August seems to be one of those pivotal months in the garden. The vegetable garden is at full tilt & we’re realising the fruits of our labours, picking vegetables for our dinner most evenings this month. So far we’ve had courgettes, spinach, beans & purple podded peas. The latter have been finally weakened by mildew, but […]
We like sustainability that looks good too
Delightful Dahlias & How To Keep Them Flowering.
We’ve had plenty of sunshine & rain here recently, & everything has taken advantage of this, growing at a fast pace. This of course, includes the numbers of pests like slugs & snails. Last year I was so disappointed when my 6 young dahlia plants were all eaten, snails I think… possibly assisted by slugs? This […]
A Day The Hampton Court Flower Show 2017
I have hazy memories of visiting the first Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 1993 & my how it’s changed over the years. My impression is that in those early years visitors wanted inspiration & ideas to use in their own gardens. This is still the case, but life has become a bit more complex […]
10 Tips for Sustainable Gardening, you know it makes sense.
A new season in the garden, & a very busy one at that, but I’ve made time to think about how I go about gardening. We’ve been here for 2 years, so it seemed a good time to review how it’s all going, & especially my quest, some may say obsession, for sustainable gardening. I’ve […]
The Vegetable Garden In March
The allotment or vegetable garden in March is gearing up to be a busy place, at this time of year I’m either about to sow seeds or I’m looking after early sown seedlings. What seeds to sow & when to sow them can be confusing, I have a couple of guides. Grow what you like […]
Finding Time To Grow Vegetables.
There’s no doubt that growing your own vegetables is good thing, but when I first had an allotment I got completely carried away. In my enthusiasm I grew lots of vegetables from seed, & when they nearly all germinated, I didn’t have the heart to get rid of most of them, “Why not just plant […]
How to Grow Half-Hardy Annuals from Seed
How was your weekend? I spent some time looking through photos of summer gardens this weekend for inspiration , & I’m pretty excited about the flowers I’m going to grow. Last time I wrote about growing half-hardy annuals, plants that grow, flower, set seed then die in a season. This time it’s all about growing […]
My Guide to Sowing Seeds.
Our garden is frozen solid, & has been for a few days now, which is fine because staying inside & planning what to grow this year is a lovely thing to be getting on with. One of the easiest & cheapest way to get lots of plants is to grow them from seed, more than […]
Organic Gardening – Making Garden Bird Food
How’s your garden, now that we’re properly into winter? This shift in the season has made a welcome change, there’s a kind of stillness in mine as everything quietens down. Generally it’s still a work in progress, so we’ll skim over that until I have more to report back to you …. except I have […]
More of My Garden in October.
According to our kitchen calendar, British Summer-time finishes at the end of the month. I’m not one for mourning the end of summer though. Autumn has been glorious here, I’d forgotten how much I like its’ soft light, fiery foliage & vivid blue skies. Gardening is a real pleasure in this weather, just as well […]
My Garden in October
What a lovely month it’s turned out to be, we were away in Suffolk earlier in the month & it really didn’t feel like October, the skies were vivid blue & we ate lunch in the garden a few times. But that time has passed, the leaves are on the turn, the days are shorter & […]
Big Changes To Our Garden.
I do like growing things & pottering around in our garden, but it’s been a bit tricky since we moved here 18 months ago. The garden was a big reason for choosing this place, it’s flat, which makes it very useable, there’s a lovely old, brick wall along one side, a few David Austin roses & […]
Grow Your Own Cutting Garden.
September is the perfect time to start sowing seeds if you fancy having a cutting garden like this next year. These plants in the walled garden at Port Eliot were all grown from seed by Ben of Higgledy Garden. Ben has a few half-hardy flowers in this border, but to keep it really easy stick […]
The Vegetable Garden In August
August has had an exciting start, The Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall was fun, I rediscovered how much I like making things, and there were some wonderful people there too. We stopped off at Hauser & Wirth on the way down there which has a fabulous garden designed by Piet Oudolf. On the way back […]
An inspiring garden in Somerset.
I was going to write a post about gardening jobs for August, but that’ll have to wait for a few days because we visited a fabulous garden on our way to Cornwall at the weekend, and I wanted to show it to you. I’ve had this garden in Somerset in my sights for ages, part […]
Why We Need Butterflies In Our Gardens.
