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Last year we made a momentous decision. After many years of buying real Christmas trees to decorate our home over the festive period, we decided to buy a fake one.Previously we had endless scenarios like this:"Are you going to get the tree

easy when I was a child. I always had a list of things without which life would be unbearable. One particular Christmas (around 1966), I remember the choice was between a Johnny Seven or a Secret Sam. Both were complicated weapons systems that fired

?" I hear you cry. Because 'Tis the Season to be mulching - every part of the garden should have at least 2" (50mm) of mulch over everything. This is, I think, the most vital of all garden tasks. In spite of all the chipping and tipping I still cannot

of the chicken yard and doing star-jumps in order to restore circulation.As a result I will take this opportunity to give you a bit of a pre-Christmas run down. I know that plants (apart from the ubiquitous poinsettia) do not figure much on Christmas lists

Happy Christmas - I hope that you are all rosy of cheek, tousled of appearance and brimming with goodwill to all men, women, children and close relations.The chances that this Christmas will have snow is anybody's guess but we might get slightly

Since Christmas the weather has been almost universally ghastly - rain, fog, leaden skies and general Januaryness. Over the last couple of days, however, I have noticed everything change; the skies are blue and the sun is shining. In the hedges buds

Think of a vegetable that sums up Christmas. Easy - except that to make things a bit more difficult I am withdrawing the noble sprout from the equation. So that leaves the humble spud and the noble parsnip, and, as far as I am concerned, the latter

, cleaning them off and spraying some oil around. There are certain tools without which I cannot cope and others which I hardly ever use. Among my favourites are:1. My small border fork and spade, which are perfect for planting and diddling around.2. A steel

. This is the second volume - I am hoping to get the first for Christmas (hint, hint). A series of essays on a whole raft of fascinating subjects ranging from worms and guano to the Chelsea Flower Show and garden machinery (via plant hunters in China and Sir Walter

irises.I digress; my favourite roses at the moment are the Hybrid Musk roses. They were mostly bred by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton in the early 20th Century and make great shrubs and small climbers. They are soft coloured, like cowrie pink 'Penelope', clean