As I sit here typing the rain is lashing against my window, making it hard to imagine that we in the South West are actually in a drought, but a drought we are in, and the Environment Agency this week added 17 more counties in the Midlands and the South West to its list of places in England now suffering from a severe water shortage, thanks to two consecutive dry winters. Now much of the country is in a drought which is expected to at last until at least Christmas.

This is the kind of news that can get gardeners in a panic, especially in Spring when the garden is a flurry of activity. But there is no need to despair: with a little careful thought and planning, the drought needn’t stop your garden from flourishing this summer.

Here are a few tips to help you get through these parched times:

• Mulch is a good friend of a dry garden: it holds moisture in the soil and stops the wind from drying it out. It also prevents weeds, which take ever-more-valuable water, which brings me to;

• Weeding: keep weeds at bay as much as possible, so there is no unwanted competition for that precious rainwater;

• If you are able to use a hosepipe, remember it’s more effective to give your plants a good soak once a week as opposed to a little water every day. And leave the sprinkler in the shed: on a sunny day you can lose up to 80% of water through evaporation. What’s more, just an hour of using a water sprinkler uses as much water as a family of four needs in a day;

• Gather free water: Water butts under drainpipes are very effective and needn’t take up too much space. If these April showers keep up, you’ll soon have plenty of rainwater to keep your garden growing. Don’t forget the water you’ve been boiling your vegetables in: this can go back into the soil to grow more vegetables!

• Plant wisely: there is a whole host of drought-resistant plants which love parched soils. The RHS has a good list on its website: RHS

• Trust your garden: your plants and lawn want to survive. Grass which goes brown in dry times will soon recover with some rain, while established plants will find water underground through their roots.

• The irrigation systems we install in our Living Walls are exempt from the hosepipe ban, as they are closed drip/trickle irrigation systems, that place water drip by drip directly onto the soil surface without any surface run off.

I hope these help keep your plants from getting thirsty. If you have any tips of your own, I would love to hear them, so please leave a comment.

We are great promoters of the added value you get from giving plants instead of flowers on these special occasions. Yes they both look lovely, and we will be the first to say, flowers definitely have the edge when it comes to scent and sight, but what about all the hidden benefits that are not initially apparent?

We are talking about the associated health benefits and when it comes to this, plants win hands down.

• Did you know plants don’t only prevent illness, they also assist with recovery and help protect your bones?
• They improve your air quality be it in your home or workspace.
• This will increase concentration and productivity, thus helping your loved ones to learn or work more effectively.

If you want to learn more about how plants are great for us and therefore such a great gift to give for any occasion, get a copy and watch How to Grow a Planet and have a read of Pots of Health on our website.

]]> http://www.urbanplanters.co.uk/blog/2012/03/mothers-day-with-flowers-or-plants/feed/ 0 http://www.urbanplanters.co.uk/blog/2012/02/show-you-care-for-longer-this-valentines-day-with-flowering-plants/ http://www.urbanplanters.co.uk/blog/2012/02/show-you-care-for-longer-this-valentines-day-with-flowering-plants/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:45:29 +0000 Urban Planters http://www.urbanplanters.co.uk/blog/?p=208 Continue reading →]]> It’s that time of year again, but instead of battling your way to a florist this year, why not buy your loved one a flowering indoor plant instead?

Not only will they last longer, much longer in fact, they also provide your loved one with some added health benefits.

So, show you really care this year and buy your valentine a bunch of plants.

Did you know:

• Plants naturally refresh the air by absorbing harmful CO2 and emitting oxygen.
• The best air-purifying indoor plants are orchids and bromeliads.
• These indoor plants refresh the air predominantly during the night, which means they will purify the air in your bedroom, whilst you sleep.

Orchids – Phalaenopsis available in white and pink

Bromeliads – Guzmania available in red, orange, yellow and purple

Other great ideas – Anthurium available in red, pink and white

Urban Planters would like to wish you all a magical Christmas and prosperous new year.

We look forward to being of some assistance to you all again in 2012.

Herbs for his Highness

With more and more men preparing great food at home, why not treat them to a contemporary herb pot for Christmas. Not only will this pot, keep his live herbs fresher for longer, it also comes with it’s own set of scissors, for easily accessible harvesting.

Say Happy Christmas, with flowering plants

Instead of buying cut flowers this Christmas, why not treat the ladies in your life to some potted, flowering plants! Not only will they last a lot longer than cut flowers, it enables you to add a coloured pot, which can either compliment or contrast the colour of the flowers, to make an overall eye-catching display.

Bold is best

There are house plants and there are House Plants. Why not push the boat out this Christmas and treat someone to a truly awesome potted house plant.
We can source pots in all shapes, sizes, materials and colours. We can also find the perfect plant to compliment the pot, resulting in an indoor plant display that will transform any room.

Tap into trendy, free water

All plants need water and what could be better than additive-free pure, rain-water!
This contemporary water butt will be loved by him and her this Christmas. It does not detract from your garden like traditional water-butts, but adds a touch of contemporary cool, with its built-in watering can.

