Office Department's blog

Sometimes in the countryside you can turn a corner and ….stop dead in your tracks. Poppies, thousands of them, are an arresting sight, dazzling in their intensity, charismatic and evocative. Carpeting huge areas in an ethereal mist of paper thin petals, painting the landscape crimson red.

For your garden there are dozens of oriental poppies (papaver orientale) to choose from, many different shapes, sizes and textures. They have been grown in this country since the 1700s with more interesting varieties introduced from the start of and throughout the last century.

A mulch is usually organic matter, it could be compost, manure, pine bark, grass cutting or even spent hops if you live near a brewery. Newspaper can also be used as a mulch as can, for example, slate, gravel and other aggregates.

Mulching is when you spread a layer of material over the surface of your soil for one of a variety of reasons, most notably weed control, soil conditioning and moisture retention. In addition, mulches deter pests and protect plant roots. They can also be used purely decoratively.

Propagating by taking cuttings, whether from your own plants or ones you admire in neighbouring gardens, is a fantastic way of increasing the variety of plants in your own garden free of charge, and all you need are a sharp knife and patience.

Cuttings take little effort and the results aren't instant, but the process is very satisfying and most gardeners love to save money.