I’m summer weary and tired of picking tomatoes, making jam in the evenings, watering and weeding! I’m waiting for the first frost, although last year we only had a couple and they came well after Christmas for it was the mildest winter ever in the cold, cold Cotswolds, in the wonderfully named village of Cold […]

I want to make good use of the greenhouse over winter and to that end I have decided to rescue some herbs from the slow autumn slump. Right now all of my herbs are looking pretty good, and it is easy to be fooled into imagining this will go on, particularly when the September days […]

Sow no harm: if you grow insect-attracting flowers from seed, you will reap nothing but delight. I love you, my dearest dahlias – I really do. And it’s on hot, comforting days like this, when we’re lulled by echoes of ebbing summer, that I adore you more than ever. Today you brought an airborne frenzy of […]

Subversive is a strong word, but I am starting to think that it’s time to get a little bit underhand or even revolutionary when it comes to doing my bit to help wildlife and especially the birds and the bees Before you get concerned, or stop reading, let’s be clear this is a gentle kind […]

A greenhouse or conservatory without much direct sunlight is not the perfect place for tender flowers, crops and many tropical plants. However even in the tropics there are damp shady cool places under the canopy and down in grottos and fissures. In those sites you find all sorts of ferns growing, often luxuriantly and many […]

From the start of September until weather starts to cool in mid to late October, is the time for annual lawn maintenance. It should not be something you do in dry conditions, wait until the weather is warm and moist so the lawn can recover after treatment. If there is moss in the lawn, kill it […]