We all enjoy spending time in the garden- it's a peaceful, contemplative, relaxing time. Yet while we might pride ourselves on know when to plant out what, what to pot a certain plant in etc, we tend to know very little about the world of gardening beyond our own garden fence. Here's a few tidbits of gardening trivia to expand your mind and impress your neighbours.

1.Top of the crops: the most widely grown crop in the world (by weight produced) is sugar cane, which hit an incredible 1.7 million tonnes in 2007 and has held its top spot since- despite being grown in just 17 countries. Lagging far behind is corn (maize) at 822,000 tonnes and wheat, at 690,000 tonnes- although it can be argued that these are farmed in more countries, and are therefore candidates to the ‘most widely grown’ title. Another popular answer, rice, falls in at 685,000 tonnes while the humble potato takes an equally humble fifth place at 314,000. It might come as a surprise that at Cassava, a root crop widely eaten in South America, Africa and Asia, but little known in Europe, comes in next with 232,000 tonnes. Following this are soybeans, sweet potatoes, sorghum (a grain popular in Africa), yams and plantains. While the top crops are nearly all carbohydrate staples shouldn’t be surprising, yet the dramatic regional variations between the different continents and climates, and the unmatched superiority of sugar, shows how global trends can reveal interesting secrets about our world, our diets and our gardens.

2. The biggest garden in the world is the Dubai Miracle Garden, which covers 72 square km and contains over 60 million flowers. Built specifically to take advantage of the hot climate, the park is completely redesigned every season, and it’s not exactly subtle: recent attractions include a life size Emirates Airbus A380, covered in petunias, marigolds, snapdragons, geraniums, and more. Unfortunately, while the weather for much of the year is conducive to gardening, during the hot summers the park has to be closed. If that all sounds a bit too OTT (or far away) then the somewhat smaller Kew Gardens in London and the Eden Project in Cornwall are among the most exciting public gardens in the UK.

3. Greenhouses have been used since Roman times! Romans used ‘stone mirror’ sheets (semi-transparent minerals such as selenite or mica) or oiled cloth stretched over frames to grow cucumbers for the emperor Tiberius (below) at his palace on the Isle of Capri. These were known as specularia (meaning glazed). The plants would planted in wheeled beds and taken outside during the day before being taken inside at night. After the Romans, it took many centuries before effective greenhouses could be built again in Europe- though the same technology prospered in the Far East. As renaissance explorers and scientists brought more and more valuable, beautiful or delicious plants from the new world, European aristocracy continually experimented with greenhouses (the orangery at the palace of Versailles, built to house orange trees in 1663, is particularly impressive) but it was not until the 1800s that successful greenhouse gardening took off. While ‘orangeries’ ‘pineries’ (for pineapples) and ‘conservatories’ were popular additions to stately homes throughout the enlightenment- essentially summer houses with many large windows- the Victorian age saw modern looking, glass-and-steel greenhouses take off among amateur and aristocratic gardeners alike, with greenhouses becoming huge engineering projects. Kew Gardens’ famous Palm House, Chatsworth House’s Great Conservatory and the famous Chrystal Palace in London were among them.

4. Gardening for aesthetic pleasure, rather than food or medicine, has been recorded since ancient Egypt- where images survive showing ornamental plants. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in modern day Iraq in the 6^th century BC- supposedly as a gift to the wife of the king, as she was said to miss her lush, mountainous homeland in the barren desert. It’s suggested that the original purpose of ornamental gardens were to provide shade under trees, and to create cooling ponds and pools. As with many things, the practice of keeping gardens was adopted enthusiastically by the Romans, who kept elaborate private gardens featuring many of the flowers we know today. Monks kept the ideas of gardening alive after the fall of Rome, and kept much of the ancient writing on the subject, as well penning some of the first gardening manuals themselves. It was not until the renaissance, with its revival of ancient practices, that gardening for pleasure became more widely pursued.