We are now well into bulb planting season (October – December), so before the first frosts arrive, get your snow drops, crocus, grape hyacinths, daffodils and tulips into the ground.

 Buying bulbs

If you have not already bought your bulbs, make sure they are as fresh and healthy looking as possible. So avoid buying any that look dried up or damaged and look to choose plump firm bulbs instead.

 Planting depths and distances

Bulbs should be planted two to three times their own depth and two to three bulbs apart.

Caring for your bulbs outdoors

Keep your soil / compost moist and if necessary cover planted areas with wire mesh or chicken wire to stop your bulbs being dug up by small mammals. This can be removed once your bulbs begin to shoot.

 Containerised bulbs for indoors

If you intend to plant your bulbs into a pot, pick one that is the right shape and size to compliment the bulbs when they are fully grown and in full bloom. If you are using pots with drainage holes and saucers, then make sure you cover the drainage holes with some broken crock.

If you intend to use a water-tight pot, create an internal reservoir by adding a ½ – 1 inch layer of crushed volcanic rock, covered with capillary matting to keep it separate from the compost. You will need to consider this extra space requirement when selecting your pots.

We recommend using a single Genus / type of bulb per pot as we believe ‘less is more’ with a bold, single bloom display.

If you want to create a mixed colour display, look to use a collection of different sized pots with a single Genus / type if bulb in each pot. You will have to give the same consideration about pots size and shape for each type of bulbs you intend to plant and as a collection of pots and bulbs as a whole. Below are some examples of how you should and should not create a mixed collection of pots.

As bulbs do not like being water-logged, use a general purpose compost, mixed with a little horticultural grit to help open up the compost and make it more free-draining.

We always like to add moss and small twigs, to the top of the pot, once planted as it gives the pot a more natural woodland theme.

 Caring for your bulbs indoors

Like outdoors, you need to keep your pots moist, not dry, but avoid them getting too wet and waterlogged. Our experience tells us that most indoor plants fail due to being continually over-watered.

Great bulbs for internal flowering colour throughout the year

It is know that people have always intuitively sensed that contact with plants and nature is a calming restorative tonic for body and soul. So if this is the case why are people so reluctant to buy into these benefits? It obviously can’t be practical reasons, as gardening is our number one past-time, therefore we must be happy playing with plants.

So is the problem marketing? Do the general public simply not know about the research, which has been carried out over the past 25 years by academics and scientists into why plants are so good for us?

If this is the case, do we need to get Jamie Oliver or his horticultural equivalent to highlight these benefits via a prime-time T.V. series? Will it only be then, that people will make this a topic of conversation in the workplace kitchen or school run pick-up point?

It would be fantastic to think that one day; people would accept the idea that they need a plant in each room as much as they need exercise and their five servings of fruit and veg  in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

If it is marketing that is the problem, then I suspect there is plenty to do before we can tempt programmers to consider making such a T.V. series. In our effort to help get the conversation going, we offer you the following timely fact, since the schools have just gone back:

FACT: Attentiveness increases as much as 70% when plants are put in a classroom.

Research conducted by Amanda Read of The Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester, England demonstrated that students attending the lectures in the planted rooms were much more attentive, with distractions reduced by 70%. Students were also almost 100% more likely to return to lectures in the planted room.

Source: The Royal College of Agriculture, Cirencester, England.

In another piece of research carried out at a Norwegian primary school, plants were introduced into classrooms to improve the indoor atmosphere. The school was delighted with the findings from the research, as it showed that there were less health problems in the classrooms where the plants were located, resulting in a healthier place in which to learn and work.

Source: Plants for People

Analyst Lisa Mackenzie said: “With Japanese apartments being extremely small and gardens hard to come by, micro-gardening has started to come to the fore,” This trend has also gained momentum due to the radiation fears among the Japanese. There has been an increasing demand for knowledge regarding the origins of the food and water they consume. Therefore being able to grow their own produce on their kitchen wall or window sill, goes some way to giving them peace of mind.

Gifting plants has also become a trend in Japan with various products such as Eggling pots and Flower Muji plant bags being available at a recent Interior Lifestyle expo.

It is a known fact that plants are ‘really’ green. Plants save energy by creating shade and helping to cool the air, reducing the need for air conditioning. This fact has been embraced by the Japanese government who has also introduced a living wall project, giving Goya plants to households and businesses as a way to keep buildings cool and reduce their dependence on the use of air conditioning.

My name is Alan Page, as well as being the Franchise Director of the Company, I am also the person responsible for everything creative. Initially I will be the main blogger for Urban Planters, but I intend to invite others from our network to pitch in occasionally.

I have to say I am very excited to now be able to allow our website users to interact with us and eagerly await your feedback when our blogs are posted.

You will also notice that our website has now got the main social share buttons, links to our social platform profiles, a feed in from our twitter profile and a new newsletter sign-up facility. If that is not exciting enough, very soon we will also be adding a new brochure download/view function to make your browsing even more enjoyable.

That’s about it for now, I will be adding our next blog posting very shortly, so please come back very soon.