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Despite summer drought in my part of the East Midlands, my apple crop has been pretty good on most trees, but there’s just one problem. A much larger proportion of fruit than ever before has been pecked on the tree itself, resulting in small holes

I suppose I am very, very lucky to have known Geoffrey Smith and worked with him, but right now I just feel sad. Somthing is now missing for me, and indeed I know for many millions of us. Gardening has lost its Head Gardener.Geoffrey was better than

of Gardeners’ Question Time, talks endlessly about his apple press. His evangelism has converted me to presses, which are a wonderful way to use up those less-than-perfect fruits.You can press the whole apple, but I always chop mine in half, to check

To continue my (very) occasional series about interesting gardeners: have you ever heard of Johnny Appleseed? He is one of the folk heroes of American horticulture and has been immortalised not only in books but also in a song by the late, great Joe

to start early because although there is now a tremendous crop on some of the Prunus spinosa that we planted shortly after we moved here (the excuse was that it is of course, a great native hedging plant!).Those by the footpath will be cleared of all fruit

A friend recently showed me a photograph (left) of his rotting plum tree, with woodlice crawling around the affected area. Were the woodlice a pest, and how should he get rid of them? This reminded me of a plum tree in my own family garden when I

did a bit of farming and looked after an acre or so of garden.In the summer of 1825 Mrs Cox was sitting in the garden - probably enjoying the sun and, perhaps embroidering a sampler or engaged in some similar 19th Century pursuit. Her attention

in the world) then this is my lightning guide to 10 highlights of the show.1. The Conceptual Gardens. Unique to Hampton Court, these are gardens, usually designed by young designers, that explore ideas not usually found in conventional gardens. There is one

for garden use in the 1970s. Liquid nicotine is extremely dangerous to all living creatures and was used widely as an insecticide for many, many years. It was either mixed with water as a spray or else vaporised in lamps - in which case the gardener lit

When a letter starts "I must strongly protest at an article written by Adam Pasco…" then I do wonder what I've done wrong.Let me set the scene. You can't find much more of a bird lover than me. Just take a look at my garden, and the way I garden