Now here’s a sight to strike fear into the heart of any greenhouse owner. The greenhouse is full to bursting with healthy young plants, all waiting to head out into the allotment. Despite a few false starts and a couple of non-germinations it has been a productive spring, most things were sown around the correct […]
Throughout the country, the variable weather continues. Several weeks of hot days and cold nights with a niggling, chilling wind have turned this into a long and beautiful spring for blossom yet low rainfall and cold nights are still affecting the gardener. Although it is May and garden centres are awash with beautiful bedding, resist […]
A greenhouse flower that almost everyone knows by name but no-one now grows are Freesias. These are members of the Iris family and never reached Britain until well into Queen Victoria’s reign when they rapidly proved popular. Perhaps because coming from South Africa these were one of the few Cape flowers we discovered there that […]
Earth-friendly gardeners are committed to composting all organic matter – so why not extend the principle to our own remains? An innovative ‘deathcare’ project in Seattle is developing a better way for gardeners to go. Of all the things that please me about my modest home, the one I take most delight in is the […]
Summer is fast approaching, meaning our evenings and weekends will soon be spent relaxing with friends and enjoying the sun, possibly with a beer or two. As the temperature rises, most Brits tend to sway towards a “cheeky barbeque” or two, with the bulk of the food consisting of cheap burgers and nachos. If you […]
The Hardy Plant Society, Nottingham members group held their AGM on Sat 28 March 2015 at Portland College. The Hardy Plant Society exists to ensure the conservation and cultivation of hardy herbaceous plants. It offers its membership of over 7000 keen gardener’s access to seeds, rare plants, winter meetings and summer outings. Months of planning […]
The sudden warmth has meant that the greenhouse has become my second home, fair weather gardener that I am. After half shunning it all winter I am now its best friend again, and spent much of the Easter weekend and since shuffling compost into seed trays and modules, and starting off my future vegetables. It […]
As the clocks change to give us lighter evenings and the season bursts into full swing, you’d be forgiven for thinking everything in the greenhouse and garden is rosy. But something happens that night the clocks spring forward and it is related to time, but I swear we don’t just lose an hour. It’s like […]
Download April Gardening Guide Prune Fig trees can be pruned to get rid of any branches damaged during winter. Cut back long bare branches to 2 inches to encourage new growth Flowered shoots of hydrangeas and winter jasmine can now be pruned back Evergreen and deciduous shrubs can be pruned back to encourage new growth […]
Houseplants much at home in a warm greenhouse are the Christmas and Easter cactus, and for Americans, Thanksgiving cactus as well. Tough and long enduring these have been rightly popular since Victorian times. The Latin names have changed so often it’s now more sensible to revert to the common names most people are familiar with. […]
Sowing times on seed packets can largely be ignored in spring. One example is the instruction ‘direct sow from February onwards’ on parsnip seed packets. The key to successful germination are constant soil temperatures – that’s when a soil thermometer becomes invaluable. Sow when it is too cold and the seed simply sits in the […]
Like every man-made structure, a greenhouse has an embedded ecological cost – the inspiring difference being that with a greenhouse, you get the chance to clear the debt. These days nudging each side of the spring equinox – when day and night match each other in length – are for me among gardening’s headiest. March’s […]
