A Bright Future

A Bright Future

The two greenhouses at Genus HQ received a bit of much needed attention this week.

Due to their location next to a small copse, several sycamore branches overhang them and aphid activity drops a sticky honeydew which, through fungal activity, turns black.  Dirty glass can severely restrict the passage of light and in turn hamper plant growth, so action was required.  Armed with a hosepipe, some washing up liquid, and a telescopic brush we worked our way around each pane scrubbing, swilling, and using a long handled weeder to winkle moss out of crevices in the frame.

The sticky residue proved hard to remove so a prolonged soak during a tea break followed by another scrub seemed to do the trick.  Large amounts of water demonstrated too, just how blocked the gutters had become.  A simple scrape with a convenient stick removed most of the offending mess which followed up by a blast from the hose made them as good as new.

Of course, there’s a knock on effect! Cleaning the exterior surfaces only highlighted just how dirty the inside of the glass had become.  With mowing, weeding, and other pressing jobs to do in the garden we left this for a rainy winter's day.  

Clothes in action today: Men's Waterproof Gardening Trousers (of course!).


Wildlife in the garden - collared doves

We love collared doves. They’re often around the garden grazing under the bird feeders and the margins of the surrounding fields.  Barely known in the UK prior to the 1950s,...
Read More

Modern heroes of horticulture - Adam Kirtland

Adam Kirtland is a gardener who has surged onto the gardening scene in recent years with his informative, relatable, and often incredibly witty Instagram account that offers advice from making...
Read More

Gardeners' notes - what to do in August

Propagate clematis Many clematis will have flowered by now and you may have spotted a particularly good performer in your own or a friend’s garden.  Now is a good time...
Read More