Wildflower Seeds for Monmouthshire: Native Mixes for the Wye Valley, Vale of Usk and Gwent Levels Monmouthshire packs an unusual amount of geological variety into a relatively small county. Old Red Sandstone dominates the Black Mountains fringe and the Vale of Usk, giving free-draining, slightly acid-to-neutral ground. The Wye Valley’s limestone slopes around Chepstow and
Quick answer The best autumn scenic drives in Mid Wales from Builth Wells and Beulah are the Abergwesyn Pass over the Devil’s Staircase to Tregaron, the side road to Llyn Brianne, the Elan Valley and its mountain road to Cwmystwyth, and the B4519 across Mynydd Epynt. Colour usually peaks from mid-October to early November. Autumn
Quick answer A quiet New Year short break in Mid Wales swaps crowds and fireworks for frosty walks, dark skies and old Welsh customs. Near Builth Wells you can join Llanwrtyd Wells’ torchlit Mari Lwyd walk on New Year’s Eve, walk the hills on New Year’s Day and catch the Quadrantid meteor shower before dawn
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Wildflower Seeds for Cornwall: Native Mixes for Granite, Slate and the Coastal Fringe Cornwall doesn’t have one soil, or one climate. Within thirty miles you can move from wind-scoured granite moorland to sheltered slate valleys to the raw, low-nutrient spoil of a china clay works — and a wildflower seed mix chosen for one will
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Knowing how to sow yellow rattle properly is the difference between a meadow that opens up within two or three years and a sowing that simply never appears. Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is the most useful plant there is for turning a grassy lawn or paddock into a wildflower meadow, but it is also the
How to Sow Yellow Rattle: An Autumn Guide to Getting It to Take Read More »
Planting wildflower bulbs in autumn is the simplest way to bring colour to a meadow, a hedge bank or a shady corner months before anything else is flowering. A drift of wild daffodils under a field hedge in March, snowdrops along a woodland edge in February, bluebells beneath trees in May: these are the plants
Planting Wildflower Bulbs: A Practical Guide to Native Bulbs for Grass, Hedges and Shade Read More »
From Cotswold limestone to Chiltern chalk and Thames-side clay, Oxfordshire’s ground varies hugely. Here’s how to choose wildflower seeds that fit yours.
Wildflower Seeds for Oxfordshire: Native Mixes for Limestone, Chalk and Thames-Side Clay Read More »
Wildflower Seeds for Hertfordshire: Native Mixes for Chalk, Clay and the Chess and Lea Valleys Hertfordshire runs from chalk uplands in the west and north down to London Clay in the south, with a network of river valleys cutting alluvial strips through the middle. That geological range means there’s no single answer to “what wildflower
Wildflower Seeds for Surrey: Native Mixes for Chalk Downs, Greensand and Heathland Surrey packs an unusual amount of geological variety into a small, heavily wooded county. The North Downs run chalk from Farnham through Guildford, Dorking and Box Hill towards the Kent border. South of that ridge sits the Greensand, its sandy hills rising around
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How to find a genuinely secluded holiday cottage in Mid Wales: seven questions that reveal how private a holiday let really is, and an honest look at Graig Fawr
Secluded Holiday Cottages in Mid Wales: What “Private” Really Means Read More »
How to plan autumn and winter short breaks in the Mid Wales countryside: daylight by month, wet-day plans, dark skies and what to look for in a holiday cottage.
Autumn and Winter Short Breaks in the Mid Wales Countryside Read More »
Where to find remote holiday cottages in Wales, from the Cambrian Mountains to Llŷn, and how to tell if a remote holiday let is really off the beaten track.
Remote Holiday Cottages in Wales: Where to Find Real Quiet Read More »
