Thursday 31 August 2017

Challenge: Grassland

It’s challenge time! This week, we want you to go looking for flowers that grow in grassland. That includes meadows whether on chalk, limestone or acid soil, grass verges, damp grassland and heathland.

There aren’t many days left of summer, but there are still so many beautiful grassland plants in flower. Look out for gentians coming into flower, or scabious still blooming happily. Or the lovely betony. Whatever you find, take a photo of it and either tweet it using #wildflowerhour or post it in our Facebook group.

Happy hunting!



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/31/challenge-grassland/

Tuesday 29 August 2017

Learning about leaves

It’s amazing what you can miss, even when you’re hunting hard for wild flowers. It’s amazing what you can find when you know what you’re looking for. This week’s #wildflowerhour Look at the Leaves challenge showed us that even when we find hidden treasure blooming at our feet, there is yet more treasure to be found in the leaves under those blooms.

Thanks for every tweet about this challenge. Our star photo is by @paulaomeara4. Here are some real highlights:

One of the best #wildflowerhour members is @barbus59, who doesn’t just love botany, and doesn’t just know a great deal about it, but also delights in sharing his knowledge with others. It’s never to boast, but just so people experience the joy of knowing why a certain plant has leaves shaped the way they are. If you’re not already following him, you need to.

Another superbly enthusiastic #wildflowerhour member, Donna Rainey, found some friends waiting for her when she lifted up some hazel leaves. And to think that we spend more of our time gazing at the flowers!

And here are all the tweets from this challenge. Do scroll through: you’ll learn so much.



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/29/learning-about-leaves/

The longest inflatable obstacle course in the world is coming to Berkshire

Ever wanted to have a go at Total Wipeout? Now's your chance as this inflatable obstacle course comes to Windsor

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/longest-inflatable-obstacle-course-world-13545255

Berkshire bank holiday heatwave to end with rain forecast this week

The warm weather will make way for heavy rain and cooler temperatures

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/berkshire-bank-holiday-heatwave-end-13542847

Monday 28 August 2017

Record number of child neglect cases recorded in Berkshire

The NSPCC has raised concerns about the worrying figures

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/record-number-child-neglect-cases-13530894

Brexit to blame for sharp rise in rail fares, says Lib Dem

Councillor Clive Jones says the devaluation of the pound due to leaving the European Union is behind the rise

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/brexit-blame-sharp-rise-rail-13529581

Can you help #wildflowerhour?

This is a very exciting appeal for help. #wildflowerhour has grown sooooo much in the two years since it was founded. It trends on Twitter every Sunday night. It has many regulars who make 8-9pm on a Sunday a special time for sharing photos of the plants they’ve found and swapping tips.

All this means that this site is getting too much for one person to run. The stream of tweets and Facebook posts on a Sunday night needs a couple of people helping out – and #wildflowerhour could be so much bigger if we had a team rather than one person.

So this is a call for volunteers. It would be great to have a rota which meant each volunteer was only on ‘duty’ once a month, sorting tweets into lists such as ID requests and so on. If we had two people on duty per #wildflowerhour then we could make sure ID requests are being attended to quickly, that particular highlights are getting the attention they deserve – and much more. Anyone who wants to join in can have as much or as little influence over the site as they wish – it’s really whatever you fancy doing.

You do not need to be an expert botanist. This site was set up by a very novice amateur botanist. If you have a working knowledge of wild flowers, that will be helpful, but we are all learning, even the experts.

A word about why #wildflowerhour exists. It’s a non-profit site which tries to flood the internet with flowers that grow wild in Britain and Ireland each week. We work in very close partnership with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, who do a huge amount to promote #wildflowerhour and also support and work with Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts. Anyone with ideas on how to promote the work of these really vital organisations is really welcome. We do not sell advertising space or sponsored posts, or anything on this site. It’s run for the love of the free beauty we find all around us.

So if you fancy helping out, just fill in the contact form below, and we’ll be in touch.

[contact-form]



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/28/can-you-help-wildflowerhour/

Sunday 27 August 2017

Bracknell voyeur who gave family 73 page plan to smear victim admits perverting course of justice

Naushad Faruk faces extended jail time for the plan, which his family refused to carry out.

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/bracknell-voyeur-who-gave-family-13533340

GCSEs, Reading Festival and the new Monk's Retreat among getreading's most read stories of the week

The area's bright sparks were celebrating their results this week

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/gcses-reading-festival-new-monks-13534323

Saturday 26 August 2017

12 crazy (but fabulous) garden ideas from Spain

Garden ideas picked up from holidays abroad have inspired garden designers for years.

Every year, there are several award-winning RHS show gardens based on places we visit, from Provence to the Yorkshire moors.

Some garden ideas will travel better than others. There will be a few that are like that bottle of retsina – so delicious in the taverna on the beach, but tasting of paint-stripper once you get it home.

Stray kittens in Spain

‘Do you really think that’s a good idea?’ These stray kittens adopted Hugo and Anna. They’re clearly astonished to find someone up and taking photos at dawn, when most people are sensibly in bed. And I like the idea behind them – hanging an ornamental window grille on a blank wall rather than over the window.

But I recently had a short break with my brother, Hugo, and sister-in-law Anna in their house in El Canuelo, a small mountain village, near Periana in Spain. I spotted lots of ideas that I loved for their sheer exuberance and use of materials.

Some were crazy (at least for Northern hemisphere gardens). Some were perfectly sensible garden ideas.

I leave it to you to decide which is which.

Crochet your own sun awning…

There is a street in Alhama, Andalucia, which creates shade by hanging crocheted mats between the houses.

