Search - Articles

crop in 2013!

Living on a hillside, I’m fortunately not in danger of being flooded, but it doesn’t mean I’m not feeling the effects of the recent heavy rains. It’s difficult to walk around my sloping garden without slipping over, and the grassed areas have turned to deep mud. They’re in a wors...

A belated happy new year to one and all. May your beans be beauteous, your snapdragons sensational and your turnips on time. As I write this in the blushing dawn of the new year I feel it appropriate to come clean about something that I ought to have done by now. A box of tulips ...

Where you place a new greenhouse or polytunnel can make the difference between growing success and failure, so it’s important to get it right. With careful siting, it should be possible to optimise the productivity of your structure, which helps

H, look at what grows well in nearby gardens. If camellias and rhododendrons thrive, the soil is acidic, while flowering cherries, yew and clematis prefer alkaline soils, such as those on chalk.Testing your soil is quick and easy - simple pH testing kits

invertebrates to amphibians, hedgehogs and even birds. A stumpery is similar to a log pile, but you can have a bit more fun with it. It consists of upright logs half buried in the soil, allowing moss, lichen and fungi to grow. Some gardeners plant ferns

, or self-setting gravel edged with timber. Where you intend to plant direct into the border soil, fork it thoroughly to relieve any compaction and incorporate plenty of compost. Alternatively, if you'll be growing in pots and growing bags, or on benches

problem with spider mite last winter, but it’s best to err on the side of caution.This virtuous activity is always very satisfying, and makes me feel prepared for the year ahead. Roll on 2013, and a productive growing season!

New Year’s Eve. A defining moment, the joys and traumas of Christmas behind us and the blank page of 2013 stretching ahead like a freshly hoovered carpet. The question is whether, for us gardeners, that carpet will be lush shag pile or meagrely

: The wood anemone. You don’t have to have a wood to grow this little plant. Underneath deciduous shrubs or in a shady corner will do fine. Also comes in white and a sort of washy pink. But I would stick with the first two.