Design in this time of COVID-19
In the face of a global shut down and a great deal of fear and uncertainty one is faced with how one will respond and sometimes confronted with one’s worst
APHA, Plant Passporting and new restrictions
From 14th December 2019 new restrictions came into force to ensure all plants moving about the EU (and the UK) carry what is called a plant passport. This is a
Continue readingAPHA, Plant Passporting and new restrictions
Plants: Amaryllis or Hippeastrum?
In the miserable dark days of winter a wonderful addition to the ‘houseplant’ frenzy is the Amaryllis or Hippeastrum. Often gifted in a box with the typical brillant reds and
RECIPE: Soft Set Gooseberry Jam – or Fridge Jam
After making Sarah Raven’s wonderful soft set Apricot jam earlier in the year I have been playing about with the ‘soft set’ method on other jams. Our goosberry bushes have
Continue readingRECIPE: Soft Set Gooseberry Jam – or Fridge Jam
Planning for summer bulbs
Winter is not even over and Spring a longed for moment that is a good month and a half away but NOW is the time to plan those summer bulb
A time to plan
In these dark winter days I find myself planning many things, sometimes gardens in their entirety mostly it’s planting or work schedules for the year to come but then there
Bare roots
In September there is always a wild rush to plant while the soil is still warm enough for plants to get a start with settling in before winter but
Hippeasturm (Amaryllis)
Late in the winter when it’s still dark as all hell and even the mornings are murky darkness, one plant brings me such joy. Bursting with unseasonal vigour and vivid
Making : A wreath for Christmas
I know I know it’s OCTOBER, how can I be talking about the BIG season so soon? we haven’t even had Halloween yet! I have a reason and good one
Plant of the Month – August – Dahlia
There are so many things to say about Dahlia selecting and growing. It’s not just the luscious gorgeous-ness of the flower nor the vibrancy of available colours nor the elegant
Monthly MUST do’s – August
There are many many wonderful blogs and articles and books about what to do by season and I reccomend you read one on a regular basis until you get into
Plant of the Month – July – Helenium
I am a recent convert to Helenium I must admit but since finding them am an avid fan. They are one of those wonderful daisy shapes that looks good coming
Plant of the Month – May – Iris
Plant of the month in May will always be an Iris for me, closely followed I will admit by a Peony. The only way to describe it is that I
Planting for a superb Spring
Winter drags on and even when the Snowdrops kick of the growing season there are still a good few weeks of often miserable weather lurking around the corner. The arrival
Plant of the Month – April – Dahlia
Dahlia has become something of a byword for cool of late, bolstered in some measure by flower power gurus, Sarah Raven, Blue Carrot, the fabulous Erin at Floret and a
Gloves
I’m on the hunt again. New gloves and glovey recommendations. I run through gardening gloves like a dose of salts they never last too long with my line of work
Cultivar or Variety
Following the binomial system introduced by Carl Linnaeus in the 1700’s the they appear after the specific epithet (second term in the scientific name) almost final piece of the puzzle
Plant of the Month – December – Galanthus
December or is it really January when we expect to see those tiny white nodding heads lighting up the garden and heralding Spring, well at least the start of something
Flower Farming
Garden designing is a precarious business, at least for me as a small business, so I have been looking at other streams of income to run smoothly alongside and bring
10 things to know about doing an RHS Show Garden
1. Read the RHS manual’s before hand and then read them again. Tomes I thought, one was 90 odd pages. “No time“, “not really going to be relevant“. BUT how
Continue reading10 things to know about doing an RHS Show Garden
How do you keep Slugs and Snails off your Hosta’s?
During the build up for the RHS Tatton 2016 show one of the neighbors suggested we might be getting some questions from visitors about how we had such perfect Hostas.
Continue readingHow do you keep Slugs and Snails off your Hosta’s?
RHS Tatton – it’s almost over, dismantling the show garden
Officially we could have dismantled on Sunday but not one of us was that desperate to slog that one out. Queuing to get back onsite after the show closed was
Continue readingRHS Tatton – it’s almost over, dismantling the show garden
Plant of the Month – April – Euphorbia
One of the largest plant families having around 2000 members in the genus. The plants share features such as poisonous milky white sap and unusual floral structures. The range of
Planning Planting – Tropical
I’m working on a planting scheme at the moment, for a client who loves the tropical. It’s a bit of a departure from the norm but that is what is
Plant of the Month – March, Magnolia
A remarkably ancient plants species fossil records indicate that the Magnoliacea family might be as much as 100 million years old. Unsurprisingly the plants are often beetle pollinated in
how to – Lawn
It’s early Spring and the lawn is very much on the minds of those who have them. Sometimes it’s an eager checking of dampness and growing state in anticipation of
Plant of the Month – February – Helleborus
February in the UK is often a frozen month, not so this year we’ve had the promise of rain and snow and all kinds of wintery-ness but for us Softie
TODOS – January
This is a very odd season. November was the mildest on record and December looks set to be the mildest and the wettest. Barely a chill in the air let
How to: Propagate and Divide bearded iris
The Process of Division As we got towards the end of dividing nearly 700 plants there was quite a rhythm to the process and it became much faster. I wonder
Gardening: Fasciation
Flattened, elongated shoots and flower heads that look like many stems compressed together are called fasciation. This strange-looking problem may be ugly or attractive, but is always interesting. The Forsythia
Opinions
This is really an opinion piece about an opinion piece. This morning a rant from Guy Deakins rocked up on my FB feed http://guydeakinsgardening.com/blog/bbc-dear-god/ Someone is very unhappy about the
TODOS July
If you missed RHS Chelsea this year there’s a few more shows to visit. RHS Hampton Court Palace starts next week and will undoubtedly have some thought provoking dhow gardens
ORCHIDS
I must admit to being the most terrible Orchid killer. I’ve been given several over the last few years and all have died except the last, a Cimbidium. Perhaps this
The Single Digg
I’m sure lots of you know all about single digging, that is as opposed to the dreaded double digging or ‘ bastard trenching’ as my RHS tutor once called it!
What are you going to feast on (and grow yourself!) this year?
So it is that time of the year when thoughts turn to the veg patch for the coming year. At least it does in our house! I have grand ideas
Continue readingWhat are you going to feast on (and grow yourself!) this year?