Crochet plastic rug used as shade awning - a great garden idea

A variation on the tasteful cream sail – hang an all-weather crochet mat out to shade your terrace for the summer. And it’s great recycling – you can crochet old plastic bags!

I asked crochet blogger Emma Varnam whether this would be easy.  ‘Essentially, they’re using the granny square technique, so it wouldn’t be difficult. I haven’t tried crocheting with recycled plastic bags yet myself, but plan to give it a go. You could also use recycled t-shirt yarn.’

I googled ‘crocheting with plastic’, and discovered a whole world of crocheting with recycled strips of plastic bags. It’s known as ‘plarn’ and is easy to make yourself.

There are lots of YouTube videos about crocheting with plarn, many of which are about making bedroll mats for the homeless.

I couldn’t find ‘crochet your own sun awning’ anywhere, but you may be handier than me and be able to work it out for yourself.

Or hang brightly coloured parasols…

The same street last year. They used brightly coloured umbrellas/parasols in netting to create shade. Not the most resilient of treatments – this was taken towards the end of the season, when quite a few umbrellas had clearly blown away.

Brightly coloured umbrellas as an awning

Brightly coloured umbrellas strung together to create a shade awning in a street in Alhama, Spain. Photo by Jane Campbell

There are quite a few pictures on Pinterest showing streets in Portugal with this treatment.

Edge your border with car tyres…

Recycle car tyres as border edging… I particularly love this one, because the car tyres have been painted in pretty pastels. That seems so counter-intuitive, but it’s great.

Edge a border with car tyres cut in half and painted.

Car tyres, sliced in half and buried in the ground as border edging (the border itself had just been cleared). They are painted duck egg blue and green, a soft pale pink and cream.

Painted car tyre edging

You can see the colours a bit better here.

This treatment could be good in an allotment and it also gives the plants lots of support.

Improve pot drainage with a pretty stand…

Pot stands improve drainage. Sometimes they are too effective, and the pots dry out. But if you have plants like pelargoniums or succulents, then a pretty pot stand will be prevent their roots from sitting in water. And so much more attractive than pot feet.

Improve drainage with a pot stand.

I also like the way the colours of this pot echoes the floor tiles. I think it would be great to see a return to patterned pots – but they do need to be good quality.

Paint a ‘skirting board’ outside your house as well as inside…

This is the sort of idea that might not work so well in a Northern hemisphere, but I do love the use of colour outside in Spanish houses. It’s both exuberant and controlled – colour is part of the architecture.

Paint garden and terrace step risers

A yellow paint ‘skirting board’ harmonises with the tiles and really makes this terrace area at the Bar El Canuelo work. Note that the step risers are painted in the same yellow.

Painted window detail

More painted walls at Bar El Canuelo. I love the painted frame around just half the window.

Spray paint your solar lights…

Hugo doesn’t like the blue-ish tinge to the solar lights he bought for his new cactus and succulents bed. So he has spray-painted the lights yellow. He also reduce the height of the spike – when he bought these solar lights they were supposed to stick up above the ground.

Spray-paint your solar lighting

Change the colour of your solar lighting by spraying it with paint.

Line your garden path with architectural plants…

This has to be one of my favourite garden ideas from Spain. I just love the idea of someone staggering down the path (see photo below) when they’ve had a few….especially as there is no handrail – possibly another quite Spanish touch.

I think this looks beautiful, but it is quite definitely prickly.

Line a garden path with architectural plants

A front garden path and steps, lined with agaves. Striking but prickly!

Pots on walls – don’t forget safety and drainage!

If you have a pot on a high wall, it may be blown off (onto someone’s head).

One solution is to cement the pot onto the wall, but that will prevent it from draining. Here at Bar El Canuelo, they have drilled a hole in the side of the pot, and added a small drain.

A clever trick for improving drainage and securing pots

Pot cemented onto a wall, with a drainage channel made of a piece of local roof tile.

Pots on walls instead of pictures…

I love the Spanish use of pots on walls, especially as the pots themselves are often so beautiful. I think this is something that could work elsewhere, especially as ‘indoor gardens’ and houseplants are now gaining such popularity.

Traditional Spanish wall pots

The Bar El Canuelo with its traditional Spanish wall pots. So pretty!

Plants for wall pots

I love this pot. Be aware of watering issues when you hang pots on walls – you don’t want water trickling down the wall. Also hanging pots dry out more quickly than pots on the ground, so choose plants, such as pelargoniums, that are happy with drought.

Hang a curtain over your front door…

Now you may think that this is a ‘hot countries’ only idea.

But our front door in Kent gets baked by the morning sun, and the paint cracks within months of re-painting. We can see that there are fittings for a curtain rail just above the front door (on the outside  of the house). I believe these were probably common in Victorian times, but I’ve never seen a photo of an English door protected by a curtain.

Hang a curtain over your front or back doors.

The curtain hung over this front door protects the paint on the door from hot sun and wind. It also insulates the house – a good idea for Northern climates?

It’s a great idea, but I’m not quite sure….it would probably get quite muddy in winter.

Effective garden ideas: a screen with large holes in it….

Hugo and Anna’s house has one next-door neighbour, and they share a continuous terrace.

Garden privacy screen in Spain

Thick walls and climbing plants – but this privacy screen has large ‘windows’. But you can’t see the washing line on the other side, can you? I promise you – there was washing hanging up just on the other side when I took this.

The garden screen is a thick white wall with large window holes cut in it. Once again, this seems quite counter-intuitive as garden ideas go – isn’t the point of a screen to prevent you from seeing anything?

