News

Government must ban bee-harming pesticides

The Government must act to permanently ban bee-harming pesticides says Friends of the Earth as new research from Royal Holloway University released suggests that pesticides are a risk to bumblebee extinction.

The research showed that queen bees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides were 26per-cent less likely to be able to start a new colony.

Friends of the Earth is urging the UK government to back moves in the EU to permanently extend current neonicotinoid restrictions to all crops – and commit to keeping any ban post-Brexit.

Is there an elm tree near you?

The Conservation Foundation is searching again - and people throughout Somerset can help.

Ever since the 1970s when a wave of Dutch elm disease swept across the UK and millions of trees were lost, most people assumed that all elms had been infected.

In 2007 The Conservation Foundation began searching for healthy, mature elms which had survived. Had they had the disease and recovered? Were they resistant to it? Or had they simply avoided the disease somehow?

Garden visits come out tops

Visiting gardens is now the most popular attraction in England, according to the results of VisitEngland’s Annual Attractions Survey.

The survey, which gathered information from more than 1,500 English attractions, found that outdoor attractions performed particularly well, with gardens showing growth of eight per-cent.

September Issues Now Available

The September issues of Country Gardener are online now. They are full of tips on how to get the most out of your harvest.

http://www.countrygardener.co.uk/magazines

First ‘hedgehog housing census’

The first national Hedgehog Housing Census has been launched by Hedgehog Street, a nationwide campaign set up by wildlife charities the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species to help combat the ongoing decline in native hedgehog population numbers. This survey is in partnership with the University of Reading and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

A new home for Parks & Gardens UK with Hestercombe Gardens Trust

Parks & Gardens UK, the archive of historic designed landscape sites has a new home with the Hestercombe Gardens Trust based just outside of Taunton. In September last year Parks & Gardens UK with Hestercombe Gardens Trust received £97,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to secure the future of the P&GUK database and website of historic designed landscapes.

175th celebrations begin for The Romsey Show

The Romsey Show, one of the oldest agricultural shows in the country and the largest one-day show in the South of England celebrates its 175th anniversary on Saturday, September 9th.

The Romsey Show started in 1842 and will take place at the historic Broadlands Estate.

To kick off the anniversary festivities, everyone’s invited to an evening of entertainment at a ‘picnic in a tent’ event at the Showground on Saturday, 2nd September.

News skills galore at new Forde Abbey garden festival

Gardeners looking to maximise their crops and learn new harvest skills this autumn will be heading to Toby Buckland’s new Garden and Harvest Festival at Forde Abbey, near Chard in Somerset on 16th and 17th September. A host of local artisans are bringing their expertise to the two-day event, with talks, workshops and demos on vegetable growing, bulb growing, apple-pressing and seed collecting.

Historic Wells garden hosts rare plant fair

The Bishop’s Palace lies at the heart of the historic City of Wells and is a place full of secrets, stories and stunning scenery, and home to the Bishops of Bath and Wells for 800 years .Surrounded by a breathtaking moat you can cross a flagstone drawbridge, under the portcullis and experience a gem in the heart of the City of Wells.

The historic gardens host a new Summer Rare Plant Fair on Sunday, August 20th and visitors will see the garden at its high summer best.

NGS leads initiative for health and well-being

Gardens in Hampshire and Sussex which open for the National Garden Scheme are some of the most popular in the country.

The NGS has launched its first ever week dedicated to promoting the positive impact gardens can have on health and wellbeing. The timing of the week will be chosen at county level. All of the gardens taking part will open free of charge for a small, private group of people who would not usually get the opportunity to enjoy a garden, or for whom garden visiting is not always possible, either because of health or social reasons.

Country Gardener

Widely regarded as the authority on gardening in the south west