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.The Draughtsman's Contract (1983). Beautiful Peter Greenaway film about love and lust amongst formal gardens and sweeping landscapes. Filmed at Groombridge Place in Kent, which was also used in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice.Green Card (1990) starring Gerard

I have a confession to make: I haven't been up to the plot for a week or so and, what's more I can't see me getting up there for the next week or two either... I know it's the right time of year to get on top of digging, manuring and tidying

can spring up and choke them.I'm really thorough about preparing the bed before sowing, raking the soil to a fine tilth and drawing a drill with my hoe. It's not that straight admittedly as I can't find my line, but that's the trouble with tidying your

, but the land tips steeply down to the sea presenting the perfect soil-warming angle to the sun.I think we are the first residents of the bungalow this year and the garden has been recently 'tidied' i.e. savagely cut, mown, and cleared. The pampas grass tussock

I recently undertook a spot of tidying in one of my flowerbeds. Generally I avoid clearing up too early in winter, and I don’t remove too much old growth, as retaining it can limit plant damage during late-winter cold snaps.Usually, after spending

hedge thoroughly before trimming it to ensure there are no birds nesting within. It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.Conifer hedgeElectric or petrol

be shaded in summer but not too sheltered from the rain.Weed-smothering membraneChicken wireFour tree stakesHammerRubber malletWire or twineautumnan hourCut a piece of weed-smothering membrane to about 1m², allowing a little extra at the edges to tuck around

are out there gardening (or those looking for an excuse to be out of the house - sometimes rain dripping down your neck can seem a much more attractive option than ironing).You could pass some time tidying the shed or pootling around in the greenhouse

to chalk up 15 of my 124 target actions. These are mostly by the simple expedient of not cutting the grass, not winter deadheading, clearing out the pond when I repaired it and by having more than my fair share of thickets.The thickets are obviously paying

have two stately yews that stand sentry outside my kitchen window and a cluster of tall beech columns on the lawn. The tidy minded may not approve of the latter as it interferes with a perfect green lawn, but they look great in both winter and summer