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the winners of the Garden Centre of the Year 2010 run by the Garden Centre Association (GCA).A different take on assessing garden centres is to look at their turnover, and Garden Retail magazine has done just that and published the Top 100 Garden Centres

excavations.For many years I boasted to friends that were complaining about squirrels that I didn't have any visitors, but they've now arrived in force. On one occasion I counted three on my lawn!My squirrels are as bold as they come. When I open the door

The night air is rent by unearthly shrieks. Stammered yelps and horrid guttural whimpers cut through the silence. It sounds like witches are murdering some poor soul deep in a well at the end of my garden. The foxes are out in force tonight

on the surface of the compost and cover with perlite, the white granular material that can be purchased at most garden centres. Then put the seed tray or module tray in a propagator or on a heated mat at 16°C. The seeds will germinate in about 20 days, depending

found a sheltered spot to hibernate, they risk being killed, too.This hard weather will certainly have been challenging for hungry birds searching for food, but hunger will have forced blackbirds and others to search ever more intently for food, so I

they are no longer a pest but something extremely beautiful - a classic example of a weed simply being a plant in the wrong place. There is a thick blanket of the creeping variety, through which the occasional cranesbill forces its head later in the season. Not much

Should I feel guilty about heating my greenhouse? While I'm turning the heat down in my home to save energy, keep bills down, and reduce CO2 emissions, here I am considering heating my greenhouse to both protect plants through winter and provide

've had! I can't remember anything quite like this before. Can you?Let's put to one side the travel problems and disappointments of missed mail-order deliveries. We all have a story to tell, I'm sure.Forced to work from home last week when all the overhead

diversion from the point of this blog, happens very seldom. Often it rains earlier and later but only on a few days every year are we forced to stay in bed. Meteorology, eh?Anyway, my point is that part of our route goes through the nearby woods. Most

. Some crops are deliberately left to bolt, developing flower stems and running to seed (which I collect). Mizuna, watercress and rocket have already set seed, and lettuces are starting to extend – forcing flower heads upwards.Choosing lettuces and salads