But holes mean that wind is broken up, and it also lets light in. Somehow this terrace feels completely private – it must be something about the thickness of the wall and the lavish planting.

Paint fencing and gates in contrasting colours…

Paint gates and railings in contrasting colours.

Paint gates and railings in contrasting colours. This leads to ‘casitas’ (flats or apartments) to rent overlooking the pool at Bar El Canuelo.

I think the Spanish are much bolder about exterior paint colours. We’d be much more likely to paint gates and fencing like this all one colour, often either black or white.

Harmonious tiling, gate and steps

I think I probably wouldn’t choose to tile my house orange, but I like the way the gate, the stone steps and the orange tiling harmonise, and with the roof tiles too.

Eating outside – secure the tablecloth with weights

Table weights to secure the tablecloth

Clip on weights to secure the tablecloth. The tablecloth is on Hugo and Anna’s terrace, which is quite sheltered. But there is an occasional gust of wind, which can whip your supper away. with a smile and a flourish…

Do everything with a smile and a flourish…

This delightful Spaniard was on her way to work, but found the time to exchange a few words, a smile and suggest a pose for the camera.

With a smile and a flourish...

On her way to work at the Bar El Canuelo…

Hugo and Anna’s house Los Alamos , at Le Canuelo, is available to rent from Sawdays.

Dawn view, Spain

The view from Hugo and Anna’s terrace just as dawn is breaking.

El Canuelo pool

And the El Canuelo shared pool, taken early in the day, before the sun got too hot.

Next week’s garden ideas come from the amazing Jardin Agapanthe in Normandy, France. It’s one of the most exceptional gardens I’ve ever visited, and is a mix of French classicism and exotic fantasy.

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12 great garden ideas from Spain

 

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from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/12-crazy-fabulous-garden-ideas-spain/

Friday 25 August 2017

The number of immigrants living in Reading has fallen in the last year

The ONS immigration figures figures - which are described as estimates - show immigration has gone down in Reading

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/number-immigrants-living-reading-fallen-13523997

Thursday 24 August 2017

Challenge: Look at the leaves

This week, we’re doing something a bit different with the #wildflowerhour challenge. Wherever you go, whatever you find, you need to look at the leaves of the plants you’re photographing.

It’s one of the most important things when you’re starting out doing wild flower hunting, because it’s so easy just to look at the flowers when the leaves can tell you so much about what sort of plant you’ve actually found. So we want at least one separate picture of the leaves, alongside the flowers.

The challenge works the same as any other. Post your photos using the #wildflowerhour hashtag or in our Facebook group before 9pm on Sunday. And only wild flowers, please. Enjoy!



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/24/challenge-look-at-the-leaves/

The toughest wild flowers in town

Aren’t weeds impressive? Growing out of cracks in the pavement that delicate flowers might turn their noses up at. And the flowers you found for this week’s #wildflowerhour challenge were so impressive. We’ll have details of the new challenge later today, but for now, here are the flowers you found.



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/24/the-toughest-wild-flowers-in-town/

Wednesday 23 August 2017

Bracknell car park prices more than double as bosses encourage quick shopping trips

Bracknell Regeneration Partnership is looking to turn Princess Square into a short-stay car park where shoppers can make quick trips to The Lexicon

from getreading - Business http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/business/bracknell-car-park-prices-more-13517882

Wokingham GCSE results 2017: See how your school did

getreading will provide updates as they come in for schools across Wokingham

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/wokingham-gcse-results-2017-see-13518461

What does the new GCSE grading system mean?

The way English, Maths and English Literature GCSE results are recorded has changed

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/what-new-gcse-grading-system-13519189

Bank holiday weekend weather forecast for Berkshire

The August bank holiday weather forecast for Reading

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/bank-holiday-weekend-weather-forecast-13518459

Monday 21 August 2017

How to watch the solar eclipse in Berkshire

NASA will be live streaming the total eclipse on Monday, August 21, weather permitting

from getreading - Transfer News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/how-watch-solar-eclipse-berkshire-13505855

Reading FC rumoured to be in talks with winger Ola John over return

National news sources are reporting the Benfica winger could be on his way back to Berkshire

from getreading - Transfer News http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/reading-fc-ola-john-transfer-13505834

Berkshire to see warmest temperatures for weeks but cloud likely to spoil partial eclipse

Temperatures in Reading are set to rise above average for this time of year

from getreading - Family & Kids http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/berkshire-see-warmest-temperatures-weeks-13505337

Sunday 20 August 2017

The brilliant Berkshire restaurants which have made it into The Good Food Guide 2018

Here are the eateries which have been included in the UK's best selling guide to fine dining

from getreading - Food & Drink http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/brilliant-berkshire-restaurants-made-good-13497900

Saturday 19 August 2017

What you really need to know about creating a roof garden…

This week I visited the roof garden at John Lewis in Oxford Street, designed by Tony Woods.

Tony is a former RHS Young Designer of the Year. He and his team, Garden Club London, specialise in urban gardens, roof gardens, pop-up gardens and living walls.

I asked him what we need to know in order to create a successful roof garden.

The John Lewis Roof Garden

Six floors up, with views of the Houses of Parliament, the ‘Walkie Talkie’ and the London Eye, shoppers can have coffee, drinks or meals in the John Lewis roof garden. You can book a ‘summerhouse’, and feel a million miles away from the bustle of Oxford Street below.

It’s not all about the weight…

The first thing that any of us think about when considering a roof terrace is ‘will the roof hold the weight?’

Unless you’re already living in a contemporary house with a purpose-built roof garden, Tony advises getting an architect or surveyor to establish what weight the roof can hold. And that doesn’t just mean the weight of pots, plants, soil and furniture.

