Grow - damn you

Two posts in one day - a new (and probably never to be repeated) record. But I'm desperate for inspiration. How can I make grass grow faster?

After a slight delay, due to 'warehousing problems', Hodge's Gardening Emporium now has its full complement of eight small electric mowers for testing for Garden News. Neil Hepworth, the photographer, has been around today to take all the pictures of them. All I need now - is some grass to cut. Even though I've fed the lawn (twice!) and watered it (the evening before we had a torrential downpour) it's still not lush and green and looking like it's anywhere near needing a cut.

So, any ideas anyone?

So, is this spring- at last?

Finally, a day of good weather has coincided with a short break in the mountain of work, so I've spent the day in the garden. And in some parts of the Hodge plot there is winter devastation everywhere. It looks like I might rue my normal relaxed approach to winter protection! The banana (Musa basjoo) is not looking great - so fingers crossed it'll come through. A thick mulch may have saved the ginger lilies (hedychiums), only time will tell. Anyhoo, I've given most beds a good spring clean and filled the brown Council bin with all manner of dead material. I usually compost all garden waste, but all three of my compost bins are full and the material removed today has been mostly dry and woody.

I've also fed the lawn, which is looking decidedly yellow and mossy - typical of most lawns across the country following the onslaught of the wet and cold winter weather. As well as trying to get it looking good, I also had to feed it to get some good growth, so I can carry out the Garden News Tried & Tested feature on small elecrtric mowers.

Talking of ginger lilies, we've been selling some massive hedychium rhizomes on Garden Bargains on Ideal World Extra (the new channel dedicated to homes & gardens). I couldn't believe the size of them and covered in buds that will produce great, bushy plants.

Earlier this week I finished writing the RHS Allotment Journal and provided all the copy to Helen at Mitchell Beazley. All I have to do now is wait for the proofs to start arriving so I can edit any copy that needs cutting down or filling out. Good news about the RHS Allotment Handbook - it has sold out! The publishers are hurriedly getting another print run together and I'm sure big retailers (like Amazon, I hope) have bought plenty of stock to fulfil orders. If you can't find it in the shops, you can buy a copy online from my Amazon bookshop.

Hope the weather has been kind to you this weekend and you've managed a few hours getting some colour back into your cheeks after the long, drawn-out, miserable, cold, depressing winter. But spring's here (?) and I've predicted a scorcher of a summer. Yes, I will take the rap if it's rubbish again.

It's all about the products

I guess all hobbies are the same, but I think gardening attracts more than its fair share. Of what? Of products, gadgets, tools, equipment, paraphernalia and, in some cases, downright tat!

And I should know. When I was the Gardening Editor of Garden News one of my jobs was to write the new products page and for years my garage creaked under the strain of stashed new products that had either had a nice write up or never again saw the light of day. Don't get me wrong, some new products were great and a definite boon to gardeners. But there were some that you just wouldn't want to part with your money for.

And guess what? I'm doing it all again! I've just been contracted to write the product review guides and tried & tested features for - yes, Garden News. At least this time I've set which product groups I'm going to write about and so, in theory, can control which products come in for review/testing. I've just got a nasty feeling that the garage is, yet again, going to be packed to the gunnels with the leftovers. Or I may donate them as raffle prizes to the gardening clubs I give talks to. Lucky them!

If you're interested to know which product groups I'm going to feature and if you're a gardening company that wants to put something forward for destructive testing, you can download a pdf of the list here.

Writing, judging and general gardening

What a couple of weeks. I've finally finished judging the Gardener of the Year competition. The winners have been informed and will be revealed to all in the next issue of Garden News. Most of the gardens were absolutely brilliant and their owners such a fantastic bunch of gardeners - verging on the 'compulsive nutter' because of their love and dedication.
Since that finished, I've been busy writing the allotment book. The first few thousand 'gems' of information were due last week - a deadline I hit. The rest has to be finished by next Friday, so it's heads down until then.
I've also been doing a bit more work on the FIGO connector, which is going to be launched at Glee - the gardening trade show at the NEC in September. And guesting on Garden Bargains on Ideal World TV.
Then there's the Bosch Power Tools video to promote the company's new Ciso Cordless Secateurs, which we shot in a garden in London - no thanks to all the planes flying overhead drowning out the sound. I've also been working on the Garden Media Guild's Awards entry pack and online registration - which is due to go live tomorrow. And finally, organising my guest spot at Grand Designs Live at the NEC Birmingham on October 11 in The Garden Seminar Theatre, where I'll be giving a talk and providing advice.
At least next week's all clear - apart from the book! Maybe England will have won The Ashes by the end of today, so that won't be a distraction tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Flexible gardening friend

I'm helping to launch a new gardening product - FIGO, your flexible gardening friend. For those of you who love a bit of DIY dalliance in the garden - building things to help make your gardening better & easier - then FIGO is definitely something for you.
The versatile three- and four-arm adaptors can be used with a range of bamboo canes and other poles to make loads of things for the garden - from wigwams and other structures for climbing plants to plant protection supports, cold frames, cloches and even fruit cages! In fact, just about anything you can think of - the only limitation is your imagination!

FIGO was invented and designed by gardener Sharon Wong, after a frustrating time trying to use an existing product. Sharon was fed up with sharing her vegetables and flowers with rabbits, pigeons and badgers, so she bought a product with claims that, ‘using a set of these connectors, plant protection cages that are strong and versatile could be built, quickly and easily using bamboo canes’. It sounded like the answer to her prayers. Her experience with them was quite the opposite, in fact, it was a long and frustrating process.
Not one bamboo cane in her vast collection fitted the holes in the connectors. Trying to overcome the problem, she shaved the ends of thick canes to make them fit. The task took forever. Having finally sorted a set of canes that more or less fitted, where the fit was not perfect, the canes kept falling out. She resorted to using tape, but it was still most unsatisfactory. After that, she decided to have a go at designing something herself!
We're currently testing and redefining the product to ensure it stands up to the rigours of the most avid gardener. FIGO should be available from garden centres and mail order suppliers from September. I'll let you know when they go on sale.