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 […]
Is your purchase really necessary? Making gardening easy is one thing, but broad bean seedlings by post is surely a convenience too far.
As gardening is reinvented as just another form of retail therapy, will one man’s quest to get some dirt between our toes inspire us to shop less and garden more? The socks are off…
Some of the drivers behind the peat-free roll-out are surprising and not all are admirable – but that doesn’t detract from the benefits to the gardener and the natural world.
Step back, let live, and try a little gardening on the wild side. A laid-back approach has all sorts of benefits – starting with more time to enjoy it all.
It’s time that the strimmer’s infernal whine, insidious pollution and indiscriminate destruction made way for some real cutting-edge technology.
Sometimes all that’s missing in the garden is someone to share it with – and social media could provide a spur-of-the-moment solution.
As the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere crosses the symbolic 400 ppm mark, it’s time for gardeners – and those who represent us – to answer to their environmental responsibilities.
In the mid-20th century the pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson warned of a ‘silent spring’. Today it’s only our elder gardeners who can remember ‘spring’ at all.
The insidious effects of neonic insecticides are leaving bees and other beneficial insects with no safe place to go. There’s still hope of rescue – but it will only happen with our help. Any day now I’ll hear a low buzz and a dull bumping on the glass out in my greenhouse. That’s my cue […]