5. The most popular flower in Britain is the rose. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the English rose topped a 2014 poll by the BBC to claim the title of the UK’s most popular flower. With 37% of the largely online vote, this was a decisive victory over the sweet pea (29%) and the iris (14%). Despite its funerary associations, the lily scored 12% of the vote and the tulip 8%. Hydrangeas came last out of the 30 options in the vote, beaten, rather unfortunately, by dandelions.

6. Lawns date back to the middle ages- and were mowed by hand! At a time when regular gardens were more often about growing for food or medicinal herbs, aristocrats began paying servants to trim open spaces around their castles with hand scythes, to allow sentries an unobstructed view of the surroundings. Villages had maintained communal meadows as grazing grounds around their outskirts for centuries, but rather than just keep animals this also allowed them to see attackers coming from further away. This approach was adopted by castle owners and was probably informed partly by experiences fighting wars in Scotland, where wide open spaces (as opposed to English forests) gave defenders a natural advantage. Indeed, in lawn-related activities the Scots were many years ahead of the English, with games like golf and shinty (an early form of hockey) played on the abundant natural grassland for centuries. Over time the open grounds became a popular place for games (there are references to bowls being played on grass from the late 12^th century) and by the 16^th century dedicated public ‘parks’ began to appear. By far the most popular game in the middle ages was football, which set villages against one another in massive, violent games lasting days and requiring huge outdoor spaces to hold- quickly migrating to these wide, flat patches of land. They were, however more often considered a nuisance- so violent were these early ‘mob football’ matches, they were banned in England 31 times between 1314 and 1667! However the enduring popularity of the beautiful game ensured lawns were used, and their maintenance became an everyday practicality rather than a military contingence. Lawns were also used to host importance events like jousting tournaments and the mandatory archery training all English men had to undertake. The link between lawns and pastimes was set, fostering a public fondness for lawns and parkland. Besides the original association with gentry and castles, the sheer wealth required to keep good land clear of housing, crops or livestock, while paying an army of servants to maintain it, quickly cemented the keeping of a ‘laune’ as being an upper class activity: which of course attracted the aspirational masses who wished to appear of a slightly higher station than they in fact were. By the 17^th century this had led to the full scale acceptance of the lawn as a sign of wealth and sophistication- and even after the wealthy moved from castles into stately homes, the popularity of lawn games such as croquet and bowls (as well as the visible wealth needed to maintain one) left the growing middle classes yearning for lawns of their own. And the rest, as they say, is history!

 7. You can produce enough food to feed 1 person from just 1 acre of land. In recent years there’s been an increase in interest in what used to be called The Good Life- people living self-sufficiently from their gardens. These days this movement has assigned itself the slightly more scientific name of ‘permaculture’ (permanent agriculture). While very few amateurs make a success of smallholdings, some can, and it’s been theorised that the amount of land required to produce enough food for one person could be very low indeed. While some claim the area needed could be as low as a quarter of an acre, most reliable sources suggest about an acre. The key to producing food in volume from a small area is using the space available as efficiently as possible, as well as good climate, good soil and a lot of good luck.

  8. The biggest flower in the world is the Rafflesia Arnoldii, found in the forests of Indonesia and first discovered in 1797. Fully grown, it can measure an amazing 3 feet across! However, before you buy an extra-large greenhouse, you probably don’t want it in your garden. This giant is a parasite, meaning it clings to another, healthy plant to harvest nutrients and water. It’s also incredibly smelly- to attract insects to help it pollinate, it emits a foul odour similar to rotting flesh, which has earned it it’s nickname ‘the corpse flower’.

 9. There an amazing 27 million gardeners in the UK! Out of a population of 65 million, that’s an extraordinarily high proportion- around 41%. It seems that the UK rightly deserves its reputation as a nation of gardeners. By comparison, the figure in the USA is 36%, however…

10. There are an estimated 389 billion slugs living in UK gardens (all of them, not just yours, however it may seem). There are on average up to 20,000 slugs per garden in the UK, around 200 per square metre! However given that that figure doesn’t include farms, garden centres, parks, forests or public gardens, the actual number of the UK’s slimy citizens will certain be much, much more!

