Search - Articles

grotesque.A smallish tree reaching only about 20m tall, the field maple has a bark as fissured as the face of W.H. Auden, with a slightly corky texture. The flowers are nothing much to write home about, being little greeny numbers that turn up at the same

. I've been debating whether to get a tree for ages, but my garden is 4m² and gets very little sun, and I'd have to grow it in a pot as the soil is so shallow.Another problem is that my garden is isolated. Of the five 'gardens' in the row, mine

, 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

interesting leaves that are shaped a bit like baseball mitts. They are best planted in a warm and sunny site as the flowers only open properly on fine days; in the past week or so when temperatures have reached 10°C or so they have been flaunting themselves

to be heaving with lush foliage and beautiful flowers - but it's the simple sight of something emerging from bare soil or a lone bee on a crocus in February that really lifts my spirits.While snowdrop days at Chelsea Physic Garden are over for another year

acquired a 'mixed bag' of salad leaves in a trough I filled with soil last summer to see what weeds I could 'catch'. So far there's some orache, clover and fat hen. Yum.Nothing says 'spring' like the first nettle soup of the year. A small clump of nettles

plans. Each plan contains an easy-to-follow growing calendar for 10 recommended crops. Simply choose which profile suits your circumstances best, and start sowing:• Allotmenteer• Container grower• Gourmet grower• New to the plot• Weekender

and save seed for use next year.Deadheading spent blooms makes plants look tidier and promotes further flowering, but I allow several of my favourite flowers to form seeds. Some are just left to ripen and fall onto surrounding soil to germinate there

February - April20 minutesDaffodil bulbs x10Celandine, Ranunculus ficariaCorydalis, Corydalis flexuosa x225cm potJohn Innes No. 2 compostCrocksPlace a layer of broken terracotta pot crocks into the bottom of your container. Fill the pot with compost to around 20cm

scabious echoes its purple accents from mid- to late-summer. Above these plants arch the leaves of the grasses, gently swaying in a summer breeze.March - April June - September20 minutesSedge, Carex buchananiiBlue fescue, Festuca glauca x2Scabious x2Thrift