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failed again).The temperature has been so high during the day that I’ve had to remove the lids from two propagators, to prevent them from ‘boiling’ the seedlings. I keep a couple of watering cans close by, as the plants are guzzling water

I know that gardeners in other areas of the country have been blessed with proper, sustained downpours, but no such luck here. My only experience of rain in recent weeks was during a (very enjoyable) visit to Garden Show Ireland at Hillsborough

Yesterday at a Gardeners' Question Time recording it was amazing to hear that Eric's Cumbrian plot had only had 5cm of snow. Not so here in Hampshire. The snow is 45-60cm deep and the icicles more than 1m long!What have I been up to during the snowy

to look a little perkier  - but it didn’t put on any new growth. Eventually, with a little TLC, and extra watering, my cherished magnolia did eventually grow up and outwards. Eventually, every spring it bore (and still bears) masses of beautiful flowers

and watering the birds. Recent visitors include 32 sparrows, three robins, masses of assorted tits and hordes of blackbirds, all happily feasting on the hedge in front of our house.Before light the blackbirds are feasting on the cut apples, bird seed and fat

between the panes in the last year. A jet wash with a hose attachment is all it took. The secret is to do it once, allowing the water to loosen everything up, then repeat the process an hour or two later.All that remains is to write myself a reminder

dashing around watering my newly planted garlic and onion sets, opening cloches and rolling back the vent covers on my new brassica frame.I recently planted overwintering brassicas, so I rigged up some temporary shading for them, using old netting from

-free this year. Last year they wreaked havoc, unearthing seeds and decapitating young plants.Red spider mite can overwinter in tiny cracks and crevices, so I’ll be sure to scrub the whole greenhouse structure with a brush and soapy water. I didn’t have any