Galanthus ‘Merlin’, an old snowdrop, is just beginning to bloom [mid January] in my garden now. Of all the hundreds of varieties of snowdrop you might wonder why I’ve chosen to [...]

Sustainable Drainage Systems in action are increasingly appearing in the UK. But to my mind they are not appearing nearly fast enough!     What are Sustainable Drainage Systems? Often [...]

Weed control made easy may sound too good to be true! But in this blog I want to take a look at main options available to the gardener when faced with the inevitable flush of weeds that grow each [...]

Our Somerset garden is now just three years old. We moved to South Somerset in December 2018 and bought a property with virtually no garden at all! As we approach the end of another year I think [...]

Chelsea Flower Show 2021 differed hugely from the previous 108 shows. This was the very first time that the prestigious flower show had been held in autumn. All previous shows were held in spring [...]

  Are you really starting to feed your plants now? I hope you are because this is when they have the greatest need for plant food.   Why feed your plants? So you fed your plants in [...]

Baby bedding plants can produce a fantastic summer display! If your fingers are pink and not green and if the seeds you sow never seem to come up, then growing pre-germinated seedlings is for [...]

Potatoes in containers can finally get started! And it’s great to ‘grow your own’ again! Whilst I’m sure that the keenest veg gardeners have already got lettuce, broad beans, peas and [...]

I shudder every time I hear that phrase ‘put the garden to bed for winter’! Okay, so if you own a great pile and have to open your garden to raise funds to fix the hole in the roof I can [...]

Fungi and plants have a very close and not always negative association. The reaction from gardeners to finding fungi and plants together in their garden is often one of alarm! However in many [...]

A virtual Garden Day is on the horizon! It’s annual celebration of gardens and gardening is going to have to be markedly different to the previous three. What is a Virtual Garden Day? In [...]

Small Evergreen Garden Trees If you’re wondering which small evergreen garden trees to plant in your garden, read on to see what I recommend! Although we are fortunate in being able to grow [...]

Intensively trained garden fruit trees have a lot to offer. It’s a good time to consider planting more. Now before you say ‘I’ve no room left’ I want you to just consider how useful and [...]

Cloud pruning and lifting canopies of existing plants can transform your garden in a matter of hours. What’s more it can be done with little or no financial outlay. Many of us already have [...]

Newer varieties of raspberries are well worth considering. Many are a marked improvement on old varieties! As we approach the end of another planting season for bare root fruits, I thought you [...]

Creating a beautiful garden with KinderGarden plants is easy but you need to start early! Wouldn’t it be great to produce a garden just like this? Well although this is a demonstration [...]

Modular growing of plants is on the increase and there are many advantages to raising plants this way.   This frustrating season! Here we are in mid February and hardly a thing has been sown [...]

Nutrient deficiencies of plants are not commonplace but when they do occur they can have serious consequences for the gardener. Plants are amazingly resilient. They’ll muddle along even [...]

Soil pH may not sound the most exciting thing to a gardener but it’s essential to get it right for many plants to flourish. You’ve probably heard of so called ‘lime hating plants’ and maybe even [...]

Autumn Planting is best but why have we got out of the habit? When I left college and started my first job, it was common practice to plant your garden in the autumn. Now we seem to wait for the [...]

Fuchsias that are hardy in Britain are in the minority. The vast majority are not hardy enough to survive our winters outside without protection. But due to climate change our winters have [...]

Growing clematis in containers is easy if you choose the best variety and use the right materials. I’m often asked to recommend a climbing plant to train up the front of a house. At this stage [...]

Broadleigh Gardens is an impressive place! It specialises in growing and supplying superior garden bulbs and is situated just west of Taunton in Somerset. I visited the garden with the [...]

Magnolias at Kew Gardens can be seen over several weeks every spring but lucky for me I struck lucky and for once timed my visit to perfection. I’d planned to visit the magnolias at Kew [...]

Daffodil blindness – that is apparently healthy daffodil bulbs but without flowers- is a puzzle to many gardeners. It can be easily rectified and here’s how. This phenomenon can be [...]

Hellebore trends are making a lot of people sit up and notice! We are witnessing a remarkable time in the life of garden hellebores! Perhaps it was like this when the hybridizing of roses began? [...]

Plug plants have revolutionised the growing of bedding plants for both commercial and amateur gardeners. Germinating seeds of some of our favourite bedding plants can be slow, expensive and [...]

Clematis pruning simplified – there’s a lot of confusion and a little trepidation over when and how to prune Clematis! Since they are a diverse group of beautiful climbers, I guess that is [...]

Tips on Sowing Tomato Seeds Sowing tomato seeds to raise your own tomato plants is not difficult but there are a few key points that need to be taken into consideration. I’d love to share [...]

You’ll see these spectacular Amaryllis bulbs on sale in garden centres, florists and large high street stores right now. They are extremely easy to grow! Although this is a popular cut flower [...]

Why plant tulips late? In this blog I’ll explain why it’s good to plant spring flowering tulips late – even as late as November! There’s nothing quite as magnificent as spring [...]

Softwood Cuttings; Late Summer Propagation  Late summer and early autumn is the perfect time to propagate your favourite plants by rooting cuttings! You may want to do this to have more of garden [...]

What Skimmia plant should you grow? Skimmia shrubs will not stop you in your tracks with showy bright blooms. They’re not the most eye catching shrub in a planting scheme – that is [...]

Best bulbs to naturalise Bulb planting is in full swing but there’s still time to plant more! So I offer my considered thoughts on the best bulbs to naturalise! If you get it right these bulbs [...]

Trees for Autumn Colour As trees are changing colour all round us now this blog is focused on Trees for Autumn Colour. I’m going to recommend the best trees for autumn colour to plant in [...]

The three sisters growing technique is uncommon in the UK. It puzzles me that so few gardeners adopt this companion planting vegetable growing method. Sweet corn – not maize I pass fields [...]

Propagating plants by root cuttings is one of the easiest ways to multiply plants and the cuttings almost look after themselves! There are a couple of times in the year when root cuttings are [...]

Hardwood Cuttings So you don’t think that you have green fingers [thumbs if you’re American]? Can’t root cuttings eh? Well, I bet you can propagate plants by hardwood cuttings! [...]

‘Hell strips’ of the street? Never heard of it? Well perhaps it’s time you did! ‘Hell strips’ are what West Coast cities of USA call that no-mans-land between the street and the pavement and it’s [...]

During a wander around my garden recently (*) I was struck by the influence Chilean plants in my garden have on our late spring gardens! My first stop was by an as yet half grown evergreen that [...]

Hot chilies; I’d heard about a place that grows them in South Devon. I finally got to visit them! South Devon Chilli Farm had been on my visit ‘wish list’ for years. Passing the [...]