As from today, it is no longer legal to shoot certain types of carrion and wood pigeons without a special license. The move comes after conservationist and BBC pundit Chris Packham successfully petitioned the government for a ban to control bird species such as crows, magpies, gulls and wood pigeons. Sixteen species are affected overall. Farmers and pest controllers will need to apply for a special license to control pests. Failure to comply could lead to prosecution. "Anyone exercising lethal control of birds after Thursday 25 April 2019 without taking the above steps will not be covered by a general... Continue reading

The Philadelphia garden show has been in existence for 189 years. Visitors to the show are wowed even get through the door. The Entrance Garden of the Philadelphia flower show is designed in SketchUp by Dan Brown and Gary Radin. The garden concept is designed from start to finish in Google SketchUp. Continue reading

Stone quarried from a Lancashire quarry is being shipped to Barcelona to be used in helping complete Antoni Gaudi's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. The stone used for the bell towers on the Nativity and Passion facades is sandstone from Montjuic in Barcelona. The quarries in this region became exhausted and closed many years ago thus meaning original stone could only be sourced from demolished buildings. So began a worldwide search for stone that would match that already used, and it is through this process that the sandstone from Brinscall Quarry, near Chorley, was selected alongside stone from other Continents.... Continue reading

On June 5th, Macmillan Cancer Support will be at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show exhibiting a bespoke garden, inspired by the importance of planting legacies for the future. Designed by Michael Coley, the garden centres around a large oak tree which is surrounded by saplings – echoing the theme of growth and renewal. Michael Coley said: “Oak trees to me represent wisdom, strength and longevity – something constant that people can return to. The theme of leaving a legacy is communicated through the surrounding saplings and smaller seedlings which cover the majority of the garden. The idea is to give... Continue reading

The Chelsea Barracks Garden, designed by Jo Thompson for the 2016 Chelsea Flower Show, was today unveiled as part of the official opening of the first phase of the Royal British Legion Industries’ (RBLI) Centenary Village. Secretary of State for Defence, Sir Michael Fallon, led proceedings at the new village in Aylesford, Kent, to mark the completion of the 24 apartments designed for injured veterans. The new village will eventually include permanent homes for more than 80 residents along with a large community centre which will offer welfare, support and training. The Chelsea Barracks Garden will form the centrepiece of... Continue reading

Plants have been used to produce a new vaccine against poliovirus in what is hoped to be a major step towards global eradication of the disease. A team of scientists, including Dr Johanna Marsian working in Professor George Lomonossoff’s Lab at the John Innes Centre, has produced the novel vaccine with a method that uses virus-like particles (VLPs) - non-pathogenic mimics of poliovirus which are grown in plants. Genes that carry information to produce VLPs are infiltrated into the plant tissues. The host plant then reproduces large quantities of them using its own protein expression mechanisms. Professor Lomonossoff, from the... Continue reading

Statement from the Garden Bridge Trust. The Garden Bridge Trust, the charity established to build and run the proposed Garden Bridge in central London, today announced that it will be winding up the project. It has informed the Mayor of London, as well as Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport, who have both allocated public funds to the project, of its decision. The Trust has had no choice but to take this decision because of lack of support for the project going forward from the Mayor. On 28 April, Sadiq Khan wrote to Lord Mervyn Davies, Chairman... Continue reading

The star of the Victorian Kitchen Garden, Harry Dodson is to be buried in Blackmoor church yard. Some twelve years after he died, aged 85, Harry is effectively coming home to Blackmoor after living there as a child. Harry is famous for his role as the head gardener at Chilton Foliat where the BBCs Peter Thoday followed his progress throughout the year cultivating vegetables, fruit and flowers in an old walled garden, just like the Victorians would have done to provide for the gentry in the big house. Sadly, after he died, Harry Dodson's ashes remained with the undertaker but... Continue reading

It is a topic that divides opinion within the landscape profession. Is it right to work in a customer's garden over a holiday weekend? Let's start with a few facts. Spring is the busiest time of year for gardeners and landscapers. Gardens are just awakening from their winter slumber, grass is growing at a pace....weeds are too. For a professional gardener, taking time off during this busy period is not always an option. Miss a scheduled visit and it's hard, not only to get a garden back into shape but also to get schedules back on track. The physical stress... Continue reading

New report from the Royal Horticultural Society highlights the challenges and opportunities of gardening in a changing climate The quintessentially British lush, green lawn could become a thing of the past; gardeners in the north could enjoy a longer growing season and plant pests and diseases not yet established in some areas of the country could become commonplace; these are some of the findings of a new report from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and leading academics into the impact of climate change on gardening. Called Gardening in a Changing Climate, the far ranging report looks at both the impact... Continue reading

Butterfly numbers are falling in towns and cities, as home owners turn their front gardens into driveways. Applications to pave over front gardens for parking have soared by almost 50 per cent in two years, devastating the flowers and bushes that butterflies rely on for survival. Charity Butterfly Conservation says the loss of gardens, along with pollution and development, has caused 25 butterfly species to decline faster in urban areas than the countryside. Research published by Direct Line last month showed successful applications for lowered kerbs to create driveways have risen by 49 per cent between 2013 and 2015, with... Continue reading

