More a house than a glasshouse plant the Snake plant, Sanseviera trifasciata, is actually a very useful specimen in either place. Many plants are described as bomb-proof, the Snake plant is as close as you can get. Drought and shade seem to leave it untouched, cold is no problem though a real freeze will be. […]
I am starting to choose seeds for next year’s greenhouse growing and one of the crops I am most keen to try again is melon. This is a crop I have only recently started growing, having in the past not entirely believed it possible. In a former, more carefree life I backpacked around Australia and […]
I’ll be celebrating 12 gardening days this Christmas, but not all in one go – and not in the usual way. I’m breaking with seasonal tradition: instead of counting down the 12 days of Christmas, I’m planning to spread a dozen ‘green’ days out across the coming winter months. My 12 days are more to […]
Think outside the gift box when it comes to Christmas presents, says Jean Vernon. It’s that time of year when you can’t sit and watch the telly without adverts for extravagant gifts, ridiculously expensive toys, gadgets and perfume; all in the name of a religious festival. Somehow that just doesn’t compute for me. Even more […]
Being a writer does sometimes feel as though you’re under house arrest and I know I’m not alone. A rare lunch in Oxford, with a dozen or so other writers, was summed up by one as “stepping out of our usual writer’s isolation for a couple of hours.” Ours though is nothing as opposed to […]
Open the vents in your greenhouse on sunny December days, shutting them before temperatures drop early in the afternoon to retain the heat. Good air circulation is essential but chilling draughts should be avoided, so don’t leave the door open or open the vents too far. It is a matter of getting it just right! […]
You need a generous greenhouse to freely accommodate Yacon as this can easily grow two, three or more metres high. Fortunately it can also be cut back down so you can squeeze one into a smaller space. But be warned this has expansionist tendencies and in small houses is best confined in a large tub […]
We urgently need ambassadors for a different way of gardening. Could the Royal Horticultural Society’s appointment of a 10-year-old signal a sea change?
Gardening is the most sharing and caring hobby I can think of. We share plants and produce all year round, giving surplus plants to friends and family and sharing advice and expertise whenever asked. With social media playing its part now too, it is easier and easier to share information, ideas and tips from your […]
There has been a rather delicate new addition to my greenhouse this year. Not only delicate, but expensive. My new kaffir lime tree cost £30, and ‘tree’ is really stretching the trades descriptions act to its limit. It’s a stick with a few branches coming off of it, but it doesn’t need to be big, […]
Don’t be deceived by a mild October, the weather is so unpredictable these days that chilly days may be just around the corner; it’s time to get set for winter. Remember, remember that the fifth of November is an ideal opportunity to burn woody material that doesn’t compost readily or anything that is badly diseased. […]
Once rare glasshouse specimens Peperomias are now common house-plants everywhere you go. Coming mainly from Mexico, the West Indies and South America these have not long been in cultivation most of them being discovered only from the mid nineteenth century. The great Paxton in his Botanical Dictionary of 1868 listed four dozen species and subspecies; […]