Another gardening fact you may or may not know, is that the best value topsoil around comes in bulk from the topsoil shop. We deliver anywhere, and use only the highest quality materials to make sure your garden looks its best this spring. Check out our shop to learn more about the ways we can help you meet your gardening goals in 2018.

 New year, new you- or at least, that's the idea. Whether the new year is about finding a new direction or just doing the same routine, a little bit better, it's part of the fun of gardening to embark on new projects and seek out exciting new ways to enjoy the outdoors. Each Spring we have the chance to pursue bold new objectives with our garden, and to improve on previous years' successes (or lack thereof) with optimism and the wisdom of experience. Here are our suggestions, some bold and some less so, for the gardener seeking to try something a little different in 2018. 

Growing mushrooms

Growing mushrooms is a lot easier than many gardeners assume. The unique nature of mushrooms mean they need completely different (in fact, almost opposite) conditions to normal plants, and once established and activated can be produced at an astounding rate. With a bewildering array of delicious varieties available for growing at home, and interest in the mouth-watering flavours available growing, there’s never been a better time to start producing your own. Check out our mushroom-growing blog for more information on the ways you can turn an unused corner of your garden into a perfect habitat for these tasty delicacies.

Whether it’s soil improvers for root veg or wood chips for the humble mushroom, compost delivery from our shop takes the effort out of boosting your plants and creating a fertile base from which to bear record yields for your springtime crops.

Breaking the ‘slime trail stalemate’

Though the Christmas truce between exasperated horticulturalist and gluttonous gastropod might stand for a few months, don’t rest on your laurels. There are many things you can do over the winter to prepare the ground for the next time these munching molluscs storm the border (or allotment, beds, containers, insert as appropriate). A cutthroat battle of wits it may be, but with a little help you can make this spring a turning point. Here’s some steps to reduce your slug infestation, and with it your blood pressure.

• Break out the Copper: police the pests with the long arm of the lawn

Copper is a useful tool to prevent the spread of slugs across your garden. Small electrical charges make the metal plate uncomfortable for them to cross, meaning many avoid it. Copper rings, wire and tape is becoming more and more widespread in UK gardens, though its effectiveness compared to other new methods, such as fences, is a subject for debate among slug-afflicted gardeners.

• Use pine straw to give pests a prickly welcome

Pine straw- essentially packed, dried Christmas tree needles- is widely used across the pond for mulching, and is popular with berries as it’s reputed to spread slight acidity into the soil. But it’s most popular as a solution to greedy trespassers- slugs hate the spikey needles, and won’t cross them. This makes them especially useful for ‘low hanging fruit’ such as strawberries, where mulching (hence straw-berries) is essential.

• Make your own nematodes

Nematodes are a popular way to control the slug population in your garden- essentially bacteria that affect only slugs, they have come to the rescue of many exasperated gardeners. If you want to produce your own, you can save a trip to the garden centre. Many slugs already carry the bacteria, and once picked up and kept securely in a bucket with as many other slugs as you can grab, a little water (you’re not trying to drown them, this is more of a marinade) and some leaves for food, you can quickly produce your own nematode soup via your unwitting helpers. Mix them up and keep adding slugs caught in the act of invading your garden (a pair of rubber gloves might come in handy) and after a few weeks you’ll have a perfect nematode tea courtesy of your bucket of bacteria-carrying captives. This water can be strained, replaced, and used to spread slug-busting justice across your allotment.

Keeping hens

Following on from our tips on slug control, perhaps the ultimate anti-slug weapon is the humble chicken. Of course, the advantages to keeping hens extends far further than pest control. More and more families are keeping their own, savouring home-produced eggs and the bond between owner and animal. With an increase in interest in small-scale animal husbandry driven by an enthusiasm for animal welfare and organic produce, there is more information and material available to assist homeowners in keeping happy, healthy hens than ever.