‘People forget that you also have to include the weight of however many people will be on the roof at any one time. In the John Lewis garden, only a limited number of people can use the roof garden at any one time, because of the age of the building.’ (No wonder it feels so peaceful…)

But that’s not the only consideration…

John Lewis roof garden terrace

The John Lewis roof terrace is large, but the number of people who can be there at any one time is restricted.

There’s also planning permission…

You might think that if you have a flat roof, and you know it’s strong, then you can take chairs and pots out there. Voila! Roof garden.

But you have to have planning permission for a proper roof garden, which will probably also involve building controls. Amongst the issues they will want to consider are how you get onto the roof garden. Will you have to climb through a hatch? And how will you stop people falling off?

Grow tomatoes on a roof terrace.

Roof terrace walls need to be safe. Tony uses a solid barrier or glass walls because railings offer too much opportunity for children to climb over them. Container-grown veg do well on a roof terrace – it’s nice and sunny, though you need to protect them from the winds.

You’ll also need to consider how you get your roof garden building materials up onto the roof. ‘Luckily John Lewis had an old “carpet lift” from the days when people bought carpets in the store and took them away then and there,’ says Tony. ‘So we had a three metre high lift. Otherwise you’re restricted to whatever length or height of material that can go up the stairs or in the lift, unless you hire a crane.

Most of us do not have a useful carpet lift (carpet elevator, if you’re reading this in the United States). So remember access at the design stage!

Think about access to water…

Roof gardens are hot and exposed. Plants will need watering regularly, especially as they will be in pots.

Planters for rooftop gardens

Large wooden planters need less watering than lots of small pots.

‘If you’re having to struggle up a ladder and through a hatch with watering cans, watering will be difficult,’ warns Tony. ‘It’s really important to get a tap or irrigation system up on the roof for watering.’

You need to consider your neighbours’ privacy

A roof garden could be very invasive as far as your neighbours are concerned. Think about screens and where you’re going to look.

There weren’t many issues of privacy for John Lewis, because they are surrounded by shops and offices. But they did still need screening. Their neighbour to the left has a large neglected roof, with air conditioning units and other ugly detritus. ‘We put up a row of amelanchier trees and a hedge to screen that view,’ says Tony.

Rooftop birdbox

You can just see a dilapidated roof behind this bird box, but most of it is screened from view by hedging.

Tony created the John Lewis roof garden in 2013. ‘The London skyline has changed considerably since then. There’s lots of building, so although most of the hedging is fixed, we move pots around every year to block any ugly sight lines’.

Vintage planters for a roof garden

Tony moves some planters around every year in order to block some of the building work – although I love this juxtaposition of a high modern crane and an old-fashioned milk churn.

Speaking of screening…

Screening is vital on a roof garden, because it helps reduce the windiness. But a trellis or a hedge is much better than a solid wall. Wind is broken up when it whistles through a hedge or trellis, but it goes up a solid wall then lands, still furious, on the other side.

Screening for rooftop gardens

Hedging screens some of the wind on the John Lewis rooftop. It isn’t very high hedging – not more than 5-6ft, which is enough to screen anyone sitting down, but not so high that it may get blown down. Note that the trees are pruned to have quite small canopies.

Roof garden furniture – the important considerations

You might think that roof garden furniture should be super-light.

But light furniture can also blow away more easily. ‘You need to make sure that furniture is fixed down when you’re not using it,’ says Tony. ‘For example, some people put dead weights on the top of chairs and tables when they leave the roof.’

Benches for a roof terrace

Garden furniture (available from John Lewis). Because this roof terrace is a cafe, there are staff to make sure everything is safe and anchored at the end of the day – so there’s no chance of these garden benches landing up on top of the Number 73 bus in Oxford Street below –
but could you be so careful in your own home?

I blench at the thought of having to weight down garden furniture every time I leave a roof garden. Tony’s solution is to have garden furniture built in where possible.

And think about storage

‘People get excited about their roof gardens and buy 15-20 cushions,’ says Tony. ‘Then in bad weather, a bedroom becomes a dump because there’s nowhere to put them.’

This is another advantage of built-in roof garden furniture. Tony’s team design benches with internal plastic clip storage boxes, so cushions and other accessories can be stored in completely weather-safe conditions. ‘And they can’t be eaten by mice, either,’ he adds.

Summerhouse garden shed

One of the delightful rooftop ‘summerhouses’ in the John Lewis roof garden. You can book one for your coffee or meal (like booking an ordinary table in a restaurant). Benches like these can be built to use for storage.

Roof garden pots

Like roof garden furniture, roof garden pots have conflicting issues of weight and stability. You probably don’t want to put lots of heavy pots on your roof garden, but if you put light ones they’re more likely to blow over (or away, if the winds are serious).

Grow herbs on a roof terrace

Low planters with herbs and annuals on the John Lewis roof garden. This sort of planting is more stable than having high pots and plants.

Tony’s first advice is ‘Don’t have lots of small pots. They dry out quickly and heat up, too. Go for large, sturdy pots.’ Sturdiness is about shape as much as anything – a tall pot or vase shape will blow over much more easily than a low or square shape.

Tony uses sheets of polystyrene or polystyrene balls in the pots to insulate them against wind and heat. It reduces the amount of compost you need to use, which also makes large planters less heavy. You can also buy ‘light compost’ for roof terraces.

Best plants for roof terraces

The best plants for roof gardens are those with small or narrow leaves, says Tony. Pines, for example, are good at withstanding exposed conditions and have needle-like leaves, so the wind will blow through them rather than blow them away. Low plants, too, are better than high ones.

