LJN Blog Posts

US scientists have identified the chemicals responsible for the mosquito-repelling activity of sweetgrass, a plant traditionally used by some Native Americans to fend off the bugs.

In laboratory tests, two sweetgrass compounds drove mosquitoes away f

Horley Town Council is currently inviting expressions of interest to tender for its grounds maintenance contract for a period of 3 years, commencing 1 January 2016. Contract specifications will include Grass Cutting, Hedge Cutting, Football Pitch Pre

Vandals have destroyed eight young birch trees and a liquidambar tree in Brinton Park, Kidderminster, planted as part of a memorial to a Wyre Forest District Council employee.

The trees were located close to the Loop Shelter and were part of a circle

From 1 October 2015 it will be illegal to smoke in a car (or other vehicles) with anyone under 18 present. The law is changing to protect children and young people from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Both the driver and the smoker could be fined £5

Emergency action is being taken by groups across the country to tackle the invasive Himalayan balsam weed to stop it suffocating other species in its path and destroying beauty spots.

The non-native Himalayan balsam grows next to watercourses and

Rustlings Road is aptly named. The street in Sheffield is lined with mature lime trees. Their whispering leaves are brilliant green in spring, then cast cool, dappled shade in summer and turn bright yellow in the autumn.

But Sheffield city council wa

There may be nothing “so lovely as a tree” but they are costing Reading Borough Council a small fortune in compensation payouts.

And it is not just trees causing damage - someone was paid £1,000 last year for walking into a post on council land.

Getr

From back garden vegetable patches and allotments with decades-long waiting lists to urban rooftop "farms" and vertical kitchen gardens, the grow-your-own revolution is in full swing.

Anyone who has tilled the soil will appreciate the diligence and

Pellenc has launched the City Cut for use on the Excelion 2000 brushcutter which is particularly suited to the maintenance of urban spaces and weeding without pesticides or projections. Pellenc is exclusively sold in the UK by Etesia UK.

The new cutti

Building a new garden for a client?

Why not treat them to a new Banquet Savannah 3 in 1 Charcoal BBQ Smoker and Firepit so that they can celebrate completion in style.

Buying your client a small gift is an inexpensive way to provide extra marketing.

Readers with long memories will recall me writing about the Royal Horticultural Society’s Plants for Bugs project, which aimed to investigate whether you need to grow native plants to attract wildlife to your garden.

Three sets of replicate “flower b

Scottish ministers are planning to formally ban genetically modified crops from being grown in Scotland, widening a policy divide with the Conservative government in London.

Ministers in Edinburgh are to apply to use recent EU powers that allow dev

Seeds from a tree that survived the bombing of Hirsohima have germinated at a Gloucestershire botanical garden.

Batsford Arboretum were sent seeds from a 200-year-old ginkgo growing 4,265ft (1,300m) from the 1945 atomic blast in Japan by Green Lega

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club is the proud new owner of a Trimax Snake after purchasing the rotary mower ten days before a demonstration was even due to take place.

Set in 225 acres of a picturesque landscape, amongst 300 year old ancient oak and swe

Sherriff Amenity has announced the appointment of new amenity specialist James Wright, who will be responsible for covering the areas of Lancashire, South Cumbria and West Yorkshire for the company.

James brings with him a wealth of industry experienc

Margate, the birthplace of the British seaside is undergoing something of a renaissance and the town is set to boom. So too is the town’s football club after a new owner injected new ambitions into the team; starting with improving turf maintenance e

Cheltenham Town Football Club has commented that the services of Complete Weed Control have made the role of their groundsman a great deal easier.

Founded in 1887, Cheltenham Town FC went on to spend its first three decades in local football. But the

The South African national rugby team will have first class training facilities going into the 2015 Rugby World Cup after it was confirmed that their outdoor training camp will be based at Eastbourne College; where the excellent rugby pitches are mai

A 23 year-old gardener working for Quadron Services was killed in Notting Hill after the vehicle he was in broke down and was hit by a Bentley Continental, reports the Guardian.

The London ambulance service said: “We were called at 11:49am to reports

Monsanto is far from happy. The main ingredient of its highly profitable weedkiller, Roundup, often used in conjunction with GM crops, has been declared a “probable carcinogenic”.

As well as being profitable for Monsanto, glyphosate is one of the mos