What's Amazing Now
Happy Friday everyone! I have come across this very interesting and optimistic article I'd like to share with you all! 'The Future of Farming – Chemists Discover Safe Pesticide for Organic Agriculture' The article explains the research that has been done looking into using Rose essential oils as an alternative to harmful pesticides, in organic tomato production, hurray! The study finds that the essential oils " activates tomato pest-defense genes and attracts herbivore predators. Therefore, REO could be used as an environmentally friendly pesticide in organic farming" (Gen-ichiro Arimura from Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan) They conclude “Our study suggests a practical approach to promoting organic tomato production that encourages environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. This research may open doors for new organic farming systems. The dawn of potent environmentally friendly and natural pesticides is upon us,” (Professor. Arimura) Please give it a read, it does suggest some hope for the future of #organicfarming! Donna x x x Reference: https://scitechdaily.com/the-future-of-farming-chemists-discover-safe-pesticide-for-organic-agriculture/ Rose in the picture is a 'Gertrude Jekyll' #pesticide #organic #farming #alternative #saferfarming #rose #roseessentialoils #essentialoils #universityofjapan #biodiversity #conservation #enchantedgardens #betterfarming #pollinatorfriendly #pinkrose #gertrudejekyll #futureoffarming
Happy Monday everybody! I have come across an article explaining that 'Plant species recommended as pollinator friendly in Europe begin flowering up to a month too late in the spring to effectively contribute to wild bee conservation and how availability of early spring-blooming plants affects colony survival and queen production' They recommend in this study that Red Nettle in the UK, among other species, would be an early enough plant to provide colonies of Bees food in earlier months. I want to take this opportunity to highlight the sometimes overlooked plants like Red Nettle and our beloved Dandelion that provide important early nectar for Bees. Please leave these in your garden for our Bees and know you are providing an invaluable source of food! The articles I am referring to and the findings can be found at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-03-26-study-finds-bees-need-food-month-earlier-provided-recommended-pollinator plants#:~:text=New%20research%20from%20the%20Universities,contribute%20to%20wild%20bee%20conservation. https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/icad.12736 Thank you for reading! Donna x x x #earlyspringflowers #naturalhabbit #enchantedgardens #pollinator #aprilflowering #whitstablekent #gardening #conservation #pollinatorfriendly #biodiversity #habitat #blossom #naturalgardening #gardeningtips #pollinators #Conservationuk #Gardeningtips #bee #bees #rednettle #dandelion #shrillcarderbumblebee #beecolonies #rarebee
Happy Friday everybody! Here is part 3 & 4 of the series 'Pruning Crab Apple Tree'. I am sharing these videos with you as I want you all to see the journey of pruning this old lady, who was quite a mess when we first got to her. I have a video to share with you all next week of how she has come full circle and bloomed after all the hard work we have put in to give her years of life to flourish on the pasture. Thank you all for watching and I hope you can all come to see her and the ancient Hawthorn hybrid very soon! Donna x x x #gardeningtips #gardensinkent #gardening #pollinatorfriendly #enchantedgardens #biodiversity #earlyspringflowers #pollinator #aprilflowering #crabappletree #malussylvetris #naturalhabbit #update #pruning #whitstablekent #happygardening #woodsman #habitat #conservation
Happy Wednesday everyone and thank you for sending me your questions, In this Q&A I answer your queries on planting in clay, overhanging trees and boundary lines, extensive root systems and how to handle them, new housing developments and the gardens you are dealing with there, recommendations on pollinator friendly shrubs and flowers and a question about Bears Breeches and how it has taken over a garden. I also talk about the common misconceptions of mulch and the correct way to applicate it. I hope this video answers your questions and provides you with the right information to be responsible gardeners and help your gardens to thrive. Thank you for watching! Donna x x x #gardening #gardeningquestions #claysoil #plantinginclay #gardeningtips #rootsystem #overhangingtrees #boundaryline #gardeninginkent #pollinatorfriendly #gardeningadvice #enchantedgardens #bearsbreeches #invasiveplants #naturalgardening #biodiversity