The butterfly population in the UK has declined by more than 3/4 in the last 40 years, that’s quite shocking don’t you think? I must admit that I don’t know much about these beautiful little creatures, most of what I do know comes from that iconic childrens’ book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, from egg to […]
My Garden & The War Against Slugs
You have to admire plants, when the conditions aren’t right they slow right down, ticking over and waiting for favourable conditions to return. This little heatwave here with temperatures up to 30 degrees C has sure slowed things down, except for the well established sun-lovers like lavender and rosemary, they’re in their element and romping […]
The vegetable garden in July
July is the month of long days and plenty of sunshine, and after all that rain earlier in the month everything has grown like mad. So whether you’ve got a balcony, allotment or garden, most crops do well now and you’ll be getting lovely fresh fruit and vegetables. If it’s hot and dry then watering […]
Bees’ Needs Week
Did you know it’s Bees’ Needs Week? And their needs really matter these days, so there’s this a big push to get gardeners, farmers and growers to help pollinating insects to survive and thrive. These small, precious creatures are vital for producing food, carrying pollen between flowers as they feed in our own gardens, and […]
A Vintage Garden Barn Sale
July is well underway and so far this summer there’ve been plenty of garden-related events. This time last week I spent a wonderful day at The Hampton Court Flower Show, the Saturday before I went to a Vintage Barn Sale at the home of Sarah Moore, winner of the Great Interior Design Challenge in 2014 […]
Fabulous Front Gardens
I went to the Hampton Court Flower Show on Monday and bought a greenhouse… I didn’t actually take it home with me, just ordered it ready for delivery in September, when our garden renovation should be complete. I’m pretty excited about our little greenhouse, it’s only 2 x 2metres and it’s got a smart dark-green […]
How To Make A Bug Hotel.
It isn’t easy being an organic gardener, there are times when I’m really tempted to grab some glyphosate and blast the weeds. They do seem to be winning at the moment, mainly because I haven’t kept up with gardening, what with all the rain. But I don’t think chemicals have been used on our garden […]
Growing Vegetables In Containers
The longest day happened this week, it’s hardly noticeable … unless you’re a plant, it makes a big difference to them because light is such a big factor in their growth. The good news is that there’s still time to plant, sow and grow vegetables. Beetroot, radishes, lettuce, french and runner beans are all good […]
What to do in the vegetable garden in June
June is one of my favourite months, the countryside is looking lush and green, there’s still lots of cow parsley filling the road-sides and the roses in the garden are at their absolute best. Long days, sunshine and warm soil make the begining of the summer a great time for vegetable growing, and there’s more […]
Ideas to borrow from The Chelsea Flower Show.
Maybe I just wore the right shoes [these things matter when you’re walking round for six hours] or got there when the light was just right, but I particularly enjoyed The Chelsea Flower Show this year. It’s such a pleasure to see beautiful gardens at peak perfection, but this year it seemed even more special. […]
Cut flowers and my favourite vase.
Having flowers in the house always feels like a treat. They’re cheery things, making a room more lively and fresh and if you’re lucky, they’ll do their best to perfume the room. It doesn’t take much, just a single bud in a vase, a fat bunch of bluebells from the garden, recently I’ve been cutting […]
Life in the earth
Not only are the plants in the garden making lots of fresh vibrant growth, there’s a lot of wildlife activity too. I’ve seen persistent little blue tits and robins flying round the garden gathering nesting material, whittling bits of string off the tree where the bird-feeders hung in winter, and rootling around plants…. this is […]
Attracting pollinating insects into your garden
I’m making an extra effort this year to have plants in the garden that attract pollinating insects, there are so many plants that fit the bill, so it’s pretty easy. This is my little contribution to help bees and all the other insects that are declining in numbers. Apparently the reasons for the reduction in […]
Revamping the garden
Hello, how is your week going, are you managing to get outside and enjoy the sunshine? I haven’t managed to do any gardening for over a week, what with being away with the family in Dorset celebrating my eldest sons’ birthday. What a fabulous place Dorset is, a little overlooked I think. Instead of being […]
What to do in the garden in April
Well hello April, you seem to have crept up, but you’re very welcome. April is the first whole month in the year when daylight and nights are equally long, so plenty of light and warmer days means the garden puts on a real growth spurt. There’s so much to do in our neglected garden, at […]
Rhubarb-almond cake & growing rhubarb
How is your Easter weekend, have you had a good time and did you remember about the clocks changing? Isn’t it nice to have more light in the evenings now. It’s been busy here, the kitchen is finally being re-fitted after a leakage of water nearly 5 months ago and Clive was in hospital 4 […]
The Wisley Spring Plant Fair 2016
I made a quick trip to the Wisley Spring Plant Fair yesterday, it was mainly to look, but inevitably I bought a few plants, because they were on my list anyway – well mostly- so I thought, why not just get them? The thing I love about these events at Wisley is that the plants […]
What to do in the garden in March
Can you feel that change in the season as spring gradually approaches? The biggest change is the lengthening daylight, it makes a big difference to plants, perking them up from winter. The roses are gradually waking up in my garden and looking more sprightly. They were to be pruned last month, but I never got […]
Things to do in the Vegetable Garden in March
March can be a month of cruel cold and sharp winds…. or milder, sunny days … either way, the increased daylight seems to create more energy in me and the garden and I’m looking forward to it. It’s still too chilly for many plants to grow outside, but undeterred by not having an allotment or […]
Book Review: The Half Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz
There’s no doubt that growing your own food is a lovely idea, fresh food, free from pesticides and available on your door-step as and when you need it. However, lots of new allotmenteers give up in their first year, because turning these dreams into reality isn’t easy, and as a former alotmenteer I understand the […]
How to grow sweet peas from seed in spring.