Whether you’re treading new ground in 2018, or seeking to improve on last year’s rotation, our unbeatable topsoils, composts and other products will drive your garden to new success year after year. Check out our shop for more on our excellent range of products.

Lawns have long been the sign of a well-kept garden. Yet increasing awareness of the ecological benefits of variety, not uniformity, has challenged the long-established order.

Pristine, flat, consistent & uniform- the perfect lawn is the goal of many gardeners. Seen as the hallmark of true gardening excellence, it’s become a stereotypical, even clichéd, obsession among middle-class, suburban gardeners. There’s a great deal of attention paid to this area of gardening, with many products available promising the perfect lawn. For many it’s a timeless and constant goal, and good for those who choose to pursue it! But increasingly a new trend is overtaking our gardens: the wild flower meadow. For many years, wild flowers have been on the decline in developed countries due to the widespread uses weed killers, yet as more and more research into the role wild flowers play in our ecosystem is carried out, gardeners around the world are stepping in to revive this once-universal outdoor environment. Benefits to insects, birds, and other species are far more pronounced than on lawns: variety encourages a wide range of species, in comparison to the narrow benefits provided by the very mono-cultured lawn.

Delivering all the benefits to drainage & flood control that lawns do, meadow creates a beautiful, low maintenance surface that thrives even with low fertility. Bees love the flower rich environment which extends from Spring to Autumn, which also helps preserve many of the native flowers and grasses that are being slowly lost in the countryside to chemical-heavy industrial farming. Gardeners of all abilities are increasingly rejecting the traditional high maintenance lawn, now able to achieve an attractive and fragrant field of native flowers without the need to fret over poor pigment, bald patches or uneven edges. Without needing mowing, fertilising or scarifying, it increases local bee populations that boost flowers around the area while preserving a much-loved species that remains in decline with potentially catastrophic consequences.

It has to be said that it’s unfair to criticise the humble lawn too much. The wonder properties of turf are becoming increasingly widely known, and in providing a practical, usable, safe space for relaxing, a lawn is simply fabulous. Many lawn-minded garden owners are taking up the call to promote ecological balance in other ways, with borders, containers and baskets springing up around the country to support the bee population, among others. Indeed, compared to many of the destinies shared by our unloved and all too often neglected gardens- the lazy, ugly unholy trinity of concrete, AstroTurf or decking, which truly eliminate any chance of ecological usefulness, guaranteeing increased water run-off and depleted wildlife- a lawn is practically a godsend to the local ecosystem. It’s important to note there are many plus sides to keeping a lawn, and a wider variety of options means more gardeners- something that can only be a good thing!

If you’re considering establishing an eye catching, fragrant wildflower meadow, with all the benefits to wildlife that that entails, check out our amazing meadowmat- an ingenious, easily-laid, ready-grown meadow that quickly establishes in your garden to provide a great resource for insects, bees and birds.

Autumn may have just passed, but if you’re finding the prospect of a slow winter is getting you restless, why not consider putting in some winter strawberries?

Strawberries are a versatile and hardy crop, beloved as much for their undemanding growth as their deliciously sweet fruit crop. Its varieties are uniquely suited to careful winter planting, unlike most fruits, which struggle with cold weather. With the right preparation you can prepare a springtime crop that will mark the beginning of the warmer months with a burst delicious Summer-y sweetness! Amazingly, winter strawberries can be planted out immediately- even from seed. However there are steps you need to take to protect them from the weather, as well as steps you may want to take to improve growth in the run up to summer.

Planting your winter strawberries isn’t a difficult proposition in itself, however there are always ways to improve growth later on that you should consider when making your planting plan.

