Whereas many greenhouse plants are essentially decorative or useful basils may be both. Crucial fresh as an essential culinary herb a pot or several of basil can also be rather attractive especially the small leaved sorts. Indeed pots of manicured small leaved basil can substitute for box topiary during the summer. To be fair though […]

I sowed the plants for the polytunnel before we started building the polytunnel. First things first, I started all those tender, warmth loving things by my feet in my office, cosied away in a heated propagator, and later moved them up onto the office windowsill and later still out into the greenhouse. There they patiently […]

Time and space management in the greenhouse is essential to keep it productive and prolific, but keeping up with the lush greenhouse growth this season has proven to be a bit of a challenge and if I don’t catch up soon there’s a chance that the greenhouse might burst from inside like a puff ball […]

Peat-free compost – bought and home-made – is the way forward, so discouraging us from making full use of our own compost is hardly the way to boost sales. It was impeccable, if ironic, timing. After a few joyous hours of serious riddling, during which I’d rediscovered long-forgotten muscles, followed by some blending and mixing, […]

This greenhouse family gives us surprisingly tough house and conservatory plants, also loved as outdoor summer bedding and happy in fairly cramped containers. These have gorgeous flowers and beautiful foliage year round in a bewildering range of colours. With different leaf shapes and patterns, even trailing varieties, many are scented and some can be used […]

The long range weather forecast for June suggests a typical British summer with continued unsettled weather, now that is mixed news for the gardener! My tropical border has finally been planted out and the sun and rain will help the plants to establish quickly, though higher temperatures would help – the plants might think that […]