Happy Tuesday everyone, Here is part 2 in the video series of pruning this beautiful old Crab Apple tree. You can see she had started to create buds ready for her blossoms (which I will post a video off). Thank you for continuing to watch and support me and the new journey I am on at my new site. Enjoy the video, more to come each week! Donna x x x DISCLAIMER ‘Please note the use of a chainsaw in this video is absolutely restricted to professionals holding a chainsaw licence, climbing licence and appropriate qualifications. I am not suggesting public use a chainsaw; please leave it to the professionals' #crabappletree #malussylvetris #habitat #pollinators #naturalhabbit #woodsman #pruning #happygardening #earlyspringflowers #enchantedgardens #conservation #Conservationuk #naturalgardening #update #gardensinkent #donnasdiary #gardening #whitstable #whitstablekent #pollinatorfriendly #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #gardeningideas #Gardening #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #biodiversity ##crabappletree #malussylvetris #habitat #pollinators #naturalhabbit #woodsman #pruning #happygardening #earlyspringflowers #enchantedgardens #conservation #Conservationuk #naturalgardening #update #gardensinkent #donnasdiary #gardening #whitstable #whitstablekent #pollinatorfriendly #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #gardeningideas #Gardening #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #biodiversity ##forestforest
Happy Wednesday everyone! Don't forget I am at the Godinton Plant Fair this Sunday 21st April! Book your tickets now and come and see me, and all my wonderful plants! It is my first show of the year and a great way to showcase what I have been able to keep and grow since my big move. Hope to see you all there, Donna x x https://godintonhouse.co.uk/events/plant-fair/ #earlyspringflowers #naturalgardening #Conservationuk #pollinatorfriendly #gardening #happygardening #conservation #whitstablekent #gardensinkent #enchantedgardens #pollinators #whitstable #gardeningideas #enchantedgardenskent #biodiversity #Godintonhouseandgardens #plantshow #whatsoninkent
MIS-UNDERSTOOD WASPS – MY LITTLE HERO’S Happy morning everybody, My posts here are for Gardeners and nature lovers but I do find I tred a very fine line between this and the state of our wider environment. What is practiced in our countryside and Farming really does trickle into our gardening lives and affect us all. Now I am settled, free of all restrictions and safe, I will speak out about a number of issues facing gardeners and nature lovers, even the difficult subjects, it is who I am and what I am here to do. If it does not resonate with you please stop following me. The common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) has had such bad press historically, it seems to me that this is a great injustice, they are pollinators just like our beloved Bumbles and hoverflies they are just “sugar addicts” on the edge of reason like Bridgett Jones. Their main diet is nectar. It is little known that a wasps nest is a safe nursery ground for the larvae of some of our most wonderful pollinating hoverflies including the Hornet Hoverfly. Hoverfly numbers are dwindling nowadays and this is vital to their survival. Wasps are also “Super Predators” hunting for Larvae, flies, aphids, caterpillars and many more to HELP GARDENERS. A wasp nest is truly amazing built from chewed up wood, a paper wasps nest is architectural elegance and may contain 5,000 - 10,000 individuals. At the end of the season, when these little industrious lovlies have spent their time building, bringing up young’uns and pollinating, new queens and male drones emerge. After mating the queens overwinter in sheltered locations and the drones die just like ants and bees. The colony survives just one year, with a worker Wasp ending its life redundant with no queen and no “sweet nectar currency” reward, where you may ask will it go for its ending…..Why to HUMANS of course we are generally covered in sweet sticky sugar as far as they are concerned and overflowing bins are “Insectopia” – This is the point where we threaten them and kill them, we spray their nests and wish they wern’t here – Aren’t we strange?
