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When inventor Edwin Beard Budding had the bright idea to create the first ever lawnmower, his invention made it so that the neatness of a lawn no longer had to rest on the sharp edge of a scythe. Before lawns were created deliberately to be incorporated into garden designs, short sections of grass indicated that livestock had grazed there. Rich landowners wanted to replicate this rustic aesthetic but in a fashionable upmarket way. Pre lawnmowers, out went the casually grazing sheep and kine, and in came the teams of workers to plant and keep the lawn shorn to the appropriate level with their scythes and shears.&nbsp;Next time you strike your mower up, think about the work involved in the maintenance of lawns in the past. From Capability Brown’s eerily perfect pastoral scenes to the incroyable Tapis vert of Versailles, many hands made light work of many lawns.If you enjoyed today’s Gardens and Mowers Minute come back tomorrow to read our Saturday round up post to see what you may have missed. If you would like us to take a look at your lawn <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" title="click here ">click here.</a>

Before Mowers Existed

If you try to think of grand dames of Victorian gardening and plant science, the names of Marianne North or Gertrude Jekyll might come to mind, but what about Annie Gulvin and Alice Hutchins? In 1896, the year after Lilian Lindsay became the first woman to qualify as a dentist in Britain, Gulvin and Hutchins also took their first steps into a male dominated space: Kew Gardens.Both graduates of the pioneering Swanley Horticultural College, that educated a great number of female gardeners, Gulvin and Hutchins received support from some male colleagues, and were derided by others who wondered if the work would be too hard for them. After their acceptance a small group of other women followed. The ladies of Kew first and otherwise had all gone by 1902, either to further their careers or get married, but they had left their mark. Come the First World War there were women at Kew again and there continued to be from that point onwards.Like the women of Endell Street Military Hospital, Annie Gulvin and Alice Hutchins proved that women could be just as capable and talented as men at a time when that truth was constantly questioned.

The First Ladies of Kew

No, we’re not talking about something that would strike fear into the hearts of Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonny, but we’re talking about that scourge of roses, black spot. The common rose disease, that causes black blotches to appear on the leaves of roses, can in fact be prevented and treated and doesn’t have to be feared.Prevention is better than cure, so we’ll start there. Planting your roses near to onions and garlic or other alliums helps because black spot is a fungal disease and alliums are antifungal. Proper basic care is another useful form of prevention, if your roses are pruned correctly and at the right times, well irrigated, and in a place where air can circulate around them, they will be less likely to develop black spot.If your roses have already developed black spot, don’t despair. Affected roses should be fine if you remove any affected stems and spray with an antifungal rose treatment. If you don’t want to use chemicals a natural cider vinegar treatment may help. Otherwise it is worth investing in a black spot resistant variety of rose.&nbsp;And most importantly, wash your hands and your equipment regularly.

Black Spot

Thinking outside the box when picking a hedge pays. Your typical box hedge can be susceptible to box caterpillar and box blight so it makes sense to look at other options when choosing what hedge you want.&nbsp;If you’re looking for something that can be clipped into neat, formal shapes outside of the taxus, buxus, and laurel trinity, pittosporum, holly, and yew are good choices. Though it is wise to be careful with yew, it is generally resistant to most pests, but it is toxic and can cause harm to young children. Low growing hebes can also create an attractive hedge that can thrive with little meddling required.If bright, beautiful hedges are more to your taste than our more formal friends, hedges made of lilacs, and hydrangeas will bring joy and elegance to your garden. Lavender too, made into a low growing hedge will bring the serenity and scent of Sénanque to your garden and make a lovely display from late spring into early summer.If you need help with garden maintenance, pop over to our <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/garden-maintenance-services-2">Garden Maintenance Services page</a>.&nbsp;

The Right Hedge

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can prevent a mower from running sweetly. However, sweating the small stuff when it comes to mower maintenance can save you hundreds of pounds. Whether or not your mower fuel cap is screwed on properly is one of these important but small considerations to make.&nbsp;A loose fuel cap can cause air to get into your mower, and gas to escape, and when air gets in and gas escapes, your mower can run less efficiently or stall.&nbsp;<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">So before you start worrying when your mower isn’t working, check to see if your fuel cap is on tightly enough. There’s no need to run out and get a new mower. <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">And that’s today’s Gardens and Mowers Minute. Come back to our blog tomorrow to read another garden or garden machinery related post that takes a minute or less to read.

Caps On

In myth, daffodils can be associated with sad events. A lonely daffodil with a yellow centre, surrounded by white petals springs up in the place Narcissus, the youth besotted with his reflection dies, and Persephone picks daffodils before her unwilling descent to the underworld. In reality, daffodils are poisonous and can cause unpleasant symptoms if consumed.It is perhaps quite strange then that the daffodil has become a symbol of that celebration of maternal and filial love, Mother’s Day. The typical explanation for the connection between daffodils and Mother’s Day is that servants and apprentices customarily released from their duties on Mothering Sunday would gather flowers for their mothers on the way home. There is no way of knowing if anyone picked daffodils, but there would have been, as there still are, wild daffodils aplenty on hillsides all over the country.The longevity of the daffodil too makes it a suitable symbol. Daffodil bulbs can survive and produce flowers for years on end. What better symbol of a mother’s constancy is there than a flower that can show its beauty for many years without fail?

Gardens and Mowers by Clive

The Gardens and Mowers Minutes

Before Mowers Existed

The First Ladies of Kew

Black Spot

The Right Hedge

Caps On

Say It With Daffodils