Search - Articles

, they don't bother too much about how the 'delegated to' get the job done.So, last week in the same spirit, I devolved responsibility for the compost heap to my husband. I explained the basics of how to build a heap (twiggy sticks at the bottom then green

the distractions of computers and mobile phones, it seems that 11-year-old young ladies still imagine themselves frolicking in a flower garden with a trug across their arm.We've already got a bed of blood-red dahlias, which provide a lot of flowers for the house

Over the next few weeks, you may find a large wasp on the plot, which will turn out to be a queen. Having overwintered, queen wasps look for a place to start a brood, and may well decide that your shed (or in my case, compost heap), would make a

the garden centre, ready to plant.Plant them 10cm apart (15cm if you want bigger onions) and keep them well watered in dry weather. Onions don't like growing in recently manured ground, but they do like fairly rich soil, so if you have any home-made compost

the Christmas decorations to the shed this morning - always a tinge of sadness - I stopped off at the greenhouse to harvest the last of our Christmas potatoes.We planted a variety of spuds in pots and compost sacks when we got back from holiday at the beginning

in some home-made compost to enrich the soil. All we need now is some warm weather - it won't be long before I'm opening the backdoor first thing to pick these red gems for my breakfast bowl.

Readers of this blog may recall that I have recently 'delegated' the compost-making in the family to my husband. He's so taken by his new role that I sometimes catch him slipping gardening books into his shoulder bag in the morning to read

to feed raspberries. You can apply sulphate of potash in powdered form (35g or 7 teaspoons per square metre) to the soil at the start of the month, then a couple of weeks later add a covering of well-rotted manure or home-made compost. This helps to keep