Plants for roof terraces

Pines and grasses along the edge of the roof garden, plus a view of the London Eye.

What about accessories?

When Tony is called in to re-design a roof garden, he says he almost always ‘finds at least one smashed candle lantern lying on its side.’ Go for fitted lighting or lighting that’s easy to store. And if you have pretty displays, you need to find a way of securing them.

Tips for securing plants on a roof terrace

These pretty pots and accessories on a vintage ladder on the John Lewis roof garden are glued down to prevent them being blown away.

Vintage style summer house interior

But you can close a door on this rooftop ‘summerhouse’ so that everything is safe. But most domestic roof terraces probably don’t have room for garden sheds or summerhouses. Tony advises something like a retractable sail for shelter.

Artist studio roof terrace summerhouse

There’s the top of a skyscraper reflected in the glass – if you peer closely.

Flooring for a roof garden…

If your aim in having a roof garden is to feel closer to nature, then artificial turf may seem inappropriate. But a real lawn wouldn’t be viable. Decking or artificial turf add a layer of insulation to any roof, so they are still ‘greener’ than having a plain flat roof.

Artificial turf for a roof terrace

Artificial turf on the John Lewis roof garden – planting and growing real grass just wouldn’t be viable.

The decking on the John Lewis roof garden is a composite decking called Millboard. ‘Wood decking doesn’t always wear well,’ says Tony. ‘It gets slippery with algae in winter, and splintery in summer.’ Millboard is a wood-free composite that is moulded from real wood patterns.

Once again, if you’re concerned about a green space being environmentally friendly, Millboard have had their carbon footprint verified by an independent body. They say it is about the same as a cup of latte.

So why have a roof garden?

I asked Tony what he was most proud of in the John Lewis roof terrace design.

‘I love people’s reactions – their surprise – when they first step into it. It’s a total escape from Oxford Street and the busy city.’ It is a genuine garden – although the themes are tweaked every year and pots are moved around – the hedges and trees have matured.

Roof gardens are also environmentally positive, because they help reduce the heat given off by roof materials. When it rains, planters and plants absorb rain, thus reducing run-off.

 

Bird boxes on a roof terrace

Roof gardens are a sanctuary for wildlife. Some of the John Lewis bird boxes are mainly decorative, but others have been placed under advice from experts. There’s a post here on what makes a good wildlife garden if you want to place bird, bat and bug boxes in the correct places.

The wildlife have enjoyed the garden: ‘We’ve even had a pair of ducks trying to nest here, presumably to get away from the crowds in Hyde Park,’ says Tony. This year, there’s a greater emphasis on native plants and wildlife-friendly planting to evoke an English country garden.

Rooftops are great for growing fruit and veg…

Roof gardens are usually sunnier than ground-level gardens, especially in cities (unless you’re surrounded by taller buildings that throw shade over your garden). So roof gardens are a great place to grow sun-loving plants like tomatoes, aubergines and herbs.

Grow herbs on a roof terrace

Herbs in the John Lewis roof garden. They’re used in cocktails, and in some of the restaurants. There have been unusual cocktails, such as a lavender cocktail or even one made with pine. I like the words…you could try a line of poetry, perhaps.

Grow strawberries on a roof garden

A roof garden is a lovely sunny place to grow strawberries, although the birds got most of these. I visited a garden in Melbourne, Australia where the owner maximised her space for growing food by using her flat garage roof for beehives and sun-loving plants.

For more ideas about roof gardens, see Tony’s book for the RHS (with Kay Maguire) Big Ideas, Small Spaces – 30 Creative Ideas for Balconies, Roof Gardens, Windowsills and Terraces. (Note: affiliate link, so if you buy through it, I may get a small fee)

The John Lewis Rooftop Garden is open from April to September (check website for specific dates and times). There are a variety of activities and workshops as well as the cafe/pub/restaurant.

And if you’d like inspiration from other gardens straight to your inbox every Sunday morning, then do enter your email at the top right of this page. Thank you!

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How to create a stunning roof garden

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from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/really-need-know-creating-roof-garden/

The best time of year to buy a house in Reading

See when the best to buy is and also the best months to get a bargain

from getreading - Property http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/property/best-time-buy-house-reading-13496387

Heather heaven

What a wonderful time of year it is when the hills and heathlands blush. The heather is in full bloom now, and #wildflowerhour members have been merrily sharing pictures of those delicate little bells that cover the land and turn it a gorgeous purple-pink.

There are some extra-special heathers that you’ve found. This is Cornish Heath, Erica vagans, which only grows in West Cornwall and Fermanagh, Ireland.:

Cross-leaved Heath is abundant throughout the North and West of Britain:

And here are some more lovely heather posts. Keep them coming:



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/19/heather-heaven/

Friday 18 August 2017

Looking back at the Hungerford Massacre 30 years on

It is the 30th anniversary of a killing spree which saw 16 lives lost and 15 people injured

from getreading - Berkshire History http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/hungerford-massacre-30-year-anniversary-13495176

Do you recognise these plants?

It’s that time of the week when the ID requests start rolling in. #wildflowerhour members are so enthusiastic about helping out that the replies come rolling in pretty quickly too, so for those hoping to help, here are the latest mystery plants.

And if you’ve found a plant that you just don’t know anything about, do just tweet it with the #wildflowerhour hashtag or post it in our Facebook group. And you can learn more about how to identify plants here.



