Articles Ideas, Tips & Guides

Since I put this list together 7 years ago but I have now started to favour Kings Seeds (Suffolk Herbs) for my vegetables. I also get many more seeds from clubs and organisations rather than merchants.

The objective of a Stumpery is to create a garden feature from ferns, logs and old tree roots. The Victorians started a trend to build Rooteries, Ferneries and Stumperies as romantic woodland places to grow exotic ferns and woodland plants. If you have a dark corner or want to collect ferns then you could start your own Stumpery quite easily and add to it as the fancy takes you.

Growing good roses is not difficult and plants are reasonable and long lasting. Plant them in good soil feed and care for them and they will reward you with magnificent blooms, scent, cut flowers and a great summer show. As a guide to growing roses there is a list on monthly tips and actions to help get the best from your plants.

Rumour that Bees are in terminal decline is not borne out in my garden this year. The Bees seem very happy on the blue flowers and I am happy as it gives me an excuse to show some more blue photographs (of flowers!).

The North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS) is over 106 year old and has been the premier gardening and horticultural charity supporting the north of England through out that time. It is independent of the RHS! The NEHS is not to be confused with Northern Horticultural society 1963-1988 or The Northern Horticultural society 1988 – 2009 which were subsumed along with Harlow Carr gardens by the RHS. Their magazine ‘Northern Gardener’ was replace by RHS publication The Garden.

These notes are designed as advice to a daughter who has just moved into a 1920’s house with a long, narrow back garden and a postage stamp sized front grass patch.

‘Marriage is like life in this…. That it is a field of battle And not a bed of Roses’

The original post on 5th April 2008′ was entitled welcome to the Compost Heap.’

There are all sorts of presents you can give an avid gardener for Christmas. A concept present may be a small collection of garden ornaments or some funny sayings. More seriously garden tokens are always useful but I like to select my own tools.

What can gardeners do in winter? The answer lies in the soil! but to old gardeners it is still ‘Beyond our Ken’. I often spent too long polishing my good intentions this includes planning to send my mower for servicing and sharpening’ a shame I do not plan to polish up my other important gardening implements.

Where would we be if there weren’t already numerous robots used in the gardening industry. Do you imagine there are thousands of Dutch gardeners pricking out the seedlings of the soon to be gaudy annuals on supermarket displays or thousands of Chinese coolies picking individual seeds for our packeted seed industry (well may be in this case).

Diarmuid Gavin Garden Recreated

Hay fever and Asthma attacks can be brought on by Scented Plants as well as pollen or Fungal Spores. Histamin problems can also be exacerbated by scent and smells in the garden.

Or more aptly what can gardeners do with their drinks and any remnants.

One thing is sure the climate in your garden will change. You already know one week will be different to the next and I can’t remember when two months or any years were the identical to others. In many areas you can get 3 or 4 seasons in one day (or in Scotland one hour!).

There are many interesting terms that may have uses in our UK gardening. We  have probably all experimented with Bonsai aiming for the perfection of small trees in small pots as a demonstration of bonsiers art. I have used the root restriction technique to get miniature or smaller shrubs for a smaller garden but stopping short of root pruning.

Trees, shrubs and all plants have developed methods to procreate and ensure the continuity of their species. ‘Natures Home winter 2018’ looks at trees that use Anemochory, Autochory, Zoochory, Barachory plus other methods. For our purposes we will look in the same order at wind distribution, explosive seed pods, animal dispersion and drop and roll plus other methods.

If Prince Charles can talk to flowers and plants perhaps your grass would like to listen to some classical music. Nocturnes may be more appropriate than ‘the floral dance’ or anything else that attracts weeds.

Comfrey juice concentrate or nettle juice stink but Seaweed extract is a weed to feed your garden. In fact seaweed is arguably the best weed in your garden.

January started the year quite well with a few early snowdrops and the remnants of primulas. February will be even better snow permitting. Leap forward to June which is a spectacular month for flowering hedgerows and particularly in the under-storey.

Is your garden safe from petty crime? Unfortunately in recent years garden theft has been on the rise. Plants, furniture, metal objects and statues can all be  attractive to thieves. Our local police  circulated this timely reminder on how to ‘nip crime in the bud’.

Transpiration is a basic and crucial function that moves water around plants to cool and keep them healthy. Leaves have pores or stomata that open to allow moisture to transpire or evaporate. Large trees can transpire up to 500 gallons per day, our garden plants transpire far less but enough to cause wilting if there is insufficient moisture for the plant. Stems and flowers can also transpire and loose water.

I only have a garden to keep the weeds happy. In it trespassers will be composted and slugs treated to a grizzly end. However  the lawn deserves some reverence hence the following, first posted in 2011 and  based on an Original by Debbie, of Middletown – My Little Sister’s Humourous sayings

Some  animals can be a real pest in the garden. Their crimes include eating the wrong thing, digging in the wrong area, turning grass brown with urine and leaving a dirty mess. Some chose your favourite plants to damage as I know from some aggressive over fed pigeons in my own garden. In my experience the worst offenders are rabbits, cats, mice, deer, pigeons and dogs including foxes. Rats cause concern but have not caused direct damage in my garden.

It is interesting to see how gardening adverts have changed with the horticultural industry and modern developments. Yet a top fruit business has in some ways stayed the same.

Foliar feeding does at least some good. First and foremost it makes me, the putative garden expert, think I am doing some good for the plants in my care. If the fertilised plants pick up any extra nutrients so much the better. If they also repay me with a better crop or display then wow!

‘What else did the Romans do for us’ asks Monty Python. ‘All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? ‘ Well if you include Latin as a language they gave us modern gardening nomenclature.

Rhododendron buds

We can all suffer from forgetfulness or in my case ignorance. This flower looks a bit like an antirrhinum but somehow that doesn’t seem to fit.

To me a curmudgeon is not something to plant or see growing in your garden. That is because a curmudgeon is great, galumphing, gormless gardener a bit like me.

There is many a good gardener who wears a tie to work. Neat rows of vegetables, manicured lawns and a smart personal appearance are de-rigor in the best professional gardens.

Cop hold of these gardeners tips designed for the upcoming Cop26 summit on the climate

The recent history of my seed sowing is not a traditional gardeners tip more a recollection of my own gardening method or lack thereof. These seed sowing stories are neither best practice nor a road to success.

New drives, block paving and concreting over may and I emphasise may seem a good investment but think of the gardens destroyed and the habitats lost under hard landscape.