Happy Monday everybody! I have a new series of videos to share with you all, to show you what we have been up too down at the second pasture. These videos will be showing you the journey of this lovely old Crab Apple Tree 'Malus Sylvestris' being pruned to lift some weight, take of the rotten wood and give her a chance to continue her life as long as possible. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more to come.... Donna x x #crabappletree #malussylvetris #habitat #pollinators #naturalhabbit #woodsman #pruning #happygardening #earlyspringflowers #enchantedgardens #conservation #Conservationuk #naturalgardening #update #gardensinkent #donnasdiary #gardening #whitstable #whitstablekent #pollinatorfriendly #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #gardeningideas #Gardening #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #biodiversity #forest
Happy Friday Everybody! Here is one of the last videos in the series 'Uncovering Rare Tree'. The Woodsman has been removing all dead wood and wood which would overbalance the structure of the tree. I do belive that is is a hybrid from the past where ancient woodland Hawthron has crossed with true basic Hawthron and produced this precious tree. In time I will of course try and propergate to preserve it. DISCLAIMER ‘Please note the use of a chainsaw in this video is absolutely restricted to professionals holding a chainsaw licence, climbing licence and appropriate qualifications. I am not suggesting public use a chainsaw; please leave it to the professionals' Stay tuned for more videos coming every Friday! Thank you for watching, Donna x x x #uncoveringararetree #ancientwoodland #raretree #ivy #forest #bleanwoods #ancienttree #gardening #naturalgardening #Gardening #enchantedgardens #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #whitstable #happygardening #conservation #whitstablekent #gardensinkent #gardeningideas #gardening #biodiversity #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #update #Hawthron #truehawthorn #woodsman #pruning
'Storm Kathleen Batters the Pasture' 70MPH winds have been sweeping across the UK and it will not be a surprise for many gardeners that they find some of their plants have broken and snapped, much like my Tree Peony. Just like all the rain and strong winds, we have to realise we cannot compete with nature and this is just another example of this. My beloved Tree Peony will grow again, the soggy lawns will dry out and our gardens will continue to flourish..... Thank you for watching, Donna x x x #Gardening #gardensinkent #gardeninglife #happygardening #conservation #naturalgardening #gardening #enchantedgardens #whitstablekent #gardeningideas #enchantedgardenskent #whitstable #pollinatorfriendly #Gardeningtips #gardeningtips #Conservationuk #earlyspringflowers #update #donnasdiary #treepeony #aprilflowers #stormkathleen #nature #extremeweather
Happy Monday everybody, My posts here are for Gardeners and nature lovers but I do find I tred a very fine line between this and the state of our wider environment. What is practiced in our country really does trickle into our gardening lives and affect us all. Please read this article by Bird Guides ‘Outcry as hedgerow protection law removed’ It discusses the UK Government's intention to replace laws post-Brexit, laws which DEFRA are yet to confirm if those protections for nature will be maintained. https://www.birdguides.com/news/outcry-as-hedgerow-protection-law-removed/ Some of us are fortunate to have various types of hedges such as Laurel, Mixed Native, Roses, Pyracantha, and Eleagnus. Hedges offer important nesting spots for birds, as you can see in my picture of a Goldfinch nest. It has been a gardening practice for over 60 years not to trim hedges between April and October. However, I have observed that some Tree Surgeons, Landscapers, and Gardening Services are not adhering to this, and new gardeners might not be receiving the best guidance. Hedges can create diverse and essential habitats for wildlife. Sometimes, gardeners are unaware of how much a shrub can grow; leading to one shrub growing into another planted too closely, unintentionally forming a hedge. These hedges can become overgrown and messy. Unfortunately, hedge trimmers or chainsaws are often used at the wrong time of year. So, let's all take a moment to think, educate other gardeners, neighbours, and friends, and collectively ensure that our gardens are managed thoughtfully and compassionately, no matter what is happening in the countryside. Donna x x x #gardeninglife #Gardeningtips #gardening #whitstablekent #happygardening #enchantedgardenskent #biodiversity #conservation #naturalgardening #gardeningtips #gardeningideas #pollinatorfriendly #whitstable #Gardening #gardensinkent #enchantedgardens #hedges #nestingbirdsuk #goldfinchnest #Conservationuk #gardeningeducation #mixedhedges #Defra #enviromentlaws #ukgovernment #hedgerowprotection #nature #NatureLaws
