Bulbs are packed with promise, heralding the return of the light. Choose organic bulbs and earth-friendly growing methods, and that sense of hope can embrace the natural world. After being shoved, protesting, into winter by the turning back of the clocks, we gardeners need an antidote to our enforced cutback on daytime pottering. We need […]
Canny gardeners don’t leave leaves lying – this autumn windfall matures into gardening gold. There’s one turning of the seasons which arrives here with a right old clatter. After a cold jolt in August, most gardeners have been teased throughout September with only vague hints of impending autumn. In my garden, warm, balmy days and […]
The RHS Award of Garden Merit is under review – so perhaps we should take the opportunity to raise the bar on what we mean by ‘merit’. A recent episode of ‘Gardeners’ Question Time‘ (GQT) on Radio Four aired one of the most mind-numbing segments I’ve heard in a while. Although it was some relief from […]
If you cultivate an enlightened attitude to wild plants instead of trying to eradicate them, your garden can share in their success. Put ‘kill dandelions’ into a search engine and up flash nigh on half a million ‘hits’. A good chunk of these include advice on exterminating dandelions using chemical weedkillers (especially the worldwide pollutant […]
“A Buzzing Hotel that helps the environment” Here at Hartley Botanic, we know how important it is to look after the animals and insects that are found within our gardens. Working in conjunction with John Walker the expert in earth-friendly gardening we developed this fun guide to help you create the most important hotel for […]
Back in the 21st century, food security was taken out of our hands, and all but destroyed. But our keepers haven’t just saved seeds and knowledge – they’ve saved hope. As he peered over the edge, Noah’s long golden curls floated on a warm, skyward breeze smelling all at once of cabbages, beans and onions. […]
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, […]
The media buzz about bee conservation is having a real effect, but virtual gardening only goes so far – and there are more immediate ways of boosting bee populations. During the last year I seem to have spent a lot of time tapping my computer keyboard to help improve the lot of bees, large and […]
Instead of giving any more time to the myths about sowing in peat-free composts, put them to the test. You’ll find they do the job as well as peat – without the ecological price-tag. Of all the myths that abound in gardening, the most pernicious are surely those that circle our inevitable but painfully slow […]
If we made more of our gardens’ huge potential as the first line in flood defence, fewer of us might need to resort to sandbags next time round. With thousands of homes flooded and their gardens submerged, there’s a hollow, ringing futility to recent gardening advice along the lines of ‘use a board to get […]
Your greenhouse can become a powerhouse for winter crops – and that’s with the lights out and the heating off. The lights flickered, hesitated, flickered some more, and then finally went out here over Christmas. Our ‘big’ power cut lasted the best part of a single daytime’s feebly lit hours. Compared to others, we got […]
Ask not what your garden can do for you; the question is what you, as an earth-friendly gardener, could be doing for the planet. What can I do? The thought tugs at my conscience each time I slide open the doors of my greenhouse or gaze out across my garden. It tugs when I’m buying […]
