The sudden warmth has meant that the greenhouse has become my second home, fair weather gardener that I am. After half shunning it all winter I am now its best friend again, and spent much of the Easter weekend and since shuffling compost into seed trays and modules, and starting off my future vegetables. It […]
As the clocks change to give us lighter evenings and the season bursts into full swing, you’d be forgiven for thinking everything in the greenhouse and garden is rosy. But something happens that night the clocks spring forward and it is related to time, but I swear we don’t just lose an hour. It’s like […]
Download April Gardening Guide Prune Fig trees can be pruned to get rid of any branches damaged during winter. Cut back long bare branches to 2 inches to encourage new growth Flowered shoots of hydrangeas and winter jasmine can now be pruned back Evergreen and deciduous shrubs can be pruned back to encourage new growth […]
Houseplants much at home in a warm greenhouse are the Christmas and Easter cactus, and for Americans, Thanksgiving cactus as well. Tough and long enduring these have been rightly popular since Victorian times. The Latin names have changed so often it’s now more sensible to revert to the common names most people are familiar with. […]
Sowing times on seed packets can largely be ignored in spring. One example is the instruction ‘direct sow from February onwards’ on parsnip seed packets. The key to successful germination are constant soil temperatures – that’s when a soil thermometer becomes invaluable. Sow when it is too cold and the seed simply sits in the […]
Like every man-made structure, a greenhouse has an embedded ecological cost – the inspiring difference being that with a greenhouse, you get the chance to clear the debt. These days nudging each side of the spring equinox – when day and night match each other in length – are for me among gardening’s headiest. March’s […]
Can someone please explain to me how a headline that states that one in two of us will get Cancer in our lifetime has apparently been swept under the carpet as if it’s acceptable? Is anyone paying attention? Are we allowed to ask why, or point a finger or question the huge increases in not […]
It’s March and I suddenly want to be in the greenhouse. Although it has looked like spring, it hasn’t felt like spring, but now the sun is out and even my rickety panes take a little of the remaining chill off of the wind. Step inside, close your eyes, turn your face to the sun […]
Download March Gardening Guide Prune If wisteria haven’t been pruned, do so now as it’s the last chance before they can be pruned without bleeding sap New trees, hedges and climbers can all be continually pruned as needed The stems of willows and dogwood can be pruned to encourage new growth Roses should have their […]
So come on March, are you coming in as a lion or lamb? With hemerocallis rapidly emerging, species tulips, Tulipa humilis already in flower and Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ coming slowly into bud, I am hoping for a lamb. Whatever March decides, it is going to take a while for the soil to warm, particularly on […]
Perfect for the warm greenhouse or conservatory or even as a houseplant in a warm light window The Croton is actually a Codiaeum. The genus Croton are different plants although both are in the Euphorbiaceae. There are only a few species of Codiaeum and in cultivation you almost always find a plant to be Codiaeum […]
There is an easier middle way between the effort of traditional composting and the specialised requirements of a wormery: invite the worms into your regular bin, and let them do the work. Of all the ongoing experiments and trials in my garden, the longest-running, most revealing and ultimately most fruitful are those around compost-making. I’m […]
