Category: October

As autumn merges into winter, the question in the garden is whether to tidy up borders now or to leave them till spring. There are benefits on both sides. Those who argue that they should be left, enjoy the dead seed heads of summer flowers and remind us that nature drops leaves over the borders…

The hot, dry summer was a challenge for gardeners and gardens and one of the saddest sights was our brown lawns. We tend to panic unnecessarily about the turf and, unless you need to care for a bowling green, we can allow the grass to take its chances. It will green up in autumn when…

As we enter autumn, it is time to think about planting. In recent years we have tended to forget that autumn is the perfect time for planting and we buy and plant shrubs all year round. But, as we found this summer, it can be difficult to keep newly planted shrubs watered so they get…

Continuing from my post the other week on plants everyone should have in their garden, I must mention potentillas, often called shrubby cinquefoils, though no one really calls them that. These are very hardy, mounded shrubs and the wild species may be native, though it is probably a garden escape. They are so easy to…

It is that time of year when the last of the summer flowers are over and we need to prepare for winter. Tender plants should be in the greenhouse and we can cut down all but the last of the herbaceous flowers. And with frosts imminent, we need to decide on what plants to dig…

Because I am often asked to recommend plants for other people’s gardens it is good to have a list of reliable, crowd-pleasing plants tucked away at the back of my mind. Everyone has different tastes and a lot of plants that I consider beautiful would probably be considered dull by many. Lots of lovely plants…

It is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and many of us will be enjoying the rewards of all our hard work over the past year. But we all know that gardening is not always the simple ‘plant and enjoy’ that we expect. Here are a few of the problems you may find in…

It has taken me many decades to finally adopt a fair attitude to heathers. When I was still very much an apprentice and working at Nags Hall, heathers, planted with conifers, were all the rage. Open plan estates were dotted with neat lawns and island beds of heathers and conifers, promising colour all year and…

It may seem ridiculously early to be thinking about plans for next year but it always pays to plan ahead, as long as we are ready to change those plans according to the seasons. One of the jobs I have remembered this year, as I have been busy making my raised beds in the veg…

As nights lengthen and get cooler, thoughts turn to chrysanthemums. In fact, you may have had them in bloom for many weeks in your garden because they are a varied and quite confusing bunch of plants. But most people can recognise them and, if they are in doubt, a squeeze and sniff of the leaves…