The north American raccoon, an Asian hornet and an American cabbage are among 37 invasive species that will be banned from being brought into the UK from Wednesday when a new EU regulation comes into effect. The continent-wide rules now make it illegal to import, keep, breed or grow, transport, sell or use, or release into the environment without a permit the listed invasive, non-native plant and animal species. But the ban will no longer apply when then UK leaves the EU. The 14 plants listed include the American skunk cabbage, which has invaded Scottish marshes and wiped out all... Continue reading

18 per cent of UK agricultural businesses have utilised drone technology and they are being used to survey fields, distribute pesticides and some farms have even started to use them in place of a sheepdog. The agricultural robotics and drone market is expected to be worth $10bn (£7.54bn) by 2022. Since the early 1990s, Japan has been using unmanned helicopters to spray rice fields and autonomous drones have also been providing detailed aerial photographs and video. This can be of benefit to farmers for collecting data, reviewing crops as well as in agricultural land sales. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)... Continue reading

Abu Ward ran the last garden centre in war torn Aleppo. He was assisted by his devoted son Ibrahim. Continue reading

What's the gardening equivalent of a soggy bottom? Gardener's wilt, perhaps? As the garden world gets ready for another Gardeners' World makeover, I'm wondering if it's really possible to replicate a cooking format on a gardening show? The biggest problem I can see is that gardening cannot be rushed.....and telly audiences like a bit of action and excitement. Yes, of course, one can do a garden makeover in a weekend and that makes for interesting telly. It's thrilling to see how a landscape can be so dramatically changed in such a short space of time. But watching grass grow can... Continue reading

Exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops has been linked to long-term population decline of wild bee species across the English countryside, according to research published today in Nature Communications. The research, led by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology using data provided by Fera Science Ltd and the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme, examined changes in the occurrence of 62 wild bee species with oilseed rape cropping patterns across England between 1994 and 2011 - the time period spanning the introduction of wide-scale commercial use of neonicotinoids. The scientists found evidence suggesting that neonicotinoid use is linked... Continue reading

A data breach at large UK software company Sage may have compromised personal information for employees at 280 UK businesses, it is understood. Police are investigating the breach and Sage is probing the "unauthorised access" of data by someone using an "internal" company computer login. The information was accessed at some point over the past few weeks. It is unclear whether it was stolen from the FTSE-listed firm, or merely viewed. The company, which provides business software for accounting and payroll services to firms across 23 countries, says it is taking the breach extremely seriously. The police are investigating and... Continue reading

Natural England issued a licence permitting the control of up to 10 buzzards to prevent damage to young pheasants. In a statement on its website, Natural England says: "The licence is time-limited with stringent conditions and is based on the law, policy and best available evidence. It follows rigorous assessment after other methods had been tried unsuccessfully over a 5-year period. It is stipulated that the licence must be used in combination with non-lethal measures and only on buzzards in and immediately around the animal pens - not on passing birds. These conditions are designed to make the licensed activity... Continue reading

Britain's construction industry suffered its sharpest downturn in seven years last month, according to another business survey on Tuesday which suggests the economy is at risk of recession after June's Brexit vote. The Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) inched down to 45.9 in July from 46.0 in June -- the lowest reading since June 2009 and some way below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction. While better than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that pointed to a reading of 43.8, the PMI -- collated entirely after the June 23 referendum -- showed commercial... Continue reading

The world's largest passenger liner has just docked in Southampton after sailing in from France in advance of its inaugural voyage to Rotterdam. It is a vast ship boasting a crew of 2,100 crew. It can host 6,780 guests. From a plant lover's perspective, the Harmony of the Seas takes parks and gardens to a new level. On board there is an impressive 10,587 plants, 48 vine plants, and 52 trees. I'm supposing that there are also huge beds and borders with soil and compost deep enough to support the roots of these plants? What a great initiative. Imagine sitting... Continue reading

Are you dying for a new patio this summer? Maybe you're not but literally thousands of Indian quarry workers are due to silicosis in the production of natural stone products. Adults and children, some as young as twelve, are working in unsafe conditions. Rina Chandran reports that in the Indian state of Rajasthan there are up to one million workers suffering from "silicosis or other respiratory diseases". "Although there is no comprehensive data, hundreds, possibly thousands, have died of silicosis, an incurable lung disease caused by long-term exposure to silica dust given off in the mining and processing of sandstone... Continue reading

About 15 years ago I bought shares in a British technology company. This company was developing software that is actually part of today's digital world. The problem is the company in question was ahead of its time and was poorly run. As a listed company there was an easy route at the time to raise funds through share placings. I built up a modest holding. The shares went up and I could have paid off my mortgage. I was 35 years of age. I didn't sell. I bought more as I was (wrongly) believing that the share price would go... Continue reading

This post was prompted by the news that the topiary at Avebury Manor is being pulled out because a savage attack of box blight which has destroyed much of the historic hedging. Two years ago - almost to the day - I purchased 8 box balls and 35 box hedging plants and duly planted them as a border around a newly created border. (Image right: an infected box ball shortly after planting - click to enlarge) It was a very dry spring so I watered copiously to make sure the plants established themselves. Even though I had very good air... Continue reading