Conker Nature Magazine - April 2024: The Home and Garden Edition Issue 2

APRIL 2024 ISSUE 02

THE HOME & GARDEN EDITION

Great Spotted Woodpecker WILD BOOK ROUND UP

Lovely Season

Wonderful Garden

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INSIDE COVER PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKHAILOVA OLGA IG:@AZBUKA38

HOME AND GARDEN MAGAZINE

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Editor-in-chief Lucy Morris Sally Marie Rosie Jones Tobias James Kararaina Bishara Darren Wynne Heather Wilkins Laura Woolley Isabelle Price Laszlo Balogh

Executive Editor Wildlife Editor Digital Editor Features Editor Photo/Sub Editor Photo Assistant Travel Editor Advertisement Director Logo Illustrator

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Conker Nature Magazine takes pride in ethical wildlife photography that prioritises the safety and welfare of wildlife and their environment. Conker Nature Magazine is committed to the correct representation of the natural world, away from the manipulation of media, and total honesty in our captioning. Photographers, please support us in providing all relevant information around the circumstance of the image and giving total clarity of where the image was taken (to include, but not just restricted to, use of bait, captivity or habituated animals).

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CONTENTS 08 WONDERFUL GARDEN

PHOTOGRAPHER: ALINA OSTAPENKO IG:@LINOSTA

18 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKHAILOVA OLGA IG:@AZBUKA38

22 LOVELY SEASON

PHOTOGRAPHER: OKSANA ARTIMOVICH IG:@OKSANA_ARTIMOSHKA

36 WITH LOVE

PHOTOGRAPHER: INNA KULIKOVA IG:@INNA28KULIKOVA

44 INSECTS

PHOTOGRAPHER: ELENA FEDOROVA IG: @ELENAFEDOROVA646

HOME AND GARDEN MAGAZINE

APRIL 2024

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Editor’s Letter

April 2023 PHOTOGRAPHER: OKSANA ARTIMOVICH IG:@OKSANA_ARTIMOSHKA

SOPHIE ALLPORT: COTTESMORE LOUNGE CHAIR - £400

Lucy Morris Editor-in-chief Welcome to April’s 2024 Conker Nature’s Home and Gardens Edition. It is a delight to bring you the beauty of the natural world through our homes and gardens.

This issue takes us through a series of beautiful homes and gardens across the world, each illustrating the beauty of nature through our interior and exterior designs.

As we step into April, the garden begins to burst with life. This is the perfect time to start planting seeds for summer flowers and vegetables.

From Marigolds to Tomatoes, the choices are plenty. But, remember to keep an eye out for those unpredictable April showers. A proper balance of sun and water will ensure that your garden thrives. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting, the magic of seeing your seeds sprout into life never gets old. So, put on your gardening gloves, grab your trowel, and let’s welcome spring with a vibrant garden.

In this vibrant month, it’s also essential to tend to your perennial plants, ensuring they’re pruned and ready to flourish. It’s the perfect time to divide and replant any overgrown perennial plants too, ensuring they have enough room to grow and bloom. If you have a vegetable patch, consider planting hardy vegetables like peas and potatoes as they can withstand the April chill.

GARDENESQUE: ATHENS CITRUS EXTRA LARGE TERRACOTTA PLANT - £169.99 ANNABEL JAMES: COMPOST SCOOP £21.99

Over on our website, discover Father’s Day gifts with Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre. Whether your dad’s a foodie who grows his own produce, an alfresco cooking pro who loves his barbecue, or simply enjoys spending summer days in the garden - there will be a gift for him! Head over to www.swankymediagroup.com/homes-and-gardens, we look forward to seeing you there!

HOMESCAPES ONLINE: GARDENING APRON WITH FLORAL BEE DESIGN £16.99

DOBBIES: PREMIUM GARDENING GLOVES FLUTTERBUGS - £16.99

For flower enthusiasts, daffodils, tulips, and crocuses are excellent choices for adding a splash of colour to your garden. And let’s not forget about your lawn; April is a great time to start mowing regularly and to begin treating any bare patches. With some love and care, your garden can become a beautiful sanctuary, overflowing with life and colour, setting the perfect scene for the warm summer days ahead.

CULT FURNITURE: BRIELLE GARDEN LOUNGE SET, LIGHT GREY & RATTAN - £1599

MARTHA BROOK: PERSONALISED LEATHER EFFECT GARDEN JOURNAL £26.95

FOLKSY: BUNNY ENAMEL GARDENING MUG BY THE BUTTERFLY AND TOADSTOOL - £15

To wrap up, the Conker Nature Home & Gardens Magazine team looks forward to welcoming you back next month with another wonderful Home and Gardens Issue featuring all things you need to know about gardening in May! See you there!