Strawberry pre-planting checklist:

1. Are you using containers or borders?

 Strawberries are one of the most versatile plants available for container planting. Famously adaptable and able to grow in even the smallest (and most unusual!) containers, whether in pots, suspended from the roof, in old footwear or in even more bizarre adapted holders, the big thing at the moment is recycling (or ‘up-cycling’) new strawberry containers. Whether your plan is to repurpose belongings to planters, or more conventional beds, there’s no reason your strawberries can’t thrive. Yet be aware of some of the soil-management steps necessary to help your strawberries prosper once the weather warms up and growing can begin in earnest.

2. Careful of your soil:

 Strawberries might be undemanding plants, but there are some basic initial steps that could save you from disappointment. Soil can harbour diseases & spores from previous diseased crops- in the case of strawberries you shouldn’t plant in soil used previously for potatoes, chrysanthemums, or tomatoes. These can all carry a disease called verticillium wilt, a fungal infection that affects many different plants and could harm your strawberries if spores remain in the soil. If in doubt, dig out the soil and dispose of it (remember: never add potentially diseased soil or plant material to your compost bin!)  When packing your containers with soil, remember to pick out any stones, weeds or debris that you find, and always leave plenty of room beneath the root system for drainage, and on the surface for mulching. If planting from seed, use a mix of seed compost and topsoil, or if planting ready-grown, use high fertility mixes such as manure, along with the right topsoil for a slightly acid blend (see below).

3. Check your soil pH

 Your plants’ success will come from the soil it’s planted in. Anything you can do with the soil to help them thrive is important, so whether you’re planting into new soil or not, it’s worth researching the options. The first thing to check is pH- strawberries, though durable for a fruit plant, prefer very slightly acidic soil (about 5.5-6.5) so if your pH testing kit shows slightly alkaline soil it may be worth adding a small amount of ericaceous compost to condition the soil. It’s also suggested to mulch with pine needles (also called pine straw), which not only deters pests (more on this below) but has the added effect of adding acidity to the soil beneath- though some gardeners dispute this. Once planted, many gardeners also recommend potash, or tomato feed, to boost growth as a fertiliser tailored toward acid-loving plants.

4. Add soil improvers

 In addition to the pH of your soil, there are a lot of things you can do to boost your plants. The window of time just after planting is crucial to determining the prospects of your strawberries, as this is the time roots are formed. Developing an extensive and healthy root system is vital to ensuring your strawberry plants yield well, as the more nutrients they can absorb to grow large, healthy fruit. Bone meal and other, strawberry-specific fertilisers can be added to the soil, to a depth of around 30cm (the maximum root depth of average strawberry plants).

5. Cover your plants

Once planted in lovely rich, fertile soil, you know your plants are getting the best start in life. However there are things you still need to do. Even planted nicely under the soil, it’s still too cold for winter strawberries to survive without help. Cover your plants securely with a cloche or polythene tunnel, to keep them warm in the winter frosts. If using containers, it’s also worth considering the positioning of your plants- they need plenty of light to keep warm. If it gets very cold, it could be worth keeping your containers indoors- for instance during snow. That said, plants are tough and as long as the plant itself isn’t subjected to frosts (which can harm the ‘flesh’ of the plant) chilly soil won’t do much worse than slowing growth.

6. Mulch & cover

Strawberry fruit are a fragile crop. As mentioned previously mulching your plants is essential, and plenty of options exist to do this job. It’s also important that as the weather warms you take steps to protect your winter strawberries from spring pests. Both these procedures are essential to protect your fruit, but for different reasons. Mulching protects the fruit from moisture in the soil, which can rot them, while covering with netting protects them from hungry birds (humans aren’t the only ones who love the taste of strawberries!). Strawberries should be treated carefully, and the name ‘strawberry’ comes from the straw traditionally laid down as mulch to keep these delicate fruit from touching the soggy ground. Use netting on bamboo to keep those pesky birds away from your fruit (though a bird-feeder is a great way to help our feathered friends stay happy without risking your crops!).

