The greenhouse isn’t just handy for heat and protection from the elements; this year I am using it as protection from pests too, like a massive environmesh tent. Once upon a time I used to grow lots of lilies. They were a favourite and a regular. I was a sucker for a properly heady scent, […]
The life cycle of a butterfly can be seen as very simple compared with other forms of wildlife. For a butterfly, life starts with the caterpillar, continuing with the pupa stage and ending with the last stage – the actual butterfly. Depending on the species, breeding can be particularly hard, so it is important to know […]
For those that want to help the plight of the UKâs butterfly population, you can support many species of butterfly by encouraging them into your garden. If you want to do so, itâs important to know what kind of plants attract butterflies into certain areas. Adult butterflies will take and feed on nectar from a […]
There has been a long standing and increasingly one-sided debate over whether certain pesticides harm both butterfly and bee populations around the world. Since 1975, UK butterflies have faced long-term decline, with up to 70 per cent of species declining in occurrence, and 57 per cent declining in abundance. That said however, not all butterfly […]
Aside from offering a great deal aesthetic value to our countryside and heritage, butterflies offer a great deal to the world in which they live, which is far beyond what we see as they flutter past. Much like bees, butterflies are heavily involved in the pollination of plants, but they do this in a way […]
This competition has now closed. Thank you to all who entered. Entries can be viewed here. As part of our butterfly and wildlife awareness campaign, we are announcing the launch of our Butterfly colouring in competition! Starting on March 3, and ending at midnight on 3rd May 2016 , all you have to do to […]
Add the frosty nights of late February to soil thatâs still sodden after the winter rain and it may not be until the middle of the month that the soil in your vegetable garden is warm enough to sow early crops. However, this should not stop you from preparing the seedbed, by raking the ground […]
A cool frost free glasshouse is perfect for this house plant from the Mediterranean loved since Classical times. Cyclamen is the original Greek, name for this genus of a dozen or so native to Europe and North Africa. One of the Primrose family these have bulbous corm like tubers, masses of remarkably attractive variegated leaves, […]
Gardening has gone through plenty of fashions, fads and phases, from the very first humans to grow vegetables and edible herbs on their doorstep, instead of foraging for them, through to planting flowers and shrubs for their aesthetic appeal rather than any real practical purpose. Victorian gardens are key But it was the Victorians who […]
I have it on good authority that I have âtoo many helleboresâ because Bob Brown (a nurseryman with a strong resemblance to Father Christmas) told me so the last time he came to my garden. I tend to agree, although I didnât give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Iâve acquired more since – of […]
We have five copies of John Walkerâs latest book Digging Deep in the Garden: Book one (RRP ÂŁ4.99) to give away, plus five ÂŁ25 National Garden Gift Vouchers to be won in our easy-to-enter competition to find Britainâs most green and eco-friendly gardening tips. Followers of John Walkerâs ârenewable gardeningâ blog will know that his […]
Surely itâs too much to hope that carnivorous plants â which grow in sphagnum bogs â could be grown without peat? No: dream on⌠Every once in a while, the dreams that so much of our gardening springs from come true. This abysmal, wonky winter, where Iâm lashed almost daily by iced rain, and jostled […]
