The Life Aquatic

Set back on an 11-acre property in Surrey is the faded-brick Arts and Crafts house that once belonged to the influential British horticulturalist, garden designer and writer, Gertrude Jekyll VMH, Munstead Wood. Gertude was the first woman to be awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour – the most prominent of awards for British horticulturalists – following an illustrious career during which she “transformed horticultural practice and inspired others to become gardeners through her books and more than 1,000 articles,” says the National Trust. Designed by her frequent collaborator Sir Edward Lutyens, the house is a charming emblem of classic English Arts and Crafts design and, thanks to Gertrude's own talents in gardening and floriculture, the house's garden is a “horticultural gem.”

Soil is far more than just dirt. Treating soil like dirt is one of the worst things we can do. If you underestimate the importance of soil in a garden, there is little chance of creating a successful and productive garden which can stand the test of time.

Once the results are in, the organisations involved will have a better picture of the scale of the problem we face here in the UK. They also will have better facts to take to government (both local and national) and the organisations who create or use the plastic — such as food companies — to lobby for alternative packaging solutions.Like with any project of this kind I'm sure the results will lead to further questions and the potential need to drill down further in the data. Whilst there are 19 categories of plastic in the survey, many of them are quite broad and only give an idea of numbers not volume. For instance one of my pieces of plastic this morning is the small wrapper which goes around a milk bottle. This sits along

What is the The Environment and I all about. Well its just me banging on about stuff that’s on my mind at this moment. Probably at a later date when I check this out I will think what the heck am I saying and quickly delete the post.

Neptune are purveyors of luxury furniture and accessories for home and garden, as well as a leading name in interior and kitchen design. What’s lesser known is that they started out as a garden retailer, with co-founders John Sims-Hilditch and Giles Redman crafting a hammock from scratch around a dining table.

Hedges are a classic garden feature. They’re a beautiful way to mark a boundary that avoids the blandness of garden fences and these living walls can dampen noise pollution, soak up groundwater, and provide a windbreak. Hedgerows are also a vital habitat for British wildlife, providing both food and shelter, so regular maintenance is an ecological as well as aesthetic necessity. Hand shears are a simple way to trim but if you have a lot of hedges or mobility issues, powered trimmers make the job much easier and quicker.

Better Homes & Gardens

Have you heard of the astronaut space salad? Hint: it’s exactly what you think it might be. This expertly designed combination of foods was created to offer space pioneers a balanced, nutritious meal while also being delicious. Learn what makes this salad unique, plus how you can reap its benefits at home (no spaceship required).

If you ask people what plant they would take into space (which I do, quite a bit), a significant number of them answer potatoes, because they can’t imagine a life without French fries (chips, if you’re British). The only problem with that is that, so far, no one has worked out how to make fries in space. The International Space Station doesn’t have a deep fat fryer, and you can imagine the health & safety nightmare that would be in microgravity. In The Martian, Mark Watney has to make do with a microwave, and rues the day he runs out of ketchup.

Where the Wild Things Grow Given the right conditions, there aren’t many gardeners who wouldn’t love to establish a wildflower meadow somewhere in their garden, but the reality is that starting from scratch can be a lengthy and tricky process. Read about it in one of the many books or features written on the topic – and you may well decide that it is all far too much trouble.

The New Urban Green ‘The New Urban Green’ is a celebration of the tucked away, the overlooked and the greened-up edges of our urban areas captured over 10 years by the photographer Jane Sebire and writer Caroline Beck. Gardens within prisons; asylum seekers growing home tastes from abroad on northern allotments; canals transformed into public parks; housing estates becoming English meadows – small, extraordinary delights in ordinary places cared for by visionaries, enthusiasts and the simply curious.

The Great British Garden Revival Fingers crossed the new 10 part series coming to BBC2 should be  a treat to watch, with horticultural luminaries that include Monty Don, Carole Klein, Chris Beardshaw and Alys Fowler aiming to encourage the entire nation to get involved in gardening. In each episode, two presenters will focus on an endangered aspect of gardens which they feel passionately about and offer hands-on, practical advice to viewers on how they can restore and look after their own gardens. The series will feature episodes on cottage gardens, herbaceous borders, cut flowers, roof gardens, topiary, ornamental bedding, ponds and water features, fruit trees and kitchen gardens.