It’s August and I feel as if I’m losing the battle. The plants definitely seem to have won this year, so I’m pulling out and cutting back lots of things that I don’t want to self seed quite as much as they did last year! I’m 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 ‘perfect for pollinators’ 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 birds’ 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. 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 […]
Polygala x Dalmaisiana is a superb choice for conservatories and cool greenhouses with beautiful purple pea like blooms throughout much of the year. These decorative flowers are produced almost continuously along the ends of lax stems of attractive grey green evergreen foliage. Not so much an impressive centre piece perhaps but excellent as the supporting […]
It may be the year of the referendum for you, but for me it’s the Year of the Pigeon, because I have had three permanent residents in my garden. I wouldn’t mind if it was a pigeon pair and a baby, that might be quite nice, but it’s one lady and her two warring suitors. They […]
The following article was first published in Kitchen Garden Magazine (July 2016). who have kindly allowed us to share it with our readers. Irving Robinson from East Yorkshire tells how a cold, rain-drenched motorbike ride to check out a greenhouse in Wakefield landed him in some very hot water. Back in 1971 we moved into a […]
No garden is an island: a thriving diversity of natives, neighbours and migrants will result in a healthy, vibrant growing community. Right now the air is buzzing. It’s alive with chants for ‘Brexit!’, calls for ‘Remain!’, and voices mulling whether to leave, or whether to stay. Are we better off in, working side by side […]
While this is not exactly a quiet time in the garden, it most certainly is in the greenhouse. My own greenhouse is now standing almost empty: there are just a few lilies that I am hiding in there trying to keep them away from the lily beetles – pretty successfully so far, by the way. […]
Greenhouse tomato crops are bigger and better thanks to buzz pollination. Don’t take your tomato crop for granted. Every single fruit that forms needs a pollinator catalyst. The words Buzz and bees go hand in hand. But did you know that bumblebees perform something called Buzz Pollination that is vital for the way that they […]
The garden is a work in progress, well more work than progress if I’m honest, but I slid into summer a few days ago when I cut most of my tulips back in my rose and peony beds and planted several different cosmos I’d raised in 4 x 6 modular trays. The change was remarkable […]
