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that are still viable. (iv) Plant the seeds that my very efficient wife has ordered. (v) Divide grasses and some herbaceous plants. (vi) Prune and tie back climbing roses. (vii) Cut back willows and dogwoods - although this can wait a bit. (viii) Plant bare

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

.However, this is not taking full advantage of the adaptability of this plant; it is a shrub that thrives on pruning. You hack a bit off and it will come back at you with ten new shoots. As a result it is easy to shape and can be used as a very effective architectural plant

) 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 pruning. Some of you might remember the Fortnum and Mason garden designed by Robert Myers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2007. The building at the back of the garden was covered with trained liquidambars and very effective it was.There are many reasons you

I've found an interesting artefact, a remnant of a time long gone. Lurking in a cupboard I discovered an old album of cigarette cards assembled by my father in 1939. For those younger readers of this illustrious blog I will explain

more people should grow apricots. I have fond memories of an old apricot tree in my parents' garden in Wandsworth and my mother-in-law has a particularly good one trained against a wall. They are vigorous trees that get to about 3m but should be pruned

growing on a grassy bank. It has clear white flowers in summer and very prickly stems. I tend to hard prune some but not all, which means that we get a much longer flowering season. (The unpruned flower earlier.)This is the beginning of growth on a pear

to the rest of the garden. It is very easy to grow and there is another one planted just outside my office, so if I open the window and inhale … aaaaaahhh!I have sneaked a couple of other varieties. One is Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile', which is about 1.6m high

to inject a note of optimism the second picture, below, is of the same area in May - so all is not lost).Now is the time start the big chop back in readiness for the spring. Over the next few weeks I will be cutting back pretty much everything, pruning roses