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/18/do-you-recognise-these-plants-9/

What's on at the Royal Berkshire Show and how to get tickets

Highlights for this year's show include the 'Devils Horseman' stunt team

from getreading - Music & Nightlife http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/whats-royal-berkshire-show-how-13483731

Thursday 17 August 2017

Thames Valley has highest number of NHS vacancies in the country

The area had the highest number of vacancies in the country

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/thames-valley-highest-number-nhs-13492602

Reading is going green with a new electric van for rescuing dogs

The van will be used by the council's animal warden, who mainly deals with stray dogs

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-going-green-new-electric-13491001

Wednesday 16 August 2017

What time will A Level results be released and when does UCAS update?

Pupils can find out whether they've been accepted into their choice of university

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/a-level-results-time-when-11760653

How to get careers advice after picking up your A Level results

Independent careers advice to students will be available across Reading throughout August and on A-level results day

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/before-after-a-level-results-11734902

Himalayan Balsam

What's this beautiful plant? If you've come across a drift of pink and white helmet-shaped flowers on a riverbank somewhere, bees buzzing happily in and out of those many blossoms, then you might think you've found the loveliest wild flower ever.

You haven't.

This is Impatiens glandulifera, Himalayan Balsam, which is indeed a beautiful plant. But it's also a nasty invasive alien plant which is doing a great deal of destruction to our native flowers. It spreads via its exploding seeds (which are cool, but also bad. Sorry) and can completely swamp all other native plants in an area. It also leaves river banks vulnerable to erosion because it dies back completely in the winter, thus leaving the soil exposed. In short, it's beautiful but bad.

If you see it, the best thing to do is to record it through the PlantTracker app, and, if you can, pull some of it up. Many local wildlife groups have action days to try to remove as much of this plant as possible, so do have a look out for those too.

Sorry to burst your bubble of happiness. But we are #wildflowerhour and we want to celebrate lovely wild flowers, not sneakily beautiful plants that escaped from gardens and are smothering the wild flowers.

 

 



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/16/himalayan-balsam/

Giveaways and entertainment planned for The Lexicon Bracknell grand opening

The new £240 million town centre will open in September

from getreading - Reading & Berkshire News http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/giveaways-entertainment-planned-lexicon-bracknell-13476695

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Wonderful weeds

So many people have been in touch to say that the #wildflowerhour challenges are making them look for more flowers, learn about plants they’d overlooked, and focus on the beauty of every day rather than the humdrum aspects.

So this week, we’re encouraging you to focus on the real everyday beauty: ‘weeds’. Now, we all know that a weed is just a plant in a place where it isn’t wanted, and for botanists, there are very few places where plants aren’t wanted. So as you go about your days, look at the cracks in the pavements, the untended flower beds, the wasteland and the gutters to see what you can find in bloom. Weeds might annoy philistines, but they bring great joy to plant hunters.

As ever, it’s easy to take part. Just post what you’ve found in bloom this week in Britain and Ireland either in our Facebook group or on Twitter using the hashtag #wildflowerhour.

Here are some ideas from the past few months to get you going:



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/15/wonderful-weeds/

Wildlife flowers

What a lot of joy this week’s challenge brought. Every week’s challenge does, but it was so splendid to see so many flowers covered in happy bees and bugs. And that’s because wild flowers don’t just give us joy: they give critters joy, and life too. So well done for finding so many.

Here are some highlights:

And here are all your beautiful buzzing tweets and Facebook posts:



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/14/wildlife-flowers/

August wild flower blogs

We don’t just share our wild flower photos in the #wildflowerhour community – we share our blogs too. Each month, we have a link-up where anyone who has written about their wild flower finds can add their posts. Just use the link up below.

 Loading InLinkz ...


from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/14/august-wild-flower-blogs/

13 August

Whoosh!

What was that? That was #wildflowerhour, which is now so busy that it whizzes past you every Sunday night. What a ball we had this evening. Thank you to everyone who shared photos, took part in our challenge, and helped out with identifying mystery plants.

Our star image this week is from John Martin. What a beauty it is, what a talented bunch of photographers we have.

Though #wildflowerhour started on Twitter, it’s now buzzzing on Facebook. Here are some highlights from our group.

And here are some top moments from Twitter. More to come over the week.



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/13/13-august/

Wild flower kids

How many of us first fell in love with flowers when we were children? Yes, there are many grown-up bits of botany, like measuring the width of stems and examining glandular hairs, but at the bottom of all of it is still that simple childlike love of plants.

Many of us connect that love with the people who brought us up: grandparents who shared beautiful old botany books, parents who pointed out particularly special plants growing in the hedgerow, and so on. And many of us are now trying to encourage the children in our lives to feel that excitement about a new flower they haven’t seen before kindling in them too.

 

So #wildflowerkids is go. We’ll be launching lots of fun things for children to take part in over the next few weeks, but for this week, it’s the wild life challenge that they can take part in. You can tweet what you’ve found with kids or post in our Facebook group – just remember to add the #wildflowerhour or #wildflowerkids hashtags to any tweets.

Every hour is a #wildflowerhour, but between 8-9pm on a Sunday we have a proper planty party. If you’re busy with bedtime or lying on the sofa with a glass of wine groaning at that time, then just post what you’ve found whenever you fancy. We’ll be watching.

To get you started, here are some tips on introducing children to wild flowers. 



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/12/wild-flower-kids/

Do you recognise these plants?

Can you help fellow #wildflowerhour members? The plants listed below are a mystery to the person who found them. You tweet them with the #wildflowerhour hashtag, or post them in our Facebook group, and we add them to the list for everyone to dive in with their suggestions and tips. Easy.

A tip: if you want a good chance of a decent ID, please take pictures of at least the leaves as well as the flowers. Here are some more ways to recognise wild flowers.



