A LITTLE PIECE OF ‘THYME OUT’ FOR YOU

Bi-Monthly Newsletter – May to June 2009

I hope you’ve got your feet up, feeling nice and warm and ready for some light reading.

Jobs to do in your garden during May include:

• Give your garden a ‘last chance’ fertilise to give them a boost before it gets too cold.
• Make sure you clean up your garden, rank weeds and spent crops are a haven for over wintering pests!
• You may need to add compost to enrich tired soil.
• Organise a winter spray programme, or better yet, let me take care of it for you.
• Keep slugs and snails at bay, but ensure you renew pellets after it rains – could be a mission with our   weather!
• Spray your roses and fruit trees with copper at leaf fall to prevent fungal infections.
• Invest in some frost cloth.
• Flowering shrubs should be cut back by 1/3.
• If you haven’t mulched yet, call me!
• Clean up leaves from your lawn, they’ll kill it.
• Enjoy the final autumn colours.

Jobs to do in your garden during June (the beginning of Winter) include:

• Same as for May, clean up and get your compost bin working for you!
• Keep planting spring bulbs.
• Water indoor plants less, don’t worry about outdoor watering!
• Keep on top of those slugs and snails.
• Pea straw makes a great mulch on the vege garden.
• Lift dahlias as they could rot in waterlogged soils.
• Prune hydrangeas.
• Feed your winter veges.
• Remove or transplant trees and shrubs while they’re sleeping. You may need to stake them too.
• Hellebores (winter roses) will brighten up your garden.
• Keep your tools sharp and clean.

Did you know:

• Fellow chocolate lovers I have the ultimate for you!  Cocoa husks smell devine and are great mulch.  They’re light and easy to work with and when watered ‘gel’ together to suppress weeds and retain water.  Best reward is that it doesn’t sit on your hips!  Just nip outside for a chocolate fix.

Especially for you:

• Winter can be a depressing time, little or no sun for your daily vitamin D supply. But this is the time to get out and have a coffee and cake with friends.  Keep active, Spring is coming!
• Buccaline Berna is a wonderful immunity boost to help stop complications of colds and flu.  Available at your local chemist.
• Get yourself some garden magazines or surf the net for holiday destinations.
• When you’re next doing your grocery shop, look out for new treats/drinks to try.  Get a group together and take turns investigating new products.  Good time to catch up on goss too!
• Look after yourselves and treat yourself to something new each month/week, hey even every day!  Even if it’s ½ an hour to sit back and relax away from all the stresses of work/kids/ worries you may have in your life.  They’ll be there when you get back he he.  Plan it in your diary and don’t move it for anyone!

More Before and After photos:

Before:

After:

This is what the cocoa husks look like as mulch – yum!  I love this as my client has been adding to her garden and it’s looking really good.  A pat on the back for all her hard work and enthusiasm.

Remember, do nothing and you’ll keep receiving my newsletters.  However, if you do not wish to receive them, please by all means let me know.

Take care and take Thyme Out.

Regards,

Jo