HOME AND GARDEN MAGAZINE

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FATHER’S DAY WITH

AT www.swankymediagroup.com/homes-and-gardens DOBBIES: CASHBAH CHAIR£129

Wonderful Garden PHOTOGRAPHER: ALINA OSTAPENKO IG:@LINOSTA

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PETER RABBIT CHILDREN’S GARDENING GLOVES SOLD BY ANNABEL JAMES - £6.95 AT WWW.SWANKYMEDIAGROUP.COM/HOMESAND-GARDENS

Great Spotted Woodpecker PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKHAILOVA OLGA IG:@AZBUKA38

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Lovely Season PHOTOGRAPHER: OKSANA ARTIMOVICH IG:@OKSANA_ARTIMOSHKA

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With love PHOTOGRAPHER: INNA KULIKOVA IG:@INNA28KULIKOVA

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LARGE BEES PLANT POT AND SUMMER GARDENING ACCESSORIES BY SOPHIE ALLPORT - £35.50

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Insects PHOTOGRAPHER: ELENA FEDOROVA IG: @ELENAFEDOROVA646

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WILD WONDERS

Garden Book Watch Out

Gardening for Kids: Sold by Sue Ryder Price £8.99 - Written by Dawn Isaac This Gift Book Gardening For Kids is full of inspirational ideas. Get your kids excited about nature, with these 35 fun outdoor and indoor projects.

A few things the author Dawn Isaac shows you how to in this book are: Sow a wheelbarrow vegetable garden.

Make cress caterpillars Build an insect hotel Plant a sunflower alley in your own backyard.

Using everyday objects and recycled junk, promoting awareness of reusing. Help save the environment with these rewarding activities.

Garden Show Watch Out

GARDEN RESCUE - SERIES 8 EPISODE 35 | 2023

There are chapters on creative containers, from teapots to rainboots and windowsill gardening. Foods such as cress, beans, and beautiful nature crafts can be made indoors.

In Garden Rescue, top designers are on a mission to transform Britain’s unloved gardens into spectacular outdoor spaces.

No matter the size of your outdoor space, these fun ideas will keep your kids entertained.

In this episode, Lisa and Chris are from Hemel Hempstead and dream of a childfriendly garden where they can all safely spend time together playing, growing produce and learning about nature.

Learn about gardening all year round with this great gift book.

However, their garden is currently a ramshackle spot with a treacherous patio, a troublesome lawn, a huge concrete pad and no real character. For £3,000, can Flo and Lee create a fun zone for the children and a relaxing haven for mum and dad?

Why We Love This: Teaches children to be environmentally aware.

Gardening is a great way to teach kids about responsibility Outdoor and indoor projects.

Garden Show Watch Out

Material: Paper Colour: Multi Hardback book: Height: 24.5cm Width: 24cm Depth: 1.7cm Weight: 0.7kg

Prue’s Great Garden Plot Channel 4 Cook and writer Prue Leith swaps her spatula for secateurs in a new horticultural adventure with her husband John.

Photos are of the front cover and a few pages in the book Hardback

WILD BOOK ROUND UP The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2024 Octopus Publishing Group | £12.99 The original and bestselling Almanac Reconnect with the seasons in Britain and Ireland with this month-by-month guide to the world around us - including tide tables, sunrises and moon phases; garden feasts, wildlife and folklore; seasonal recipes, snacks and more.

You will find yourself referring to The Almanac all year long, revisiting it again and again, and looking forward to the next edition as the year draws to a close.

Purchase at Waterstones

The Fair Botanists - By Sara Sheridan Hodder & Stoughton | £9.99 Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?

It’s the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV’s impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city.

In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event that only occurs once every few decades.

Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don’t last long in this Enlightenment city...

The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of Gardening Dorling Kindersley Ltd | £30 This extensively revised new edition covers what Monty believes are the most important aspects of gardening today. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned gardener, it’s time to get your green-fingered hands dirty!

Although organic techniques have always been at the core of his practice, this new edition has a new emphasis on gardening for wildlife and the impact of global warming on the garden. This is a go-to guide for anyone seeking Monty’s gardening advice and the perfect gift for any gardener, regardless of their experience or budget.

new barbecue tools

WITH

AT www.swankymediagroup.com/homes-and-gardens

Photographer: Oksana Artimovich IG:@oksana_artimoshka

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