Little Green Space - Updating Main Site

Don't fret! Littlegreenspace.com will be reappearing very soon.

We are upgrading the website to make it even better. We are currently transferring across ready for Spring.

See you soon.

The little green space ladybird.

Pot Plants in the Spring

Now’ s the time to go through your houseplants and give them a
spring going-over. They’ve struggled through the winter with us,
and they need a boost!
Firstly – see if they’ve become pot-bound. Are the roots bursting
out of the drainage holes? The plant will thrive if you repot it
in a slightly larger container, big enough to handle the extra
root growth, say a couple of inches all round.Tease out the roots
gently with your fingernails if they’re tightly bound.Use a soil
based compost which contains nutrients (such as John Innes No 2)
to pot on your plant, then scrape off and discard an inch or two
of the old soil from the surface, to be replaced with your fresh
soil. Do this last bit with all your houseplants. The nutrients
and organic matter in the fresh compost are just what the plants
need, and you won’t then have to feed them again for a year.Give
the plant a good watering and let it sit in a tray of water for
10 minutes while you either wipe the foliage with a felt cloth,
or spray off the dust that can clog a plants breathing apparatus.
Your plants will thank you by growing faster and healthier!

Written By Tom O'Leary

Floating Cuttings

Taking cuttings is fun and here is a little technique you might like to share with your kids. A lot of cuttings root in water and a fun way to do it is make little boats from polystyrene and insert the cuttings through them like masts, so that just the bottom centimeter or so of stem is under the water. The advantages to this method are that the cuttings are always kept at the right level in the water and movement has a curiously positive effect.
There are no rules about what will root and what won’t but you may like to start with something quick and easy like fuchsias, dahlias, geraniums, or busy lizzies. If you are going to grow on the plants in compost, don’t let the water roots get before potting them up or they will find it harder to adapt to life in soil.

Written by Alistair Ayres

A warm welcome to your new resident gardening expert, Alistair Ayres

Alistair Ayres was editor of Which? Gardening and regular columnist at The Guardian for more than ten years. He is a trained botanist with a wealth of professional experience in design, building and maintaining gardens, and has won medals at all the major flower shows.
Read more

Biography
Alistair moved to a 3-acre Victorian walled kitchen garden when he was seven. By the age of ten, he had his first small business growing gladioli for market. After leaving school he became a professional propagator before coming to London to study botany.

After graduating, he developed a successful career as journalist, editing two national gardening magazines and a regular columnist for The Guardian for more than ten years. Working for Which? Magazine, he was responsible for conducting trials on thousands of gardening products, techniques and plant varieties. He has designed medal-winning gardens and exhibits at all the major flower shows, including Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Park.

Alistair has also worked as park keeper, maintained the gardens of the rich and famous, and designed and built numerous projects ranging from tiny roof terraces to country estates. He currently divides his time between gardening and his other passion, which is writing and making films.

Christmas Gifts

As you can see, we have been busy at Little Green Space creating our wonderful winter range in time for Christmas. If you order now, when we phone you to arrange delivery, you can opt for delivery in the week before christmas! 

Our window boxes and herb gardens are very popular as gifts. They make a special alternative to a big bunch of flowers. 

Give the gift of nature to someone you love this christmas...

Coming up with original gift ideas that delight is one of the most difficult things about christmas. However, at Littlegreenspace.com you can delight your friends and family with original and thoughtful gifts.

• For your 'foodie' friend - A Herbie on the Sill herb garden. How wonderful for them to have to hand such a delicious range of fresh living herbs to use in recipes!
• For your friend with the small London apartment -  a winter windowbox to put on their balcony. The Holly and Ivy box makes a dramatic seasonal statement. When everyone else brings their plants inside, your friend can take them outside.
• For your best friend -  our new 'Winter Wonderland' box. These contain three luxurious  white heather plants in a striking silver container. 
• For Mum - choose from our excellent value range of William Morris inspired garden accessories. The colourful metallic watering cans also make nice ornaments for in the home or for growing house plants in!
  

Who said Christmas needed to be difficult! ...We'll even let you pre-order and we'll deliver in the week before christmas so that you don't need to store the gifts for ages. We call every customer to arrange delivery - just tell us what is easiest for you.

Little Green Space. Little Green Christmas.

Autumn/Winter Range

As London cools down for Autumn/Winter, we're red hot at Little Green Space - putting the finishing touches to our new seasonal range! You will not be short of christmas gift ideas and we'll even deliver pre-orders in the week before christmas so that you don't need to look after 

them in between ordering and giving.

In the bleak of midwinter, you may sometimes feel miserable, but that doesn't mean your balcony must be sad too. Cheer it up with our winter range of stunning winter boxes. We will be producing a range of boxes including a winter version of our popular Shady Sadie -she continues to seduce in evergreen attire. 

We will also be introducing our brand new 'Holly and Ivy' box -  robust, full-bodied and uncompromisingly charming. Last but not least, we will debut our bewitching 'Winter Wonderland' box. In a striking silver container, three splendid white heather will nestle from the wintry London winds. 

...We like winter too. 

Little Green Space. Winter Wonderful.