Weeding the Web

Gardening on a pittance at Buckingham Palace?

Quite a stir arose last week over Buckingham Palace's need for a new gardener. The Daily Telegraph concentrated on the eco emphasis of the job, with an article describing the handling of garden waste, taken pretty much verbatim from the Monarchy's official website.

As you might expect, The Daily Mail takes a slightly snide view, by concentrating on the salary. The job description can be found in their article. They're not alone in being exercised by this. Over at the Landscape Juice Network, members felt £15000 a year to be particularly tight-fisted.

Hanging baskets for spring

Last August I wrote about Dr Foster's Plant Containers, designed by Alan Larwood. Well, Alan has been in touch recently, given my remarks about his website, to let me know that it's been updated and now contains much more information.

It certainly looks a lot better and is easier to navigate but, more to the point, has some lovely pictures of his hanging baskets planted up. They've even won a prize: Mrs Frances Beeton won silver from Bury [St Edmunds] in Bloom competition with hanging baskets trailing into Alan's two-tier planters.

And no, it's not too early to think about Spring baskets. Pansies, primroses, tete-a-tete daffodils and ivy all combine to make a spirit-lifting display. And the daffodils can easily be replaced when they fade, as long as you've planted them in the top. Have a browse round his site for more baskets planted in other seasons. 

You never know where life will lead.  Alan has recently gained his US patent while doing a nice line in hanging baskets for his local shops. And there's a chap who just wanted to please his wife!

My personal favourite is his suggestion of planting a basket with nothing but violas, which if put in now should flourish until May, and only cost a pittance.