straw
• Dried grass clippings

🔹 Artificial Covers (reusable, long-lasting)

• Old tarp
• Scraps of carpet

When adding new material, simply pull back the cover, layer in your greens and browns, then replace the cover to keep things protected. This allows the microorganisms inside to focus on decomposition without being disturbed by external elements.

With your compost pile covered and well-maintained, you’re on your way to rich, healthy soil. Let’s move on to Step 4! 🌱♻️

Turn and maintain moisture

Regularly turning your compost (every couple of weeks) helps aerate the pile and speeds up the process. The compost should feel damp, like a wrung-out sponge—not too wet or too dry.

When is compost ready?

✅ Texture: Dark, crumbly, and soil-like
✅ Smell: Earthy and pleasant (not rotten)
✅ Timeframe: Typically 3 to 6 months, but it continues maturing over time

Be patient and harvest when ready. Good compost takes thre to six months to mature. Your finished compost will keep improving as soil life refines it, creating a magical boost for your plants! Now, all that’s left to do is use it in your garden and enjoy the benefits of your homemade compost. 🌱♻️✨

Create your own mini landscape

Terrariums are a creative way of keeping plants in the home that are set up to look like mini landscapes. There are 2 types of terrariums – closed and open.
A closed terrarium is a clear vessel containing humidity loving plants that perhaps would not do as well in the open air of a modern home.
An open terrarium can contain much more tolerant plants. They function much the same as a closed only they are open to the surrounding air and do best with plants not requiring humid conditions to thrive, such as cacti, succulents and airplants.

By carefully selecting the species of plant to go into each terrarium, they are their own enclosed little ecosystem. They are designed to live undisturbed and with minimal care for many years.

Caring for your terrarium is really easy. Here are a couple of simple tips to keep your new ecosystem looking its best for years to come.
Lighting
Light is very important for the success of a terrarium. Bright indirect light is best. Try to avoid direct light at all times as this will damage the plants inside. If in a darker room try using a small grow light. Plants should receive 8 to 12 hours of light daily.
Water
Terrariums hold their water and create a humid environment for the plants to live in, meaning frequent watering is unnecessary. We recommend checking your terrarium monthly by opening the lid, this also allows fresh air to be provided to your system. Look for signs of drying out on the plants which would indicate water is needed.
We recommend using a spray bottle for this, the term “less is more” is best, as a light misting is better than a heavy drench.
Tap water is best avoided for terrariums. Instead try to use either distilled water or rainwater if possible.
Signs of Disease
Any signs of disease on your plants should be treated immediately.
Common problems can be mould this is usually prevented by good light and humid not wet conditions (plants should never be wet).
The best treatment for any mould is the introduction of springtails. These tiny critters get to work immediately keeping your terrarium healthy.
Any dead plants should be removed immediately.

Watch our guide to plant watering

Watch our guide to plant feeding

Reduce your carbon footprint by planting trees

One way of helping reduce your carbon footprint is to plant a tree – trees can absorb and store between 500 to 7000kg of carbon over their lifetime, although garden trees are limited to around 3000kg.. Trees also help to provide structure in the garden or provide a focal point or wonderful fresh fruit to eat. Apples, pears, plum and cherry may be planted now. Others to consider are Crab Apples, Rowans, Scarlet Thorns, Amelanchier and Flowering Cherries.

Other great examples of carbon absorbing trees include Acers, Prunus, Liquid Amber, Pine and Birch.

Bees are a fantastic benefit to both gardeners and plants.

Not only do they pollinate plants they ensure the biodiversity we love in our gardens. Without bees plants would not be able to reproduce and we would not be able to cultivate new growth in our gardens.
Not only do they work hard buzzing away, bees also produce honey which is fantastic for health and tastes great too! Help our bees now by buying bee friendly plants that provide nectar for bees to thrive. Consider Hardy Geraniums, Cotoneaster or even Lavender as some of our Bees favourites.