Should you stab your grow-bag before you plant tomatoes or is it better to do nothing? I’ve been grappling with this issue since I saw Gardener’s World presenter, Alys Fowler, first stab hers along the sides a few weeks ago. She was at it again last Friday, this time on the under-side. She maintains she […]
One of the best things about having a garden and a greenhouse is that when you have been away for a few days you know that there is something fresh to eat when you get home. It’s amazing how much the plants grow in just a short space of time. You can go away one […]
If there is one thing I absolutely hate about my greenhouse in the summer, it is the buzzing flies that accumulate in the apex of the roof in hot weather. I hate the noise that they make; that incessant buzzing sound as they flit around above my head and interrupt my silent thoughts. I hate […]
This is the year of the vegetable garden—from the White House to local front lawns—everyone is planting crops. However, even seasoned gardeners can have disappointments with veggies. So I asked my friend, Rose Marie Nichols McGee, owner/ president of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Oregon, what to do about the most common edible errors. Rose […]
Everyone loves the smell and the taste of strawberries. But when a small bowlful can cost the earth, isn’t it time you grew your own? The flavour of these home-grown fruit far outweighs anything you can buy in the supermarket and even if you only pick a handful of fruit for the first year, you […]
In this series of monthly articles Bob explores the incredible range of plants you can grow in a greenhouse, conservatory or plastic tunnel. Not just the purely decorative but the scented and edible also, and maybe those plants that are just downright interesting. This month Bob nominates lemons. Everyone should have at least one lemon […]
When you are growing plenty of plants to eat it can be particularly disheartening to find that other creatures are helping themselves to your hard grown crops. Now I don’t mind sharing the odd fruit or veg in the garden, I can hardly complain if a hungry creature needs to feed its offspring, but I […]
In The Greenhouse with Lila Das Gupta There are two kinds of gardeners in this world: those who enforce a Darwinist “survival of the fittest” regime, and those of us who practice a kinder, gentler sort of horticulture. Planting two seeds and pulling out the weaker of the two is something I find almost impossible […]
Twice a year I march out into the garden with a scrubbing brush, cloth and bucket of warm water to clean the grime from the frame and panes of my greenhouse, it’s essential for good plant growth and seed germination but an arduous task that I hate as much as pot washing, as I always […]
If there’s one way to get children interested in gardening its to give them their own growing projects. Kids either need to grow something that will give them fast and obvious results, like salads and potatoes, or a project that creates something that inspires them. Children love to grow giant sunflowers with their big smiley […]
Guest Blog from Paolo Arrigo This is a guest blog from Paolo Arrigo who together with his wife Alessandra runs ‘Seeds of Italy’, the treasure trove of seeds from all the regions of Italy. Every year I make sure I have a few packets on my list of things new things to try (Zucchini da […]
If there’s one herb that conjures up summer for me it has to be basil. Its intense fragrance and flavors creates an instant Mediterranean feel to the garden, the greenhouse and to summer meals. Basil is a tender annual that has exacting needs. Although it can be sown from seed early in the season, it […]
