Author: Geoff Stebbings

It has been a blisteringly hot week! With summer in full swing, there is lots to do in the vegetable plot. There should be plenty to harvest and as you clear the ground of one crop you can sow or plant something else. There is still time to sow fast-growing crops such as radish, turnips,…

Hydrangeas, clematis, roses and rhododendrons are the stars of the garden and tend to sell on sight. Even if you came into Nags Hall for a box of fertiliser, if you walk past a display of hydrangeas in bloom it is difficult to resist buying one! But spare a thought for spiraeas, easy shrubs that…

With extreme temperatures forecast for today and the start of the week, perhaps garden activities should be kept to a minimum. Make sure your pots are watered and do not dry out. Ideally water first thing in the morning and in the evening. Perhaps even take down hanging baskets in sunny spots and carefully put…

Well, summer is here. Heat and thunderstorms confirm this. And your summer flowers should be full of bloom. If they are in pots, regular watering and feeding will keep them flowering. But there is one more job that we need to do: deadheading. There are two main reasons for doing this. Firstly it keeps plants…

Autumn is the best time to plant shrubs and trees. If planted then, the soil will remain moist all winter and there is no danger of the plants drying out. Soil will be in contact with the roots by the time growth starts in spring. All is good. When I worked at Nags Hall in…

Tomatoes are the most popular homegrown crop. Everyone has a go at growing them at least once. Tomatoes are pretty easy to grow and being able to pick your own, ripe and warmed from the sun, is one of the joys of summer. By now, you will have planted yours so I won’t repeat myself…

Some plant names strike fear into the heart of the experienced gardener! Mention Japanese knotweed, ground elder or bindweed to anyone that has had to suffer these weeds and they are likely to need a sit down. And some garden plants provoke similar reactions. One of these is oxalis. There are hundreds of kinds of…

Some plants are universally loved by gardeners. Everyone loves daffodils, roses and clematis. And now that Chelsea Flower Show is over, perhaps we have had our fill of alliums! But some flowers, that deserve to be in every garden, seem to be rather neglected. Daylilies (hemerocallis) are far from neglected because breeders around the world…

While we continue to enjoy glorious weather my attention is drawn to the agapanthus in the garden. It is a bit early to expect flowers, they are usually at their peak from July to September, but you will be able to buy plants in bloom. These tough perennials are admired for their glorious blue flowers….

When I started gardening it was normal practice to regularly use garden chemicals. I can still remember the smell of malathion, a nasty insecticide that was used in the greenhouse and, when we grew chrysanthemums for cut flowers in autumn at Nags Hall we kept black aphids at bay by burning nicotine shreds – a…