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to loving peonies. They have always been part of my gardening life. Our family garden in Guildford was on a slope near the Downs, on very thin free-draining soil over chalk. Peonies loved it; they didn't demand a thing from us and flourished in return

Birds bring gardens alive, and in so many ways they make gardening worthwhile. It's lovely having them as companions, delving into newly dug soil for worms and pests, but better still when they take up residence and make a nest.What better accolade

-pods of honesty look charming, adding interest when many other worthy perennials have given up the ghost for winter.Seed will naturally fall onto surrounding soil, sowing itself, with new seedlings emerging next year. Alternatively, seed can be saved to raise new

of global warming. Tree ferns have become popular, and many people leave tender dahlia tubers in the soil over winter instead of lifting and storing them. Until this year they might have got away with ignoring the rulebook and taking a chance, but this might

I always have a dilemma in April, choosing the right plant supports for my tall border perennials, delphiniums in particular. Last year I used lots of home-grown sticks leftover from pruning my silver birch. Pushed firmly into the soil around clumps

So many shrubs are popular because they're easy to propagate and grow by the nurseries, cheap to buy, reliable performers, and grow in many types of soil and situation. But sometimes you don't want your garden to look like everyone else's, and would

can? Rather than just stimulating my visual sense I was breathing in the scents and smells of my garden, and discovering another world that I so often ignore.Some of this is simply the unique smell of gardening - of mown grass, soil, weeds as they

of the plants without damaging them.An alternative method of support is required, so I'll resort to using bamboo plant supports. Long, thick canes are hammered down into the dry soil, and green string is wound round the clump from cane to cane to hold everything

, the 'magical material' - compost. "I never feed my plants, I feed the soil". Great advice.Well, with a list of jobs running to several pages by the end of Carol's programme, I certainly had a busy weekend planned. Her infectious enthusiasm rubbed off and I

It's the ‘Gourmet grower’ and ‘Allotmenteer’ packs that I'm finding most useful. Early potatoes planted this week will have produced tasty new potatoes for harvest in June, while broad beans sown outside into warm soil should have their first pods for picking