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the weather forecast to see what's in store for later in the week, but with Wimbledon in full swing surely we can expect rain!But if rain doesn't arrive it really is done to the gardener to make up for the shortfall. A friend of mine took on an allotment

's not just about fruit harvests, pumpkins and squashes, but also rust fungi.But here's the problem: rust fungi thrive when there's a lot of surface moisture about, and it hasn't rained for ages. The only moisture on the grass is from the morning dew. So can

Do you have an autumn clear-up in your garden? Do you cut down all your herbaceous stuff so that everything is tidy for the winter or do you leave everything until the new year? Most people nowadays leave it until later to give food for small birds

the station on some evenings I found myself battling through torrential rain, only to get home and find my garden was still bone dry. And there I was wishfully thinking I'd have an evening off from my summer watering routine!But back to the clover. Perhaps

March is not really prime garden visiting time: a few gardens with specialist collections are open for the wonderful National Gardens Scheme, but most of them are keeping their powder dry in readiness for spring and summer.However, gardeners still

I love Chelsea, in spite of the sore shoulders I get from carrying press releases, the aching knees from traipsing around all day and the weird cough that comes on in the middle of the Floral Marquee. It's the biggest gardening event of the year

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

Does it matter what one wears for gardening? Obviously most people look for warmth in winter, cool in summer and comfort all year; elegance is not really much of a consideration. My father-in-law, for example, has a waxed jacket which is more hole

One of the most important traits in any gardener's character is enthusiasm. I am sure that there are other occupations/activities that foster similar outpourings in their adherents. Football (for example), food (undoubtedly), trainspotting (perhaps

was typical of the west coast of Scotland and flitted between lashing rain and glorious sunshine, but a good time was had by all.I was particularly struck, this time, by heather. Heather looks spectacularly wonderful in its natural habitat, but attempts to