Happy Wednesday everyone! This is a very positive post, please watch the video I have attached and read the post on the brilliant project that Scottish Water have completed. Their post is well written and showing that we CAN get tree planting right! Who knew that a Water Utility Company could be “The Good Guys” with all the scandal of the ruination of our waterways and seas with sewage …… They have commited to planting 48,000 trees to achieve their Net Zero ambitions, which is just brilliant and aims to capture more than 16,000 tonnes of carbon in a bid to boost biodiversity. The Main reason I am sharing is because the trees that they are planting are BRILLIANT BROADLEAF species, and not just more endless softwood. It is so important to highlight the good that is going on as well as the bad, and this is one of the GOOD ones! Thank you for reading & watching. Donna x x x https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/About-Us/News-and-Views/2024/02/West-Feal-Reservoir-Tree%20Planting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl57SrlgaNI&t=185s #gardening #gardeninglife #Gardening #whitstablekent #whitstable #gardeningideas #happygardening #gardensinkent #biodiversity #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #pollinatorfriendly #naturalgardening #enchantedgardens #conservation #enchantedgardenskent #ancientwoodland #ancienttree #forest #scottishwater #Oaktree #Alder #Hawthorn #Rowan #Birch #Treeplanting #woodland #NetZero #LomondHills
Happy 1st April everyone! Now that spring has officially sprung, I'm thrilled to invite you to my debut show of the year at Godinton House And Gardens Please 'save the date' for the 21st April 11am-4pm at Godinton Lane, Ashford. Kent, TN23 3BP. We will offer a wonderful range of interesting and unusual plants. Come and help us to conserve the diversity of flowers available to gardeners. We can't wait to see you! Donna x x x #conservation #Gardening #whitstablekent #whitstable #enchantedgardens #gardening #enchantedgardenskent #gardeningideas #gardeninglife #biodiversity #naturalgardening #gardensinkent #happygardening #Gardeningtips #gardeningtips #pollinatorfriendly #butterflyconservation #bee #Godintonhouseandgardens #plantshow #Godinton #Publicgarden #Plantfair #growers #independantnursery #pollinatorfriendly #SpecialistNursery #biodiversity #historicalplace https://godintonhouse.co.uk/events/plant-fair/
Happy Friday everyone! Here is Part 2 of the series on 'Uncovering a Rare Tree' at my new site Valley View. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more! Donna x x x #uncoveringararetree #ancientwoodland #raretree #ivy #forest #bleanwoods #ancienttree #gardening #naturalgardening #Gardening #enchantedgardens #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #whitstable #happygardening #conservation #whitstablekent #gardensinkent #gardeningideas #gardening #biodiversity #gardeningtips #Gardeningtips #update
Happy Thursday everyone! As my post yesterday was to appreciate Magnolia as plant of the month I wanted to share with you some important information about this plant and its varieties. Magnolia is important for Beetle Pollination. Beetles were among the first insects to visit flowers and they remain essential pollinators today. They are especially important pollinators for ancient species such as magnolias and spicebush. Beetles will eat their way through petals and other floral parts Please see the photo I have attached, on the right is a well-established ‘Magnolia-Soulangeana'’ and to its left a much more manageable ‘Magnolia-Stellata’. Please be aware ‘Soulangeana’ would like to grow to around 40 feet so please don't buy one just because you like the flowers. I would advise and strongly recommend the ‘Stellata’ or 'Susan' variety for smaller gardens and for planting in front gardens. Happy Gardening! Donna x x x #earlyspringflowers #gardeningtips #conservation #gardeningideas #happygardening #update #naturalgardening #gardensinkent #biodiversity #magnolia #gardeninglife #Gardeningtips #enchantedgardenskent #Gardening #whitstable #enchantedgardens #whitstablekent #marchflowering #pollinatorfriendly #gardening #plantofthemonth #magnoliatree #magnoliastellata #magnoliasoulangeana
