Step back, let live, and try a little gardening on the wild side. A laid-back approach has all sorts of benefits – starting with more time to enjoy it all.

You don’t need a greenhouse to grow Dahlias but having one is an immense help especially until the frosts are over. There are Dahlias in almost every colour save blue with an almost extravagant series of sizes and sorts such as Cactus, Pompon, Peony and Ball flowered. Many of these are great for cut flowers […]

And spike and scarify, for September is the traditional month for lawn maintenance, a job I find immensely satisfying. If you have a small lawn, rake out the ‘thatch’ or dead grass and moss that has accumulated over the mowing season with a wire rake or buy an electric scarifier. Hire a motorised scarifier if […]

This time last year I visited a Thai woman living in Dorset who grew the crops of her homeland in her greenhouse. On arriving in England, Nid had despaired of ever growing anything she knew, but she said: ‘I soon found out why everyone in England has a greenhouse’. She got one herself and set […]

When you grow your own fruit, vegetables and greenhouse crops you fully understand the time and effort that is invested into every mouthful. The Grow Your Own fanatic is not going to waste a morsel; every tomato, bean and cucumber will be devoured with relish, or simply pickled, jammed or chutneyed, or just eaten fresh […]

Though my raspberries have been a disappointment this year, there has been a remarkable crop of apples – a great compensation. Some of the cordons are overburdened, but one of the most surprising is a ‘Claygate Pearmain’, shown in the picture, it’s cropped poorly for several years but now definitely needs thinning! Early August is […]