Did you get round to sowing sweet peas last autumn?…. me neither, but its not too late, they can be sown anytime up until March. Sweet-peas are the type of plant that represent summer in an English garden for me, I’m looking forward to plenty of softly coloured, sweetly scented blooms, I also like the […]
Growing plants for pollinators.
We’ve lived in this little corner of Surrey for almost a year now and the garden is well overdue some big changes. It needs a lot more plants in it, and now that I’ve given up the allotment, I must have some vegetable beds, there’ll have to be quite a bit of drainage to deal […]
Ten steps to a sustainable garden.
I’ve always been a keen re-user of things in the garden, my first show garden at Hampton Court featured a deck made from old scaffold boards and a base from recycled timber. Apart from the thrill of re-using something [is that just me?] it’s a way of using less of our precious resources on this […]
Quick guide: kitchen-waste into garden compost.
Here’s a simple thing you can do that’ll make the plants in your garden bigger and better, reduce your carbon foot-print, benefit wildlife, and give a helping hand to organic gardeners….whats more it doesn’t cost a penny. It’s all about transforming kitchen-waste into rich, sweet-smelling crumbly garden compost that will do wonders for your garden. […]
Using wood-ash in the garden
I’ve been meaning to write about wood-ash for ages, this may at first glance not seem like a very exciting topic, but it really can improve your garden, just take a look at this for inspiration: I know lots of you have wood-burning stoves, and all that the lovely soft, grey ash can be used […]
What to do at the allotment in January
There was a touch of frost last night, followed by lashing rain this morning and then an unexpectedly bright afternoon, just the sort of weather when it’s lovely to be down at the allotment. These are a few things to be getting on with when the next dry, chilly day comes along: Prune gooseberry bushes […]
Indoor gardening with bulbs.
When it’s cold and damp outside there’s no better way to get a gardening fix, than by assembling some plants and arranging them on a windowsill where you can enjoy them everyday. It’s not hard-work type of gardening, more a sort of collecting plants together that you like and arranging them in containers. I […]
My allotment experience from start to finish.
I hope you’ve had a good christmas holiday and that you’re looking forward to 2016. There’ll be a big change next year and we’re getting ready to leave the allotment, so come and have a look round before I close the gate for the last time at the end of the month. Two years ago […]
Gardening books for Christmas
I’ve put together a list of books that’ll make splendid presents for gardeners, whatever the time of year, or you could just buy one for yourself. I started a new tradition a few years ago, of buying a book for myself and putting it under the christmas tree, wrapped and labelled from Mary Christmas and […]
Up-cycled plant containers
Well that was a very chilly weekend, but I’m not complaining because the sun is here, along with a bright blue sky. I spent some of the weekend sprucing things up right outside the kitchen door, clearing away the herbs and re-housing them in the shelter of the porch by the front door, and putting […]
Last minute bulb planting
After spending last week in France, and getting back into the flow of being back home, I realised that bulb planting is behind schedule. November is a good time to plant tulip bulbs, but all the other spring flowering bulbs should’ve been potted up by now, so I’ve rescued them from the shed and made […]
What to do in your garden in November
The weather has been glorious here, bright days and shining autumn colours. I’ve made a note that we need more plants with autumn-colour in the garden. So far the Japanese azalea in a plant-pot, the Rhododendron luteum and the beech tree have put on a marvellous show, but I’m on the look-out for more plants […]
What to do at the allotment in November
I like November at the allotment, it’s good to clear out all the old plants, pull up the bean-posts and restore a sense of order to what has become a bit of a jumble. The joy of weeding at this time of year is that most of them won’t re-grow, and if bare soil is […]
Book Review – The Crafted Garden
I remember reading somewhere that Beth Chatto always has a small bunch of seasonal flowers in the house where she can really appreciate them. Bringing home-grown flowers inside is a real pleasure for me too, you get to see the fine detail on petals and leaves close-up. If you’d like to do something a bit […]
Leafmould, a free gift for your garden.
My list of plants for our new garden grows longer each week, the latest plant I’m lusting after is a compact climbing rose, an old fashioned type and it must have scent. But I know that the thing I have to do before anything is planted is improve the soil. The easiest ways to do […]