7. Water carefully

The fruit and leaves on your plants are delicate, and need protecting from damage. Water and fertilisers can hard your leaves, by rotting them or scorching them (water can magnify the sun’s heat), so once carefully mulched, either with straw, pine straw or plastic sheeting, you need to make sure you’re watering only around the base of the plant, avoiding the leaves and fruit as much as possible. 

Strawberries are a great favourite in gardens of all shapes and sizes, and a popular way of introducing children to gardening, so hopefully our guide has helped inform your decisions to and leads to your garden producing some strawberries of your own! Remember to check out our shop for any soil improvers you need to help all your planting projects thrive!

Our shop allows you to buy bulk topsoil online, with local suppliers to ensure fast delivery based around your needs. We carefully screen all our topsoil to guarantee excellent friability and composition for enhanced water management. Our team tests all our topsoils and composts on our farm to ensure we only provide the highest quality products when you buy topsoil online with us.

Topsoils are a popular soil improver in gardens and allotments around the UK. By developing your soil consistency while also boosting fertility you can help your plants thrive, overcoming problems such as chalky soil or poor drainage. Topsoil also helps your soil recover from poor management or neglect, restoring potential and letting your plants’ root systems develop quickly and healthily.

There are many reasons why home topsoil deliveries can be the answer to the question of poor garden fertility or low yields: with our topsoil calculator you can precisely assess the ideal size of order you need to make, yet if stored correctly topsoil can last for years without losing any of its benefits, meaning you can maintain enough for your garden with just one order: we will take care of the logistics. Our team supplies gardening materials all over the UK, allowing you to take advantage of money-saving bulk orders.

Besides topsoil we also stock compost, turf, sand, gravel and other gardening products to help your garden thrive. We deliver all our products straight to your garden with fast delivery available.

Contact our team today to learn more about how we can help your garden thrive or visit our shop to buy compost, turf or topsoil online.

1. How do you give your plants a boost without resorting to chemical fertilisers? Natural topsoil from our store offers superior blend of nutrients and drainage formula to enhance your plants’ development and help them thrive.

2.  

   There are lots of ways you can help your plants prosper: nowadays more and more options exist that allow you to keep you garden organic if you choose.

   Use our topsoil calculator to ensure your order matches the needs of your project

   Many of these options involve naturally conditioning the soil to boost fertility, rather than feeding or treating the plant with chemicals. Compost and topsoil both help create a more fertile garden while improving the water dispersal within the soil structure, feeding the root systems and nurturing growth.

   Topsoil from Topsoil Shop contains the perfect blend of sandy, loamy and peaty soils adapted for specialist growing tasks to ensure you get the best out of your soil.

   Using topsoil to enhance your beds can promote the healthy growth of a wider range of flowers without synthetic fertilisers. However understanding the types and quantities needed to boost growth is vital to achieving the right balance of topsoil. Luckily, our topsoil calculator helps you assess the ideal quantity you need for your project.

   Our innovative topsoil calculator lets you measure the volume of topsoil needed according to the dimensions of your plot, thereby ensuring value for money: though topsoil keeps, you want to make sure you aren’t ordering far more than you need.

   To asses exactly how much topsoil you need, visit the page for our topsoil calculator. For raised beds, simply measure the dimensions of your bed and enter the relevant information into the fields to get a precise measure of how much you need.

   Contact our team on 0871 971 0988 to learn more about the benefits of using our topsoil calculator for raised beds, allotments, borders and other planting spaces.

A great combination: Turf and topsoil together produce the ultimate luxurious lawn

Harness the health-boosting properties that screened topsoil can bring to your lawn, and give your grass a helping hand. We stock some of the best blends of topsoil to improve drainage, increase soil fertility, manage pH and assist with the development of plants at all stages of growth. If your turf health is a concern, lawn topsoil from The Topsoil Shop can revitalise your lawn and create a more healthful, durable and hardy lawn. Topsoil is an amazing product that’s produced according to carefully-researched, tried and tested formulae for maximum effectiveness.

