Author: Geoff Stebbings

We are now in the thick of the rhododendron season and it lasts for months. Although each variety is only in bloom for a few weeks, with careful selection you can have flowers from before April, through the crescendo in May and early June even into July and beyond. The best time to plant most…

Another week, and yet more rain! It has been a difficult year for gardeners but at least we have been free from late frosts! Some years my early-emerging hostas get caught by late frosts, but not this year. Hostas are among the most important herbaceous plants. I would consider them an essential component in my…

Happy Easter to everyone. Many of us think about the garden for the first time this weekend. We get out the garden furniture, rush to buy charcoal for the barbecue on the first sunny evening and we might even tidy up the patio and think about planting for summer. It is still too early to…

For most people, the Easter holiday heralds the start of the garden year. There is so much to do in the garden to prepare it for summer. But with so many lovely flowers to buy and enjoy I did take some time out to make a little Easter display. I had a wooden trug in…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Some people feel a bit guilty when they cut flowers from the garden but I always feel that the flowers are even better appreciated when they are in a vase in the home. Few of us have enough room in the garden to plant a dedicated cut-flower plot but most of…

For many, spring starts today and most of us certainly think about flowers. If you are giving a gift and don’t want to choose cut flowers, a pot or pack of primroses is sure to be well-received. With an amazing array of colours at Nag’s Hall you will be spoilt for choice. If you have…

It is cold at the moment but spring is not far away. Over the past few weeks I have been discussing some specific vegetables and how to grow them. Most veg are grown from seed or can be grown from seed. But if you are just starting off growing your own veg it can seem…

Before I discuss lettuce I would like to thank everyone who came to the talks at Betchworth Centre last Thursday and Nags Hall on Friday evening. These were the first evening talks at the centres, with optional meals freshly cooked in the restaurant. It was great to meet you all and it was a lovely,…

When I started to garden in a real way, some of the first groups of plants that fascinated me were orchids and lilies. Both groups of plants were rare and expensive – we are talking about the late 1970s and I was a teenager. Both groups are now commonplace and easier to find and grow….

With so many flowers to fill our gardens in summer it can be difficult to know what to pick. Twenty years ago the most popular choice for patio pots and small garden beds was the ubiquitous busy Lizzie. But then downy mildew struck and they became almost impossible to grow. Although there are now resistant…