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Do you have an autumn clear-up in your garden? Do you cut down all your herbaceous stuff so that everything is tidy for the winter or do you leave everything until the new year? Most people nowadays leave it until later to give food for small birds

In the words of Benny Hill: "I'll never know how a rose can smell so sweet and pure, And hold its head up high when it's standing in manure!".Old Benny cannot have been much of a gardener (a statement borne out by the fact that he lived all his life

Not a lot of gardening has gone on across the nation since we last met. We still have about six inches of snow and I am thankful I have three pairs of my warmest socks, otherwise things might be getting a bit cheesy round here.There is not much

Do you remember the first plant you ever grew in your own garden? Not the mustard and cress or sunflower that you nurtured in a little patch of your parents' gardens but the first plant that you grew just for yourself?I found some ancient

shafted spade that I've had for many years and a very heavy metal spike that are perfect for digging up large plants or making holes in the rockier parts of the garden.3. My trowels - partly because they were all given to me by people, so have good

We have just clipped the yew hedge: actually, to be completely accurate, a very nice fellow called Simon clipped it as I was too busy being a poncey garden designer (a pity as I really enjoy hedge clipping but time has been a bit short recently

it cuts down your planting space. This is particularly important in a small garden.Don’t attach the panels to the posts until the concrete is properly dry.There are a number of different sorts of wooden fence. The most readily available are larchlap panel

to inject a note of optimism the second picture, below, is of the same area in May - so all is not lost).Now is the time start the big chop back in readiness for the spring. Over the next few weeks I will be cutting back pretty much everything, pruning roses

I have to admit that, from a practical point of view, this blog post will not have a lot to offer to anybody who gardens in towns and cities. But, rather than turning away in disgust, I would like you to come along with me purely out of interest

that one of the most satisfying things in gardening is a well built, well maintained compost heap, but it is a bit much when people get smug about what is really just a pile of rotting vegetation. I do not claim to be an expert but what we make ends up