These long, midsummer days are blissful. But we’re just past midsummer now, and the days are beginning to gradually get shorter. Gardening needs a change of gear, as time is running out for plants to fruit and flower before the end of summer. It’s definitely not a time to dilly dally. Plants to be planted […]
How To Take Pelargonium Cuttings
For gardeners, there’s a fine balance between enjoying the present moment & planning ahead. It’s not a difficult to achieve this in August, because apart from harvesting the rewards of the previous months work, there’s not too much to do. However, one of the planning ahead things in the garden this month is to take […]
How To Grow Plenty Of Plants From Seed.
Growing plants from seed can be an uncertain business, so let me share a simple method that guarantees plenty of plants for your garden. Sowing seeds is attractive, because it’s a cheap, easy method of growing plants. However there are many variables that easily disrupt the whole process from seed to plant. The weather here […]
What To Do In The Garden In January
Given kind weather, gardening at this time of year is a particular joy. I spent a couple of happy sessions having a clear-up in the garden during the Christmas holiday. Close inspection of the first border revealed small tufts of grass & baby dandelions already growing & looking settled in for the year. However, they’re […]
How To Avoid Watering Your Garden
We’re right in the middle of a summer heatwave here in the UK, which has meant soaring temperatures of at least 85 degrees on a daily basis, & no rain for weeks. The hot weather, which I love, has changed the way we do things. Food is lighter, & most of our meals are […]
How To Grow Your Own Herbs.
Growing your own herbs is one of the easiest things to do for a more sustainable life-style, & fresh herbs straight from your garden, have so much flavour than bought ones. It’s not just about sustainability, there are many other good reasons: fresh, organic herbs a few steps from your kitchen the best tasting […]
Three Simple Ways To Garden Sustainably
Hello how’s your garden (or window box) growing? Rain has limited gardening outside, so I’ve been sowing seeds & pottering about in the greenhouse. This has given me time to think about how I want the garden to look this year… & more specifically what else I can do to garden sustainably. What can I […]
New Garden Gear To Make Life Easy, Stylish & Sustainable
The view from my kitchen door, early one morning, just before heading off to London last week for the day. I love a visit to London, to walk through the city seeing the sights & people-watching is always a treat. This time though, it was head down, avoiding the slippery pavements & hoping snow hadn’t […]
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 for sustainable gardening. I’ve got a check-list in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
How to save seeds from your own garden
There’s something very satisfying about collecting flower, herb and vegetable seeds from your own garden, and it’s sustainable gardening at it’s very best. The plants from collected seeds may not be like their parent if the seed was visited by pollinating insects, doing the rounds of other plants. But the fun is seeing what the plant […]
Tips for making a garden pond
We haven’t had a garden pond for a long time, the last garden just didn’t have the right conditions, it was too sloping and too shady, but now we’ve got a flat garden without too many trees nearby which makes it pretty ideal. Ponds seem to add a whole new dimension to a garden, they […]
What to do at the allotment in September
I’m realising that adaptability is key to keeping an allotment, because although there’s plenty to harvest in September, things don’t always work out as expected. Some plants go into over-drive when the conditions are just right for them, whilst others are slow or get eaten by the competition. I’ll never take courgettes for granted again, […]
Gorgeous gardens & plants at The Chelsea Flower Show.
These are just a few of the gorgeous gardens and plants that took my fancy at The Chelsea Flower Show 2015. A classic combination of clipped domes of Yew and brightly coloured flowers by Adam Frost in the Homebase garden. I love the combination of flowers and herbs. There were lovely sculptural shapes, like these […]
How to make nettle fertiliser
Let’s hear it for stinging nettles, that may sound like a crazy idea, but they can be very useful. Like any other plant, they absorb nutrients from the soil, so this is a nice method of extracting the nutrients from these weeds and making a liquid fertiliser to use on vegetables and any other green,leafy […]
Great Dixter- gardening inspiration
Having not visited the garden at Great Dixter for over a year, I went twice last month and it has been quite a heady experience. The first visit was with a group of fellow writers for a look round the garden with Rachael, one of the gardeners and a talk by Fergus Garrett, […]
How to grow Dahlias, the perfect cut flower.
I admit that I have a bit of a dahlia obsession, along with many other I suspect, my current passion is for the colourful, geometric, little pom pom types. They’re looking beautiful at the moment, so I thought you’d like some tips about how to grow Dahlias. The National Dahlia Society have a wonderful show […]
Growing vegetables without pesticides
When I started at my allotment three years ago, I thought that growing vegetables without pesticides would be a real headache, and while it hasn’t all been plain sailing this year the soft fruit, carrots, beetroot and courgettes have tasted wonderful and there have been plenty of them. So let me share the two […]
Sustainable gardening, a perfect plant for dry shade.
This is one of my favourite plants for those dry, shaded areas of the garden. The sort of place, usually under trees, where plants start off well, but then flag and eventually give up. Geranium macrorrhizum Album, also known as the Rock Cranesbill is a vigerous grower, making it perfect for those challenging areas. It’s apple-green […]
A simple garden task that’ll make a huge difference to your garden.
It’s easy to stay inside tucked up by the fire at this time of year, but since it’s so mild at the moment I’d like to encourage you to venture out into the garden to do some gardening. It’s just the right time to give your garden a treat by spreading a layer of mulch over the soil. This […]
Super stylish upcycling for sustainable garden design.
If the notion of recycling brings to mind images of a higgledy piggledy garden which is well-meaning but messy, think again. I’m on a bit of a mission to demonstrate that recycling, upcycling – call it what you will – can be super stylish. This idea was admirably demonstrated in this small garden at Hampton […]
Planting your garden ~ Part 2
As the garden drifts slowly into it’s winter rest, you get a different, clearer view. It becomes more open as the foliage mostly disappears and it’s easier to see its’ basic lay-out. A perfect time then to decide what changes need to be made and how the planting can be improved, so here’s part 2 […]