Grower’s digest - September 2018

Plants in the post

A ‘garden box’ mail delivery service aims to bring simple gardening to the homes of those with little or no gardening experience, including children keen to sow and grow their own, or those with little space.

In each monthly Hortus Focus garden box, you will receive a plant, a pot and the suitable compost, sometimes a natural fertilizer (if necessary), a product from the garden to try or a tool you require. From €25 (children) and €30 per month.

https://hortus-focus.fr/

Bricolage for a bargain?

Mr Bricolage has announced a partnership with popular e-commmerce website, CDiscount. The move will see the DIY chain’s products available to the site’s 20 million or so monthly visitors, and is aimed at increasing the amount of DIY shopping done online (currently only 6%).

Green, green grass is mown

For those with a lawn, the end of the summer is the time to carry out scarification – the process of getting rid of moss and plant debris intertwined with your grass. If not carried out, the existing grass can suffocate, while water cannot get down
to the roots – not good news in winter.

The process of making small incisions in the lawn can be carried out manually using a push along roller, or electric or thermal-powered machinery (model shown is the Bosch electric AVR 1100, €199.95 from Truffaut (web price).

Insta-jardins

Social media app Instagram is a brilliant way to enjoy other people’s gardens in France, with everyone from chateau visitors to chambre d’hôtes owners posting seasonal snaps of their gardens (users can search using the hashtag #jardins).

We will bring you our pick here every month.

This month’s shot is of Villa Noailles, an early modernist house, built by architect Robert Mallet- Stevens in the Var. It was taken by user theroad.ro