How can a screened topsoil bulk bag help restore the greenness of your lawn? By sprinkling a light layer of our screened topsoil onto areas of struggling growth you can increase fertility and help your lawn recover from, or prepare for, bad weather. With careful timing you can help build up resistance in your grass to poor weather conditions, as well as restoring underperforming patches when coming out of the colder months.

Helping recover your lawn: topsoil & soil improvers can be the difference between good and great lawns

Turf is an amazing substance- a deceptively complex system of microorganisms, developing and growing. Turf can come under stress under difficult weather conditions or when covered, for example by standing water, snow or fallen leaves. This can lead to many garden owners’ worst nightmare: a patchy, uneven and off-colour lawn. Unfortunately many don’t explore the potential of turf and topsoil to boost growth and help their lawns recover. If your lawn is suffering from poor drainage, fertility or growth, careful scarification followed by sprinkling a very fine, light layer of screened topsoil over your grass is a tried and tested way of improving water drainage and preventing lasting harm. Equally effective for helping new seeds take root in patchy areas of your lawn, the fertility and water management properties of topsoil can help improve both the thickness and overall health of your grass. What’s more, you only need a small amount to make a huge difference- making this a great job to add to your list when you’ve a topsoil bulk bag coming to develop your allotment or borders.

Check out our range of composts, turf & topsoil supplies, or contact our team, to learn more about the ways you can give your garden a boost with soil improvers.

With the end of summer just over two weeks away, how should you go about preparing your plot for the colder months?

1. Get a spring plan together

As always, long term thinking and planning 6 months in advance is key to keeping your garden looking great. Winter is more about limiting the damage done by the cold while keeping your over-winter crops and flowers out of harm’s way, and preparing the way for your spring planting. Knowing ahead of time what sort of plants you want to plant, allotting them appropriate space and conditioning the soil accordingly, can save you valuable time before your garden shuts down for the colder months.

2. Get ready for storing equipment

You’ll still need your lawnmower for much of autumn, but once the mercury begins to drop you’ll want to leave your lawn alone for a few months. While your gardening kit is in storage, make sure to sharpen and oil any blades- leaving it caked in mud until March won’t do it any favours- so make sure you stock up on the necessary supplies and sort out your shed to keep it watertight.

3. Check your gutters

Autumn leaves can easily clog water drains at the best of times, so make sure they don’t have any help this year. Check gutters, water butts and downpipes for signs of debris build-up. Identify any trees that might cause issues- the leaves falling might look magical but enough of them can cause serious issues for your lawn. Above all, make sure you have a warm pair of waterproof gardening gloves!

4. Treat and store wood

Wood doesn’t do well if left outside all winter. Your fences, sheds, benches or garden furniture can suffer if exposed to all that cold, wet weather. Treat it with varnish or creosote to ensure the water doesn’t do extra damage. If possible, clean up and/or repaint any garden furniture and, if possible, bring it indoors.

5. Stock up on mulch

Mulching is great for autumn and spring, and can offer a little extra nourishment (and protection) to large plants and trees during the winter. Consider the soil improvers your plants will need to tough it out until Spring, and identify any plants that will struggle over winter- they may need removing.

Around this time of year, the sights and smells of summer gardens begin to pose a real temptation those whose gardens might only contain paving slabs. But for the enthusiastic amateurs seeking to transform their outdoors into a prospering flower garden, there are some realities to come to terms with: one of which is weeding.

What’s lurking beneath the surface of your garden?

Weeding might seem like a constant uphill struggle for gardeners, but it actually becomes easier over time. There will always be weeding to- especially annual weeds, the seeds for which can creep into your garden over the year, but on the whole weeding is a cumulative effort- as you continue to diminish the size and strength of perennial weeds, your weeding efforts will become easier. Perennial weeds spread through deep & often complex root systems that allow them to survive for years beneath the ground. You’ll need to commit to years of monitoring and digging before you finally eliminate them- it’s all about causing as much damage to the root network as possible, because as long as the fronds remain beneath the surface, the weed itself will return again and again.