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/10/do-you-recognise-these-plants-8/

Challenge: Wildlife and flowers

My, the #wildflowerhour challenges are popular now. Each week, we hold a discussion between #wildflowerhour Towers and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland about what sort of theme we should go for next: which plant family has a lot of species in bloom right now, or which habitats might be good for people to hunt in? This week, we’ve decided to go for something a bit different.

It’s the wildlife that flowers attract. You can snap a bee, or a hoverfly, or a bird, or a mammal enjoying a plant, so long as they are wild. So no sheep, dogs or cats – and of course, no garden plants. #wildflowerhour is for flowers growing wild. In case you hadn’t worked that one out…

Now, a lot of the skills involved in botany are the same for identifying fauna too. But many wild flower lovers won’t know what sort of bee it is that’s crawling over a Spear Thistle. So if you love bugs, birds or other critters, then please do chip in to help out with IDs.

This is a great challenge to do with children, which works perfectly as we are launching #wildflowerkids this week. More on that soon…

All you need to do is post a picture of the wildlife and the flower either on Twitter with the hashtag #wildflowerhour, or in our Facebook group before 9pm on Sunday. Remember that the photos need to be taken this week to qualify.

Here are some examples from recent #wildflowerhour posts to get you going:



from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2017/08/08/challenge-wildlife-and-flowers/

Take Me Out is looking for contestants from Berkshire

Looking to find love and fancy a trip to the Isle of Fernandos?

from getreading - TV & Film http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/tv-film/take-out-looking-contestants-berkshire-13478869

Monday 14 August 2017

How is your mental health? Share your experiences in Berkshire

Ahead of World Mental Health Day we look at the well-being of people in Reading

from getreading - Health http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/health/how-your-mental-health-share-13473034

Sunday 13 August 2017

Changes planned for Reading's busy A&E department as staff face 'extreme pressures'

The department at the Royal Berkshire Hospital treats around 115,000 people a year

from getreading - Health http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/health/rbh-accident-emergency-department-expansion-13463750

Saturday 12 August 2017

How to style your garden – smart tips and finishing touches.

‘Style your garden’ doesn’t mean exactly the same as ‘design your garden.’

Designing a garden is about choosing a theme, then planning the hard landscaping and planting.

Styling is about making sure it all works together, and adding the finishing touches. For example, are there any loose ends that need tying up – literally or metaphorically?

How to style your garden

Writer and stylist Francine Raymond’s terrace. The colour scheme – yellow/slate – connects the house to the garden. Francine is an instinctive stylist, and says that if she’d taken this picture, she would have re-arranged the tendrils of vine!

Does your ‘style’ run through the whole garden, like a message in a stick of rock? Or have you got one thought in one corner and another completely different approach in another?

To ‘style your garden’ can also mean re-arranging a couple of pots and adding a cushion to make your garden look as someone cool has just drifted through, sipping champagne or home-made elderflower cordial.

Telegraph writer Francine Raymond is a talented stylist. As a writer with a degree in Fashion & Textiles, she also combines good writing with a strong visual sense. She popped in to give me styling advice.

Pick a colour theme

Francine’s colour theme for her garden is yellow/slate. Yellow because her house is built of yellow brick, and it has a slate roof. ‘And slate is an interesting colour,’ she says, ‘because it can be almost grey, purple or blue.’

Style your garden to work with your house

Starting with her yellow late-Victorian brick walls and slate roof, Francine carries the yellow/slate theme through to the fence, guttering, garage and even the verbena bonariensis planting.

Style your veg garden?

Francine has even painted the boards of the raised veg bed in the signature yellow. ‘They need painting to protect them anyway,’ she says. ‘You might as well keep them in theme.’

Colour themes

Garden blogger Julie Quinn’s colour theme is terracotta/blue, which she carries through from house to garden.

Use paint to style your garden

I’ve taken Farrow & Ball Blue Black through the front door, the back door, the shed, the log store and the bin store. But there it stops. Until Francine came, I hadn’t thought of taking it any further into the garden. Should I paint the bench? The pergola? The potting shed?

I told Francine that I’d always considered ‘red’ to be a theme in my garden, because of the red brick walls, house, and the amazing dark leaves of the cotinus.

Relate garden accessories to your house

As we have red brick walls, in the house and the garden, Francine suggests that terracotta pots would look good in our garden.

Think about the colour of your pots

Terracotta pots, red-brick garden walls and dark red cotinus leaves – I’m quite pleased with this…

However, the rest of our pots are a bit of a mish-mash. I’ve got quite a few galvanised ones, and I’ve been collecting stoneware pots. Still, they do go with the terrace. But my pots just never look as good as Francine’s so a bit more focus on this might improve things.

Pot at Doddington Place Gardens

One of my favourite photos from Doddington Place Gardens. I love how the pot echoes the colour of the Victorian wall.

Echo and repeat…

Francine spotted a yellow jug of flowers on a table in the garden. ‘If you put a vase of flowers on a garden table, she advised, echo the colours of the garden around it.’ There was no yellow in that part of the garden.

In contrast, I took this photograph in Francine’s garden last summer. Her garden is divided in two, and the second section is wilder, separated from the house and terrace by a fence. Here she’s still using blue-grey and yellow for the furniture, but there are pink cushions echoing the pink roses.

Styling tip - echo the colours in the garden

The pink cushions on Francine’s swing bench echo the pink roses in the garden.

Flowers in the garden echo flowers in the vase

Garden designer Charlotte Rowe includes hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ in the flower arrangements to echo the planting behind. Photo by Jacqui Sinnatt.

Does your vase or planter work with your garden?

