I have always believed that you should only write or talk about what you know
When you pop into Nags Hall this week you will be able to buy seed potatoes. This is the perfect time to buy some and get ready for a tasty crop this summer. Although we cannot usually plant them in the garden until March or April, depending on the weather, we need to make a…
As January slips gently into February and the first hints of spring mercifully reveal themselves, snowdrops (galanthus) and other early bulbs take centre stage. Snowdrops are often the first flowers to open in spring and they are widely available and easy to grow. Of course, not all snowdrops are equal and I am talking about…
When there is little else you can do in the garden, digging over bare areas and veg beds is a useful way to keep warm and to improve your soil. It is part of the traditional garden calendar. My own soil is too wet to dig at the moment – I will have to wait…
It may cost a bit more than ‘tuppence a bag’ but everyone loves to feed the birds. Supplementary feeding of our garden birds is beneficial all year round but especially important in cold periods in winter. Every little helps and soon after you put up your first feeder you will find the local birds coming…
Happy New Year! I hope that you had a lovely holiday time and are now eager to get gardening in this new gardening year. But it is cold outside and there is not much we can do at the moment. I am busy fretting about keeping the greenhouse above freezing – and watching the ‘smart…
I hope you had a lovely and happy Christmas. As the year comes to an end, it is time to think about how your garden fared over the past 12 months and to make plans for next year. What did well and what would you change? If plants are in the wrong place we have…
Buying a gift for a gardener is fairly simple. Being a practical sort of person if anyone bought me a tub of fertiliser, some compost or some propagation pots I would be very grateful. But such utilitarian items may not be what you want to give – it is bit like when dad would buy…
If it is too cold, wet and miserable to do anything meaningful in the garden, or if you have food to prepare, it is handy to have a small, simple job that is easy to do and doesn’t involve paddling about in mud. Making new plants for the garden or to give to friends is…
Helleborus niger is popularly called the Christmas rose but, of course, it is not a rose, nor anything to do with roses. But the flowers are vaguely rose-like and it can bloom in time for Christmas. Native to central Europe, usually in woodland on alkaline soils, it has long been a feature of British gardens….
Christmas is not far away and that means thoughts turn to turkeys, tinsel and poinsettias. Poinsettias are the best loved (and sometimes most loathed) of all Christmas potplants. Their colourful bracts surround the cluster of small yellow flowers at the end of each shoot. For me, it is not really Christmas without a poinsettia but…