Auntie Planty

AP Gardening Club

Valerie Munro — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 14:16:55 +0000

I hold these free sessions each month on Zoom. They are held on the first Thursday of each month 1300-1400 on Zoom. The Gardening Club start time remains the same each month; the Zoom link remains the same; the only thing that changes is the headline topic, and this will always be something that is…

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ladybirds – friend or foe?

Valerie Munro — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 16:07:06 +0000

In the war on plant pests, it’s infinitely better to allow Nature to give you a helping hand rather than reaching for the nearest insecticide to zap all and sundry. The ladybird is a great ally to have on your side, instantly recognisable from its bright red and black spotted wing case. The ladybird larva…

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plants need Xmas gifts too

Valerie Munro — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 15:40:01 +0000

You’re feeling a bit peaky So you reach for Grandma’s cure, But if a plant is feeling poorly The answer’s not so sure. You can call on Mr. Google, And wade through loads of stuff, But whatever is on offer May not be enough. What you need is an expert, Always ready on hand, The…

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Christmas cracker of an idea!

Valerie Munro — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 11:32:00 +0000

When you develop a headache, what do you do? You reach for whatever remedy works for you, whether it’s an aspirin, Grandma’s secret concoction, or you lie down in a darkened room for a while until the world looks and feels brighter.. Result – issue solved without too much of a drama. But what do…

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spreading plant happiness

Valerie Munro — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:47:03 +0000

Christmas vouchers to solve plant and garden issues When you develop a headache, what do you do? You reach for whatever remedy works for you, whether it’s an aspirin, Grandma’s secret concoction, or you lie down in a darkened room for a while until the world looks and feels brighter.. That’s an extremely useful bit…

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Christmas gift voucher

Valerie Munro — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:31:06 +0000

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calling all gardeners!

Valerie Munro — Tue, 04 May 2021 08:25:33 +0000

The next Auntie Planty Garden Zoom session is on Monday 10 May at 13.00. It’s for half an hour, it’s free and everyone is welcome. Gardening is the one physical activity that we all dive into without doing any warming up for. And, when we’ve done a good day’s digging and clipping, the chances are…

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this year’s Christmas tree

Valerie Munro — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 08:46:37 +0000

The perennial question in our house is not merely ‘where will we put the tree this year?’ but more like ‘where will our fully lit tree complete with dangly tinsel balls of all sizes and colours be safe from the night-time marauding antics of a fully grown, but slightly delinquent moggie?’ While I am vexing…

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purple4polio

Valerie Munro — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:35:47 +0000

Saturday 24 October was World Polio Day, and to celebrate I was honoured to be invited to support Richmond Rotary in the mass planting of 6000 purple crocus corms. This wasn’t some random act of horti-madness; it was done in an act of hope. There’s a very strong link between polio and COVID-19 – they…

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the joy of bright colours

Valerie Munro — Sat, 02 May 2020 14:04:58 +0000

There’s a lot of really bright pink in my garden at the moment; a rhododendron (probably ‘English Roseum’) a Crataegus laevitgata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ and clumps of the amazing everlasting wallflower Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’. All of them are giving great joy, but I need to talk to you about the everlasting wallflower. If you leave it…

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garden composting

Valerie Munro — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 15:44:54 +0000

For the time being our garden waste collections are paused so we’re being encouraged to make our own compost. Before you groan, why not give it a go? Compost is easy to produce, but making good compost is an art. It’s a result of the careful mixing of vegetable and other plant waste. Get it wrong, and…

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daffodils and moving plants

Valerie Munro — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 08:59:51 +0000

Q: A lot of my daffodils this year just produced leaves and no flowers – is there something that I can do to improve things for next year? A: Daffodil blindness is where the plant looks reasonably healthy with no flowers at all, or the stem grows an ‘empty’ bud at the end. The most likely…

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Mothering Sunday gifts

Valerie Munro — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 12:37:55 +0000

It’s a lovely sunny Mothering Sunday. I was reminded of a couple of plants that ‘found’ their way into my garden specifically to give colour in early spring. The first is a flowering currant – Ribes sanguineum which I bought completely out of season. You know the way that garden centres tend to push those right-at-the-moment…

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stopped in my tracks

Valerie Munro — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 12:18:14 +0000

As I spend more and more self-isolation time in the house, the view from my kitchen window is getting rather more close scrutiny than before. I spotted a rather annoying clump of ivy that could do with a bit of a haircut. What I wanted to remove were the long strands of juvenile ivy. It’s…

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Doing the right thing

Valerie Munro — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 16:36:10 +0000

There is a very big word circulating at the moment, with a very wide and important meaning – sustainability.. As it applies as much in the garden world as anywhere else, please allow me to sum it up in four words – doing the right thing. Let’s start from the ground up. We’ve been told…

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ode to autumn

Valerie Munro — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 17:06:55 +0000

In autumn when the trees are brown, the little leaves come tumbling down; they do not make the slightest sound, but lie so quietly on the ground; until the wind comes puffing by, and blows them off towards the sky (anon) To some people, fallen leaves are a big nuisance, but I would like…

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choosing the best real Christmas tree

Valerie Munro — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:54:02 +0000

The perennial question in our house is not merely ‘where will we put the tree this year?’ It’s more likely to be ‘where will our fully lit tree complete with dangly tinsel balls of all sizes and colours be safe from the night-time marauding antics of a fully grown, but slightly delinquent moggy called Jack..…

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Box tree moth caterpillar

Valerie Munro — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 10:55:47 +0000

There is a pest around at the moment that needs to be shown who’s boss! It’s the box tree moth caterpillar, and I was slightly annoyed that two presenters of the recent TV Chelsea coverage said that there’s no answer. If you have any box plants in your garden, you may wish to read this before…

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skeletonised rose leaves

Valerie Munro — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 22:07:01 +0000

I always say that vigilance is the key to combatting plant pest and diseases, so keeping your eyes peeled for the very first signs of a problem will serve you well in your attempt to get rid/control the effects. Imagine my horror the other day when deadheading some roses in my front garden that…

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Air Pots – great news for plants

Valerie Munro — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 13:03:22 +0000

It’s been raining so much lately that I cannot get outside into the garden – mine or anybody else’s. So I now have time to tell you about a minor miracle in the plant pot world. Picture this; you have had a plant in a pot for a long time, and when you try to…

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