Planning ahead in winter can save watering in the summer, and help you grow better plants. Horticultural scientist Janet Manning shares her insights to help make your garden more resilient to extreme weather, which will save time and water. It’s not about drastic changes, but with a little scientific knowledge, making the most of what nature provides.   By planning ahead in winter we shouldn’t need to keep pouring water on in the summer Gardeners can have quite short memories when it comes to the weather. Not that many months ago we were desperately hoping for rain, and the tempera ..read more

Janet Manning shares her tips for watering pots, gardens and allotments, efficiently and sustainably. Efficient watering not only conserves water – it also promotes healthy growth and more resilient plants! We tend to think about water storage in terms of water butts, lakes, ponds and reservoirs, but soil too can hold a huge amount of water.  To help get a better feel for the amount of water needed for your plants, think of your soil as you would a reservoir. A  reservoir is designed to hold enough water for our domestic and business needs, until it rains and then it fills up again ..read more

Janet Manning knows a thing or two about plants and water, having built her career as a scientist in horticulture, the water industry and government. From 2018-2021 she was the UK’s first garden water scientist at the Royal Horticultural Society. Now she’s sharing her expertise with Water’s Worth Saving. Whether you’ve just got your first pot plant or you’re a veteran gardener, Janet’s blogs, videos, and tips have heaps of information and insight that you’ll be able to use straight away. “I’ve worked at both ends of the garden hose, in the water industry maintaining supplies and in production ..read more

As the weather heats up, gardeners will be reaching for watering cans or hoses. But as horticultural scientist Janet Manning explains, you can help your plants by encouraging their natural ability to cope in hot weather. After the hottest June on record in the UK, gardeners will have appreciated any shade in their garden to shelter from the sun. It may seem obvious, but we can move to get out of the sun and pour a cold drink. You can’t do either of those things if you’re a plant and can’t move! It’s fascinating how plants have evolved to learn to live without legs. They are literally rooted to ..read more

Compost helps keep soil and roots healthy and needing less watering. It helps soil retain moisture and used as mulch shades and cools plants’ roots, as well as helping the rain get in. Janet Manning, horticultural scientist, has some do’s and don’ts to get started with making your own compost. For great compost all that’s needed is a little space and plenty of air – either by keeping the compost heap loose by adding hedge trimmings or by regular turning. Even if you compost weeds, prunings, lawn mowings and all your plant material from the garden, you’ll be surprised how much and how quickly ..read more

Here’s a simple and ingenious way to save on watering, which has stood the test of time and enables plants to take the water they need. A terracotta olla (spanish for pot) is an ancient way of storing water in the soil for plants to absorb. The plants only take what they need, and there is no water or nutrients lost. Here’s how it’s done. Block the drainage hole in a terracotta pot, bury the pot up to its rim in the soil next to plants you want to keep watered and fill it with water. Place a saucer over the top like a lid to stop evaporation or wildlife falling in. As the surrounding soil dr ..read more

Using water wisely to keep plants healthy is even more important in hot weather. Neither you nor your plants want to have to work hard in the heat. Janet Manning, a horticultural scientist, shares 4 tips: when to water, encouraging plants to adapt, how to protect them and keeping the garden cool. 1. Water in the morning The morning is the best time for watering because that’s when your plants and soil are ready to take in water. As soon as the sun’s up plants start using water, and if the soil isn’t fully wet, they’ll adapt to partially dried root zones by producing abscisic acid (ABA), which ..read more

Spring is here and for gardeners that means planning, sowing and planting. But if you’re thinking of buying bagged compost then you’ll want to know about peat free compost. Janet Manning, a horticultural scientist, explains the benefits of going peat free and how to water it correctly. Get a head start as from next year amateur gardeners will not be able to buy peat-based compost anyway.   Peat needs to stay in the environment, not in compost The UK’s peatlands store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon For around the last four decades, composts were mainly made of peat. But more and more ..read more

Though it may be raining or frosty outside, winter is the best time to prepare the garden for next summer and reduce the impact of any dry spells. Horticultural scientist Janet Manning shares these tips to make the most of the moisture that’s around and reduce the amount of watering needed next year.   1. Hollow tining your lawn Grass is the only plant that we regularly walk over, but our walking compacts the soil underneath it. Hollow tining or coring is the removal of cores from the lawn, and it is best done before the spring, when the soil is moist, but not waterlogged or frozen ..read more

As the autumn brings cooler, wetter weather, now’s the time to ensure your garden is making the most of every drop throughout the winter and into next year. Janet Manning, horticultural scientist, shares four simple tips for capturing the water and nutrients that nature provides. 1. Fix up a water butt for better watering If you haven’t got a water butt then now is the time to get one. Then you’ll have plenty of opportunity to collect the rain over the wetter months. Rain water is great for your garden as it is softer, contains nitrates, and has less salts and chemicals than tap water. So keep ..read more