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'glove question'. My reflections are prompted by having such cold fingers that I've had to dig out my fingerless Scrooge gloves in order to make typing easier.On one side of the glove debate is the very sensible Rachel de Thame argument that if doing

I was a contractor) I operate a policy of minimal digging. I will dig out weeds but I will not dig in manure. I prefer to let the worms and time do it for me. Provided the muck is well enough rotted then everything will benefit. I try not to bury

over the past decade. If you have a severe outbreak then, later in the year when the leaves appear, it would be sensible to use a glyphosate weedkiller otherwise the digging may become soul destroying (to avoid killing neighbouring plants then try

When I was a contractor fossicking around London laying slabs, building walls and digging holes we usually had a radio. Most of the time this played Radio 4 as it is the perfect way to distract the mind from occasionally very tedious and rather

relevance to my everyday gardening but I enjoy having them anyway. In this list I include old books like Gardening For Ladies which was published in 1851. It includes some wonderful stuff: for example in the chapter on Digging (Stirring the Soil

) digging interspersed with frequent short fag breaks. The film of the process can be viewed here.They then planted a whole load of stuff. Mostly without following any of the instructions, but who among us can say that we have always adhered religiously

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

pests out there which we, in Britain, will never have to deal with in our gardens.For example in Trinidad there is a large ant (about 1cm long) called a bachak that will (along with a few hundred friends) quickly demolish a garden. They even eat onions

) was of a Chinese juniper 1.5m tall and 3.5m wide growing in a small, overcrowded garden. Over a period of years it was dug up, pruned and replanted until it fitted into a pot. The whole process took about a quarter of a century and is far from over.The art

to take matters into their own hands. We went out the other morning to discover both of them upended in the flower bed digging an enormous hole in an effort to chase down the offending mole. Sadly, though charming, they're not terribly good at either