Happy Wednesday everyone! I wanted to share this lovely picture of Forsythia with you to showcase the vividness and radiance in our gardens right now! Blooming in early spring, Forsythia is a plant worth admiring for its remarkable yellow brilliance, especially during these rainy days in March. Donna x x x #gardeninglife #gardeningideas #gardeningtips #pollinatorfriendly #biodiversity #enchantedgardens #conservation #whitstable #Gardeningtips #naturalgardening #happygardening #enchantedgardenskent #whitstablekent #gardensinkent #Gardening #gardening #forsythia #marchflowering #earlyspringflowers #yellowflowers #springgardening
Happy Monday everyone! I would like to share with you some updates from Valley View and how things are looking! Thank you for watching, stay tuned for more updates. Donna x x x #gardensinkent #conservation #enchantedgardens #biodiversity #naturalgardening #Gardening #gardeninglife #enchantedgardenskent #pollinatorfriendly #gardeningtips #whitstablekent #gardeningideas #Gardeningtips #whitstable #happygardening #donnasdiary #gardening #update #magnolia #cardoon #valleyview #gardennurserylife
Happy Friday everyone! I am going to film a Q&A very soon so please send me in all your burning questions about gardening, mother nature, planting, sowing, mowing, bio-diversity and anything horticulture related! Please send your questions directly to my email donna@enchantedgardenskent.co.uk with the subject line Q&A. Looking forward to answering all your questions! Happy gardening Donna x x x
Happy morning everybody, My posts here are for Gardeners and nature lovers but I do find I tred a very fine line between this and the state of our wider environment. What we as a society do in our country really does trickle into our gardening lives and affect us all one way or another…… Fear is something that we are all unfortunately faced with from our media. As a Gardener I would like to draw the Line at these ridiculous scare tactics being used for Gardeners and Plants. Please be discerning! I recently noted an article by the Telegraph warning gardeners of 'invasive' species such as ; Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa); and purple top (Verbena bonariensis) becoming the 'next Japanese Knotweed'. See article https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/27/gardeners-in-fear-of-plants-dubbed-next-japanese-knotweed/ I am now at a loss why these plants are listed, they are all much loved garden border plants that we all love to grow and have in our gardens. Apart from Italian Arum and cypress spurge I would recommend them for colour and value for UK pollinators to help with populations and keeping the wider eco-system supported within our gardens. This is just crazy, unless of course all you gardeners are going out into the countryside wearing balaclava’s sowing and planting them willy nilly? – I am pretty sure you are not….. so please don’t replace them with sterile double flowers that don’t set seed and feed any pollinators. Also always remember you can pull up ANY SEEDLING YOU DON’T WANT at any time, so take charge and have the most enchanting garden. Thank you for reading! Love Donna x x x #gardensinkent #naturalgardening #pollinatorfriendly #enchantedgardens #biodiversity #whitstable #enchantedgardenskent #butterflyconservation #happygardening #conservation #gardeningideas #whitstablekent #gardeninglife #Gardeningtips #Gardening #gardeningtips #invasiveplant #japaneseknotweed #verbenab #verbenabonariensis
Happy Monday Everybody! With the help of Angel, I have started a new series to keep you all up to date on what is happening at Enchanted Gardens! 'Donna's Diary' My ladies have been working very hard in digging out a lot of the bramble and preparing the ground for my selection of pollinator-friendly hedges to be planted. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more to come! Love Donna x x x #Gardening #Gardeningtips #enchantedgardens #enchantedgardenskent #donnasdiary #brambles #hornbeam #hornbeamhedges #pollinatorfriendly #gardeninglife #gardeningideas #biodiversity #whitstable #gardensinkent #butterflyconservation #happygardening #whitstablekent #naturalgardening #conservation #bee #wintergardening
