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Queen Mother. Olga, the new head gardener, is just coming to terms with such an exposed garden, designed in part to provide cut flowers and produce for the house. Tall walls and dividing hedges are essential to create shelter, and new planting projects

to be tricked into forgetting them, oh no! For it is from now that any gardener who would prefer to reduce (dramatically) the damage done by these horrible little critters, grabs a bucket and goes off on a collecting spree. Snails love to group together

It's January. The weather outside is pretty ghastly. There is not an enormous amount in the garden worth looking at so we must be more imaginative when seeking out our horticultural pleasures.Often the mundane can be very beautiful if you look hard

and the rescue centre called him a 'lap cat'.So what has all this to do with gardening? Perhaps not a lot until the other weekend. This elderly 'lap cat' has suddenly developed a new lease of life, indulging in late night activities, athletics and now plant

of the garden under piles of sticks and vegetation. They are unlikely to do any damage to healthy plants, but have clearly made a home in the soft centre of this plum tree. It's often said that plants flower well under some stress, and despite the obvious signs

of demonstrations and activities going on. Bunny Guinness demonstrated her 'limbering-up-for-gardening' exercises; a poor, unfortunate soul attempted to convert a very stubborn Eric Robson to the art of flower arranging; Anne Swithinbank ran her house plant clinic

Everything, it seems, has gone green. I’m not just talking about the gorgeous shoots and leaves that are beginning to unfurl. No, I refer to the green film of algae coating steps, paths, stepping stones, flower pots, planters, benches, tables

to look a little perkier  - but it didn’t put on any new growth. Eventually, with a little TLC, and extra watering, my cherished magnolia did eventually grow up and outwards. Eventually, every spring it bore (and still bears) masses of beautiful flowers

.  Whether it's a lily beetle, a courgette flower or a row of lettuces, his pictures have made me start to look at things more closely. If Paul can take beautiful pictures of my garden, what's stopping me?We own a very good, but rather bulky digital camera. I

, the vacuum cleaner man, invented one with a plastic ball instead of a wheel but even that refinement is no longer available at we have gone back to basics. Dyson also made water go uphill in his 2003 Chelsea Flower Show Garden - the planting tried