Anna Oates’ pretty white planter on the table has echoes of the delicate white jasmine behind it.

Tidy up loose ends to style your garden…

We’ve recently had the roof of the potting shed replaced. The new wood of the roof rim stands out against the faded wood of the potting shed. Francine suggests painting the shed, so that new and old wood is disguised.

And when we had a corrugated iron roof put on our pergola to make it an all-weather outside room, we used one new beam with the old weathered cedar. That’s the sort of detail that stands out to a stylist.

Style your garden by paying attention to detail

We should find a way of making the new beam match the old pergola struts – should we paint it? And the lights don’t look attractive during the day.

When an old piece of trellis broke, we replaced it with new. If you want a truly stylish garden, you need to treat the trellis so that the new and the old matches up. ‘I know it’ll fade eventually,’ said Francine. ‘But that’ll take some time.’

Mis-matched trellis

The right hand piece of trellis was replaced a year ago, while the one next to it is about five years old. This is the sort of detail that unbalances the garden.

Lighting needs to look good during the day, too…

‘All lights look good at night,’ says Francine. ‘But they should look good during the day, too.’ As you can see from the previous photo, ours are straggly.

We don’t have electricity in the Tin Corner, so all the lighting has to be candles or solar. So I bought some solar fairy lights that look pretty when they’re off.

There is a dizzying choice in solar lights, but I whittled my purchases down to ProGreen Solar String Lights, which have lanterns,and Cmyk LED Solar Globe String Lights. These are like small glittery balls.

Solar string lights

Cmyk solar globe string lights. We strung them tightly along the beam so that they look like a row of pretty buttons in the day time.

Since Francine’s visit, Mr Middlesize has spent most of the weekend re-stringing the lights, and adding the new ones. The little lights on a dark string are BlingString Solar Fairy Lights, which were sent to me for review last year (reviewed in a post about garden party decorations). They’ve been going strong for over a year now. Mr M has taped them up neatly now.

Style your garden with solar fairy lights

And these are the lantern solar lights from ProGreen Solar String Lights, which look just as good in daylight as night-time. I bought the hanging lantern from IKEA several years ago, but there are some similar lanterns at Amazon.

Solar lighting for easy living

And here is the Tin Corner with all its lighting on. The BlingString Solar Fairy Lights are now neatly tied to the cross-beams.

‘Mismatched is great, but….

….there has to be a common denominator somewhere,’ said Francine, looking at my garden chairs.

Use paint to style your garden

I think the best way to create a ‘common denominator’ is to paint one of more of the chairs – but what colour?

Stylists are particularly good at making a mis-matched look appear charming, chic and relaxed, rather than just untidy.

How to make mis-matched pots work

Francine’s mismatched pots and planters all have a common denominator – they’re in that grey spectrum with slate.

Francine and I are both car boot fair shoppers. My mother had a stall at the ‘rough end’of the Portobello Road in the 1980s. So almost everything I own comes from a junk shop, auction room, market or car boot fair.

I’ve also co-written books on Fleamarket  Chic, Thrifty Chic, and Upcycled Chic with stylist Liz Bauwens (there are some affiliate links in this post – if you click through to buy, I may get a small fee).

Liz now has a wonderful shop full of original  and vintage finds called Otto Trading in Acton.

When we did the books, Liz did the styling and Simon Brown, the photographer, photographed it. And I wrote the words. So, although I’m an experienced flea market shopper, I don’t have  quite the stylist’s eye that Francine and Liz have.

Styling inspiration from Otto Trading

Our books in Otto Trading, Acton. Do visit it for styling inspiration.

How to make fleamarket style work…

This means I have to be very focused when I go to a car boot fair, vintage market or junk shop. I set out with an idea of what I want – such as a small table for a particular corner. Then I scour the shop from left to right – or go up and down the aisles of the car boot or market from start to finish. Ruthlessly ignore everything that isn’t a small table.

Paint garden benches and tables

Francine uses paint to create a ‘common denominator’ amongst her various benches, tables and other vintage finds.

If you want to style your garden, try to develop a speciality, such as blue-and-white china or pressed glass. You’ll soon be able to spot your favourites in a pile of junk. All kinds of tin and zinc fit into Francine’s theme of yellow and grey-blue.

Style your garden with junk shop pots

Pots in Francine’s garden come mainly from junk shops and car boot fairs.

There is a case for saying that we tend to choose the same sorts of things most of the time. So if you buy flea market finds, there’ll naturally be some common denominator. And quite often, there is.

But if there isn’t, Francine will paint a pot so that it fits into the scheme. And that’s what you need to do if you want to style your garden, so that it looks casual but right. My pots and chairs are just a bit too mis-matched. Even I feel that they look untidy.

Style your garden by painting pots

Francine found this cheap, shiny metal container in a chain store, and painted it in her signature blue-grey.

 Francine’s book…

Flying the Coop by Francine Raymond

Francine’s written about creating her Whitstable home and garden in her latest book, Flying the Coop. Note the signature yellow/slate cover!

It was really interesting to have someone else look at the garden – I’d really recommend it, if you want to give your garden a lift. I wish I’d thought things through at an earlier stage – like the new beam on the old pergola, for example. When the vines die back in winter, I hope to do something about the trellis.

However my colour palette is the terracotta red of the old brick walls, and Farrow & Ball’s Blue Black. They do look good together (I think), but I’d like a third colour to lighten it all up. Grey? Pink?

All opinions welcome!

To keep this for later, pin it:

Style your garden - finishing touches and smart tips

The post How to style your garden – smart tips and finishing touches. appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.



from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/how-to-style-your-garden-smart-tips-and-finishing-touches/