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Nutrients
These are chemicals plants use to grow and are often divided into macronutrients and trace elements. These terms are in themselves are of limited use as if the plant needs the chemical to grow, in however small a quality, its absence is going to cause problems. In practice the main ones are nitrogen (N), phosphorus…
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Feed for health
As I have said before, the vast majority of domestic lawn problems come down to its feeding. That is not to say you can’t over feed a lawn, most people will have seen a lawn scorch where a heap of fertilizer has been left on it killing it. I also remember reading a report many…
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Keeping a lawn healthy
Ideally a lawn should be cut three times a week and the height should be reduced by no more than a third at any one time. In practice the first is never going to happen in a private garden, but the later is a good rule of thumb. The grass cuttings, unless you are using…
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Trace elements
This is rather a catch all term for a very large group of chemical elements which plants need, but in very small amounts. It is very rare that adequate amounts of them are not naturally present in the soil.
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Variety
This is classification of plants below the level of species which share common characteristics but would freely interbreed with other varieties of the same species if the opportunity arose. For this reason different varieties are often separated geographically. When writing the name of a plant the variety name is written in italics or underlined, is…
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Cultivar
This is a plant which has been selected in cultivation because of specific characteristics it shows which separate it from its wild origins and other cultivars. The rules regarding what is a cultivar, how it is named and how the word is used are laid down in the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.…
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Taking over an established garden – where to begin
Most people when they buy a new house find they are taking over an existing garden and this will present certain challenges; you have after all bought their house not their tastes. It is therefore inevitable not everything in the garden you are going to like and/or want. It is reasonable to assume on first…
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Acer palmatum var. dissectum
Acer palmatum var. dissectumis a much used garden plant where something striking but delicate is wanted. Much loved in “Japanese” style gardens where it mixes well with gravel and boulders, a position which allows it to be ground in isolation so as to show off its dome of draping branches. They are slow growing bushes…
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Cutting your new lawn
Now you have got the garden down to grass you have time to get on with the other pressing jobs about the house while you think about what you are going to do with the garden. Obviously the new lawn will need some attention during the summer and not just cutting it – but we…
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Soil water
This is simply the water in the soil, but it is a very important and complex mixture of chemicals dissolved in water.
