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sprouting.It was not that long ago that farmers burnt the stubble from their fields as it was a convenient way to get rid of excess straw and the ash added goodness to the soil. The secret is always not to allow the fire to last too long or get too hot

pursuit of horticultural titbits to amuse readers of this blog. A lot of the island is covered with what is known as Machair - sandy soil, scrubby grass and wild flowers - which, although past its first flush of youth by this time of year, is very lovely

requiring the excavation of about a cubic metre of soil - nearly a skipful in total. Enough to make a complete mess of the average garden.And finally the idea of finding this tucking into your brassicas is enough to make most gardeners greet the next passing

of my great pleasures is weeding while listening to my iPod. So easy to use and no danger of ruining it by squishing soil into the springs or weeds into the woofers. Sometimes I have random music so it can easily flit from Rachmaninov to Radiohead, Gogol

its vigorous suckers (and copious amounts of seed) can easily become a problem. Each plant can cover many square metres of ground and on Colonsay (and other areas of west Scotland) it thrives on the acid soil and is taking over great swathes

relevance to my everyday gardening but I enjoy having them anyway. In this list I include old books like Gardening For Ladies which was published in 1851. It includes some wonderful stuff: for example in the chapter on Digging (Stirring the Soil

about on a summers day it's wonderful to feel the soil running through your fingers. But when it's freezing cold only the most deranged gardeners would lay into a berberis without some protection - a bit like those football fans (always the fattest

woodland in Yorkshire. Acidic soil makes for much brighter autumn colours.Lytes Cary, Somerset: one of the smaller, more intimate National Trust properties. There are lots of autumn activities including wildlife trails around the gardens and estate