'YAKULT FOR LAWNS' Happy Morning everybody! 😄 Lawns are an integral and quintessential English thing, nobody outside of our little Island really has anywhere near the almost obsessive passion for “The Perfect Lawn” - I don’t know why we are like this and can only think that it is the cleverest marketing brainwashing EVER! So, there are 2 types of chemicals available for Lawns; Total Herbicides that kill everything and Selective Herbicides which only kill targeted weeds. The dangers of using chemicals in our gardens are the huge number of “Dead Rivers” in the UK, Fergal Sharkey is leading the defence of this situation. The cause for dead rivers like the River Wye is the result of putting artificial nutrients onto the soil higher than nature provides creating a damaging imbalance and mineral toxicity. In addition chemical fertilisers can deplete natural beneficial microorganisms needed to break down organic materials into usable food. So an ALTERNATIVE which I have named 'Yakult' for Lawns The wonderful team at @Moorlandslawncare say, to help keep your lawn healthy an alternative is liquid applications of naturally occurring soil microbes, helping with water retention and feeding each little grass plant. Liquid soil microbes also contain beneficial fungi, protozoa, and bacteria. This liquid help can also help to break down toxins from chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Just like your favourite house plant you can keep your lawn healthy underground as well as above, so that healthy grass can do better against any health problems that occur. Please like and share this post to inform others about this and keep our gardens and waterways healthy! Reference: https://moorlandslawncare.co.uk/lawn_care_specialist/ #enchantedgardens #enchantedgardenskent #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #gardensinkent #gardeningideas #gardening #whitstable #happygardening #biodiversity #naturalgardening #naturallawn #pollinatorfriendly #earthwormspoisoning #mowinggrass #lawnfertiliser #grasscare #lawncare #butterflyconservation #wintergardening #conservation #whitstablekent #weeds #soil
Happy Monday everybody, I wanted to speak with you today about apparent Covert earthworm poisoning, now this sounds VERY dramatic but it is simply information for all my gardening and Nature followers to digest and make their own decisions and choices about. It is apparent that Gardeners fall victim to lack of information; I have taken a closer look at this. While we can presume that golf courses and other sporting facilities do apply chemical fertilizers and poisons as the grass needs to be of the finest quality with no weeds, green ALL year and kept very short. However, do you realise that most, if not all Lawn treatments available to gardeners or applied by “lawn care companies” are also full of the same chemical poisons which kill worms, insects, micro-organisms and therefore kill all life within the soil. The lawn fertilizers contain high Nitrogen (amongst other nutrients) which are not really necessary and so run off into water tables, resulting in Dead Water and Dying Rivers throughout the UK now. The health of your boarders and its inhabitants is directly affected by the health and diversity of your lawn. So I have to conclude that this un-necessary treatment of our grass is costing nature far too much. My top tips for a thriving natural lawn are: leaving the lawn just one inch longer throughout the year, never mowing too low and removing large perennial weeds by hand, will result in a vibrant fertile, and mostly colourful patch of green in all our gardens. Moss can be removed with a rake not chemical control too, so now you know, please take another look at this and hopefully reduce treatments and help the garden to thrive. Donna x x x #gardeningtips #lawncare #gardening #naturallawn #naturalgardening #pollinatorfriendly #earthwormspoisoning #grasscare #mowinggrass #gardeninglife #happygardening #biodiversity #whitstable #enchantedgardens #enchantedgardenskent #lawnfertiliser #gardensinkent #gardeningideas
Saving tiny caterpillars with Knapweed! Hello my Lovelies, I would like to make you all aware of the importance of Knapweed in our eco-system. The wonderful Rebecca from Butterfly Conservation has informed me that Knapweed is a home to tiny caterpillars of Knapweed Seedhead Moths who use this 'dead' plant to survive, grow and stay safe in. Although this may not look so wonderful it is provding an important habitat for the Knapweed Seedhead Moth and keeping the generations to come safe. Another reason not too tidy up your gardens too soon! Love Donna x x #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #gardensinkent #gardeningideas #whitstablekent #knapweedseedheadmoths #butterflyconservation #conservation #enchantedgardens #enchantedgardenskent #wintergardening
Don't be too quick to tidy! Remember, old foliage and leaves will protect all the growth points at soil level! This old Agapanthus will look absolutely wonderful in the summer months so put off tidying your messy plants up to give the new growth a chance to strengthen during these colder temperature's. Love Donna x x #enchantedgardens #agapanthus #gardeninginkent #gardeningtips #gardeningideas #gardeninglife #gardensinkent #wintergardening #newgrowth #whitstablekent
