Looking for a spot in your garden to grow more edibles in this stay-at-home summer? But maybe you don’t want to tear up more lawn or build raised beds. So, consider planting fruits and vegetables in the existing ornamental borders around your home, where the soil is already turned, mulch may be down, and weeds, […]
Your greenhouse can increase your GYO production in so many ways. Naturally one’s most often used for starting plants off earlier and in summer most greenhouses are filled with tender annual crops. Recently they’re becoming utilised for growing salads and other leafy crops almost year round. Of course the frost free greenhouse was actually effectively […]
This year, the British weather has been extreme, even by its own exalted standards. I have spent more time adjusting the ventilation in the greenhouse, than any year I can remember. Too hot, too cold, too draughty, scorching sunshine, black clouds, dry wind, cold wind and that’s just in one morning. Towards the end of […]
The time has arrived for the first harvests from the greenhouse crops, and the first dishes to reach the table. Few things are more satisfying. Although not currently growing any courgettes in the greenhouse (really no need) I am counting them as greenhouse crops simply because they started life there, way back when. I sowed […]
There’s been a big boom in vegetable gardening this spring, as many people sheltering at home from the coronavirus have seized the moment. Some may have simply been desperate for something to do. For others, after a few scary weeks when food shortages seemed to threaten, it may feel safer to grow at least some […]
There was a time when no well-appointed garden was complete without greenhouse, fountain, a tastefully draped sculpture, a gazebo, and a bee bole. A what? A bee bole was a niche in a garden wall where the family bee skep overwintered. A what? A bee skep was a beehive made from straw bundles tied together […]
For some greenhouse owners finding space for potted plants can be difficult. Shelving attached to the greenhouse structure can usually only support a few small plants. It is not recommended that you attach shelves to the structure. Many greenhouse structures are designed to support the glazing and to resist wind loads rather than carry heavy […]
Myth and magic are woven through gardening, like multicoloured ribbons round a maypole. Folklore is handed down through the generations, like a Chinese whisper at a birthday party – although that was before the days of Covid-19 social distancing. My grandmother told me, quite explicitly, that potatoes must be planted on Good Friday and that […]
Sometimes it’s thought that learning to garden is just picking up a series of techniques. However, whether you’re tending a single houseplant or caring for a massive back yard, one of the best ways you can improve your success as a gardener is to sharpen your sense of observation. Phyllis Helland has a simple process […]
When I first fell in love with greenhouses, it was a combination of the earthy aroma coupled with the plant fragrances. But it wasn’t the floral perfumes that tantalise my sense of smell; it was the spicy notes of aromatic foliage that transported me into this leafy world of wonder. If I could bottle the […]
Some may want to move from a purely ornamental greenhouse to also producing items for the table but worried this may result in the greenhouse not being ‘quite as pretty’. Well Citrus may be your answer. No other choice is so good looking the whole of the year, so neat, so reliable, and gives a […]
