From the start of September until weather starts to cool in mid to late October, is the time for annual lawn maintenance. It should not be something youĀ do in dry conditions, wait until the weather is warm and moist so the lawn can recover after treatment. If there is moss in the lawn, kill it […]
Just like Dealing? I know that autumn is looming. The French partridges have started sunning themselves on my low stone walls and theyāre so tame and plump, having been reared in cages for dare I say the shooting season, that they only fly off when Iām feet away. Theyāre the Liz Taylors of the game […]
The facts are incontrovertible, the consequences are devastating, and the alternatives are effective and easily available ā so the continued use of peat compost brings shame on us all. This could end up being one of the most ill-tempered, unforgiving and shame-flinging pieces I have ever written. Iām not happy about it, but it must […]
Thereās been a lot of publicity about the new PokĆ©mon Go game recently and I have to admit I feel a bit torn. Itās just great that this game is getting people outside in the fresh air and maybe, just maybe getting more exercise, but I do think it is a little bit sad that […]
Early greenhouse frenzies of sowing tomatoes, pricking them out, and then balancing their increasingly contradictory needs for space and warmth seem a distant memory now. That was what it took to get them started, but now that they have found their feet my tomato gardening has taken a distinctly laissez faire (if not plain lazy) […]
From mid-summer until November, rhododendrons and camellias are forming flower buds for next yearās display, so itās essential that the compost or soil around them doesnāt dry out at any point, if it does they simply wonāt form buds or will demonstrate their disapproval by shedding the ones that have already formed. Check your plants […]
Apios is one of those forgotten greenhouse gems seldom come across nowadays. It was once very popular in late Victorian times for the violet scent from the small racemes of purplish flowers. However after the First World War the shortage of labour and its slight tenderness made this plant unattractive. Indeed in the UK it […]
Itās August and I feel as if Iām losing the battle. The plants definitely seem to have won this year, so Iām pulling out and cutting back lots of things that I donāt want to self seed quite as much as they did last year! Iām aiming to leave about 20% in situ for next […]
Wet, wet, wet is one way to describe June 2016. Thank goodness for the greenhouse. It shelters not just the plants nestled on the benches from the wind and rain, but also the adventurous gardener who chooses to ignore the weather and potter around under glass. Most gardeners become hooked on one plant group or […]
In the greenhouse in spring I sowed lots and lots of courgettes. Really plenty, at least twelve in the hope of planting out about ten. I see you tutting and shaking your head but I am no newbie to the horrors of the courgette glut. I had a plan, and that was to grow many […]
Could plants tagged āperfect for pollinatorsā actually be poisoning them? A new crowdfunded project is aiming to find out. Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology at Sussex University, is a scientist on a mission. After a childhood spent chasing butterflies and collecting birdsā eggs, he went on to study biology, did a PhD in butterfly ecology, […]
Despite the damp dreary weather, you still need to water your hanging baskets and containers as most rainfall runs from the leaves onto the ground around the pot. Ā Petunias and pelargoniums are drought resistant, but if the compost gets dry, under watered fuchsias and lobelia can take weeks to recover. Feed your flowers weekly with […]
