Garden Geeks Podcast

Having chalky/alkaline soil can be inconvenient to say the least, and we experience this nearly every day within our garden services team in the Guildford area based on the surrey hills. Chalk here is visible in clumps and the soil depth is very shallow. This is definitely not ideal for those looking to have a diverse range of plants so the answer we always give is 'build up the ground' meaning adding lots of topsoil and organic matter to improve water retention and find plants that won't mind being thrown in at the deep end! Some will even thrive once the ground is broken up slightly. In this episode I discuss some of my favourite that we look after every week in the Surrey area. To leave you with a ray of hope, once the ground is built up on you can just about plants anything you like. Hopefully this episode will give you a taster of how you can get the best out of what would otherwise be an unworkable plot!

I've had a few requests on how to create a rock garden so as always I wanted to rise to the challenge and answer those questions for those who choose to reach out to me. In this episode we explore:- - What rocks to choose for your rock garden - How to prepare your ground - What soil to use for your plants - Some popular rock garden plants with plenty of colour, evergreen foliage and fragrance. Hope you enjoy, and please leave feedback over on ITunes if the show has helped you in some way. Look forward to hearing from you!

Everyone has done it, including myself, and in this episode I talk you through how to avoid buying unhealthy plants. I've learnt from experience and feel I've done it enough times to help you avoid falling into the same trap. Don't be afraid to take the plant out of the pot, and if it doesn't slide out easily losing lots of its soil, you might be onto a goodun! If the garden centre staff or plant nursery owners have a problem with you doing this then this should send alarm bells ringing. This is common practice and is often expected, especially if you're spending lots of money, so don't be afraid to do it. Anyway, it's a short but sweet episode but will hopefully save you some money in the long run. Enjoy the show!

In this episode I discuss a problem that many people find when they have a north facing garden, and that's lack of choice when it comes to plants. This is a bit of a myth as there are plenty of plants that will thrive in shade so I wanted to start answering this problem with some shade loving climbers. I hope this helps give you some confidence that you're not doomed if you're one of these north facers! Enjoy the show!

In this podcast episode I cover everything you'll need to know about lawn care, specifically for the UK. (please note, if there's enough demand from U.S listeners i'll be more than happy to cover U.S lawn care but for now it's what I know best and that's the UK) You'll learn the ins and outs of * Lawn scarification * Lawn aeration * Lawn Fertilisation * Moss and Weed Control * Pest control * Lawn diseases * Seasons of interest and much more! Lawn care is a big subject so this is a slightly longer episode than usual to enable me to get everything in. Check it out and do please leave me a review in iTunes if you like the show, I very much value your feedback. Enjoy the show!

Welcome to the first episode of the Garden Geeks podcast! In this episode I'll walk you through why I decided to go with the podcasting format and what type of gardening content I'm going to be covering as we move forward. Please let me know what you think, even in the first episode. After all this is solely for you guys and if I'm not helping in some way, I need to know! Hope you enjoy!

I'm often aked by clients what websites they can browse to get inspiration when it comes to finding plants for their gardens. Although we provide both portfolios of 100 plants and 50 different hard landscaping materails created by us, there is something to be said for just going online and having a good surf to find the perfect group of plants for your tastes and your particular situation. To help out, i've listed a few sites that i find very useful to send clients and friends to if they want an easily navigated website with hundreds of plants and seductive pictures! 1. Crocus - Although this site will be more expensive than if going through trade from ourselves, it is a great resource for all types of plants and garden accesories. It will give you a number of different choices you can cater to your needs, enabling you to find exactly what you're looking for. Find what you're looking for, and then contact us for a quote on the plants you're looking to buy to get the most for your money. 2. Shoot- Another great resource to find plants giving you all types of varieties to choose from and telling you where you can get them from. Yet again, shoot will give you great advice but to get the best deal for your money, calling a landscaping company to buy them for you such as ourselves will eliminate delivery costs and you will be paying much less than retail prices. 3. RHS plant finder- For a more comprehensive website, RHS plant finder will give you everything you're looking for. Just type in your plant name and it will list everything you need to know about it. This is more for if you know your plant and want to check that it's right for you. I listed this one last so you can possibly find your plant and find out more about it. In order to buy your plants we offer a full service where we can go to the nurseries with you and help you find exactly what you're looking for, or we can buy the plants for you at the best prices you will find due to our long term relationships with numerous nurseries in the country. To find out more, go to our Garden Maintenance/ Plant implementation service or get in touch on our contact us page. A quick video of one of the properties we look after to show you how planting can transform a space. Planting

For all the dedicated readers of our blog out there I feel like its only right to explain why we've taken a break in writing about our gardening adventures! To get straight to the point, we've now moved to Liphook and our Internet connection has been down for the past week as we've been moving and re-adjusting to business a little further south. As I'm sure those of you with smart phones can understand, writing a post with them, as I'm doing now, can be a long and arduous task but I just couldn't bare to just leave you all with an empty gap in the past few weeks. I can now confirm that we are going live again on the 8th of this month and can't wait to be in touch with 'reality' again...even if it is virtual!!! Our move certainly doesn't effect the regions we cover, in fact it gives us more scope in Hampshire as well as Surrey and parts of Sussex. The posts will be coming back with avengeance as soon as were back on but I just felt it was important to keep you all posted and say thanks for your comments. For anyone who wants to make an enquiry or just wants to comment on past posts just email us at info@benlannoy.com and we look forward to getting back and giving more valuable information than ever! Another excuse for taking a 'break'...often not given the choice, but how could i say no! Poppy in the Field