Weeding or mulching?

The two means of fighting weeds- weeding (extraction) or mulching, are equally popular with gardeners seeking to reduce the prominence of weeds in their garden or allotment. In truth the two methods are not so separate- as effective mulching must be followed by some degree of weed extraction. Yet if your garden is suffering from a particularly heavy infestation of weeds, mulching can be a low-effort way to reduce them, limit their growth and spread and make for much easier removal. Simply cover the area between your plants, either with compost, grass clippings or leaves, to keep sunlight from reaching the weeds below. This will stifle weed growth and reduce water loss from the soil, and the organic matter should decompose into the soil. Ensure you leave the developed plants you wish to keep clearly exposed- the mulch will fertilise them, kill weeds and insulate them during colder months. Bear in mind that while this procedure increases fertility, h if that’s your main goal you could also consider top dressing or even plant food water additives. The other method of mulching involves a less sightly strategy- covering the weed-affected area with cardboard or black plastic sheeting to completely deprive the plants beneath of sunlight. In time they’ll shrivel and die, allowing for much easier removal. Unlike mulching with organic matter this approach cuts off the plants beneath completely from water as well as sunlight, which understandably causes a degree of trauma to the soil and won’t insulate as well- so ensure you time your choice of which form of mulching to use according to the weather.  

While regular gardens and lawns might benefit from weed killers and additional chemical additives, those growing fruit and veg might prefer a more organic approach that kills weeds and stifles any spread of plants into undesirable areas of border or allotment- this is something organic mulch does very well, and in addition it offers a wide range of drainage, fertility and insulation control qualities.

By comparison weeding is a simpler task- you can pluck the weeds out by hand (always satisfying when successfully ousting a particularly unsightly specimen) or using tools like a fork, hoe, trowel, scissors or even a specialist purpose-built weed remover to uproot them. In the cases of annual weeds, lightly hoeing the area removed the stems from the roots and allows the dead heads to be removed easily, raked away or simply left to rot into the soil. With perennial weeds a more rigorous approach, aimed at removing the roots entirely from the soil, is needed to prevent the plant from regrowing or spreading. Lots of specialist tools are available for this task, although a simple garden fork is often the most popular.

Weeding with a fork, hand fork or trowel should be undertaken every day, or as often as possible to keep weeds down and should be across your garden- as any area where weeds can flourish can lead to spread across the rest of your garden. If you compost, remember to separate annual weeds from perennials, as the latter can take over your garden or even compost heap, are hard to extract and should be disposed of.

Top soil supplier costs can be a serious factor when determining the scale of your garden project. Limiting costs is a high priority for every gardener seeking a large-scale garden renovation, and high-value bulk topsoil orders can be an investment that determines the scale of your new garden. Even raised beds and small allotments can lead to mounting costs- not to mention difficulty transporting the amount of topsoil needed.

 So how can you get the lowest possible top soil price without compromising either blend quality or the quantity you end up providing your plants? With Topsoil Shop!

We only stock the best garden top soils to ensure your plants prosper, but we also make sure you get the best possible value for money on your order, with our top soil calculator- which lets you see the exact amount of top soil you need to complete your project. Our soil improvers are all competitively priced & we’re always working to give you even lower prices on all our gardening products. We can provide the exact measure of topsoil you need, delivered straight to the site of your project, with expedited delivery if necessary. Though this combination of high quality, minimum waste and quick & affordable delivery, we have been able to help gardens around the UK blossom & thrive while saving money for the hard working gardeners who want to create them reach their luscious potential.

Whether you’re setting up a new garden, establishing raised beds or simply reorganising your allotment, we deliver bulk bags of high quality screened topsoil at a great price, to ensure your plants get the most benefit from the soil- whether planted out or grown from seed. So don’t let excessive top soil supplier costs deter your from that long-planned garden redesign, the addition of new species or boost to soil fertility. View our range of soil improvers here, and find out how we can help your garden prosper.