NOVBEMBER 2019

The deed is done. All traces of Buxus sempervirens (box) have been removed. The box tree caterpillars had bided their time waiting until we were just about to go on holiday before mercilessly attacking every leaf in sight quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.

SEPTEMBER 2018
Bulb planting season is nearly upon us again. A few choice bulbs choose to flower now, like Sternbergia lutea. Similar to the autumn crocus, this is one to try if you have a free draining border against a sunny house wall where nothing else will grow.

MARCH 2018
That depends if you follow the meteorological or astronomical calendar. Either way your garden is starting to reawaken.

JANUARY 2018
I should think myself lucky. I’ve toyed with the idea of moving to a bigger garden in the past (and I do mean just that – garden not house) the dream of what could be, but then realism set in. Are you ever going to get this lucky again and do you really want the ominous task of moving half a garden or abandoning all treasures and starting again?

DECEMBER 2017
If, like me, you are an outdoorsy sort, then you will be itching to get gardening. Traditionally plots were cut back and put to bed in winter, with the exception of pruning tasks. The warmth of the potting shed beckoned for repairs, or browsing seed catalogues.

JANUARY 2017
Today the first flowers started to open on one of my dearest plants – Edgeworthia chrysantha. I’ve had one for seven years now growing against one of the rear house walls, my husband having brought it for me shortly before our son was born for a Valentine’s Day present.

DECEMBER 2016
As a child I used to continually dream about being in the jungle, searching the undergrowth for something elusive. I've done a fair bit of travelling in my time to some pretty exotic places, but I’m not the type to go camping or backpacking - there always needed to be a certain amount of civilisation in place. Therefore I don’t think I could ever of been a plant-hunter. I think of myself more as an armchair plant-hunter.

DECEMBER 2016
It is always at this time of year, when the trees have lost most of their leaves, that you can truly see the structure of the garden that forms the rigid skeleton the rest of the garden is supported on. We see classics such as Buxus (box) and Taxus (yew) used for this purpose all the time, but what about some of the more newcomers to the block.

DECEMBER 2016
About a year ago, I came across a rose with the promise of large, crimson single flowers with an exceptionally long flowering period - late spring through to the first frosts (although rumour has it , it has been known to flower well 12 months of the year including in snow and sub-zero temperatures!