Author: Patti


About Patti

When it comes to gardening I am more keen than green-fingered - I love spending time outdoors but have had my fair share of gardening mishaps over the years! I’ll be sharing what I know (and what I don’t) along with stories, tips and reviews here on BIG Granite. I hope you enjoy them.

Top Tips for Watering

Learning from my mistakes. My poor old plants!

When I was a kid, watering the garden and patio plans was one of my favourite jobs in the heat of the summer (not so much in the winter!). I was always cautioned to water in the evenings because the hot sun would scorch the leaves if I watered earlier in the day – and…

Garden Hose Maintenance Tips

Coil your garden hose where no-one will trip over it

I recently wrote about my search for a really good ‘no-kink’ garden hose. Having spent a little more money than I have in the past I am keen to extend its useful life much further than my previous record of a year (when I bought really cheap hosepipes and then left them out in all…

The Best Garden Hose

AquaPure Neverkink 100 ft Garden Hose

After yet another cheap garden hose split last summer I decided to start shopping around for a better one – this was the third one in as many years that had formed a ‘kink’ that eventually split. It had never really seemed worth ‘investing’ in a good hose to me – it’s hardly complicated equipment…

My Review of the Envirocycle Composter

Envirocycle Original Composter

If you’re looking for a compact, robust and easy to use backyard composter that will last for years and years then look no further. For me, the Envirocycle rotating compost bin is the best I’ve found. It’s compact enough to make use of a small space – perfect for those of us who don’t have…

How to Use Compost Tea

Big Granite: Gardening Tips and Tool Reviews

One of the special features of the Envirocycle composter that I reviewed earlier is its ‘compost tea’ collector. Being a complete newbie to composting back when I bought it my first reaction to this was: ‘Great – compost tea! What’s that for?’ For anyone else with the same question – this is (very simply) what…

Next Page »