It is a tough time for bumble-bees these days but I am pleased to say that the garden is buzzing with these very welcome visitors. Having the right flowers in the garden obviously helps so it is very worthwhile doing a bit of research when planning your garden to ensure that you include suitable plants. Bees help to bring a garden to life and I for one would hate to think of any garden I owned not having bumblebees or any kind of bee visiting.

The National Trust for Scotland has pledged to become peat free in the next three years. I started my own garden too many years ago to admit to. My first seeds were sown and potted on into a John Innes loam based medium. Then I discovered peat based compost, easy to use and great results. I even started to mix my own compost based on peat from a relatively local source by an old chap who was not in the best of health but his daughter could lift many more bags than I could! I even used it to condition my heavy clay based soil.

Many years later it suddenly became not very politically correct to use peat. Gardeners were strongly encouraged to use alternatives for potting compost. I tried the alternatives that came onto the market, I really tried but they were awful or very difficult to manage. The surface of the compost would be very dry but underneath very wet. Nutrients soon washed out and regular feeding necessary.

Another problem was that it was an awful texture to work with especially for seed sowing and pricking out seedlings. Imagine my surprise when listening to a debate on the radio recently involving very well known media gardening experts and gardeners from some large gardens saying that they too had given up trying, one saying that he had lost some very valuable specimens.

Also mentioned was that the amount of peat burnt for fuel in Ireland made the amount used by gardeners miniscule in comparison. In addition there are countries in Europe where people rely on peat extraction for their livelihood but they extract from vast acreages that are in fact sustainable and regenerate.

I have read this week that scientists in Aberystwyth believe that flowers “wave” at passing insects to attract attention. Whatever they are on

Flower Garden in August - Hints and Tips