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contents. Most of them were just older versions of what we use today - small terracotta pots and wooden seed trays where we have plastic - but there were a couple of surprises. There was an (empty) bottle of liquid nicotine, which was declared illegal

A long, long time ago when I first started writing a blog for gardenersworld.com, I wrote about the French naturalist, Philibert Commerson. It was, I stated at the time, episode one of an occasional series about interesting gardeners. I hadn

Gardeners (like opposition politicians) quite enjoy a bit of a moan. In the case of politicians then almost any excuse will do: for gardeners it is usually the weather. It's seldom perfect and in recent weeks all of us have had more rain than

I'm spluttering with indignation.In the dozen or so years that we've gardened here, I've boasted that we've been almost completely free of mammalian vermin: a rabbit emerged once but our two (very efficient) Tibetan terriers soon resolved

Nettles, like midges, are one of those things for which it is difficult to feel much affection. Never welcome, they grow everywhere and, to the gardener at least, seem to have little purpose beyond stinging our children. The sting comes from

are lucky enough to live in the countryside and we have room for these big plants, but even in the tiniest garden this sort of thing can be effective. A big plant in a small space makes a great impact.

I have to admit that, from a practical point of view, this blog post will not have a lot to offer to anybody who gardens in towns and cities. But, rather than turning away in disgust, I would like you to come along with me purely out of interest

If you have been struck by the sad plight of the battery hen recently and wish to do something about it then remember one important fact: chickens are rubbish gardeners. Forget the fanciful notion you had of having fluffy feathered folk strutting

In the words of Benny Hill: "I'll never know how a rose can smell so sweet and pure, And hold its head up high when it's standing in manure!".Old Benny cannot have been much of a gardener (a statement borne out by the fact that he lived all his life

. A mother’s idea of a cool T-shirt was always, always completely wrong.Nowadays I have grown out of most toys (unless you count snazzy gadgets) and my tastes are far more practical. I take refuge in those garden essentials that are really boring but without