Kale is so popular that they are even making crisps out of the hardy green vegetable. Perhaps it is time for the potato to watch out, although early harvest potatoes…
Willy Newlands
How to stop rabbits eating trees
How to stop rabbits eating trees is like adopting the mantle of Mr McGregor. The function of wildlife in the landscape,” a forestry expert once explained to me, “is to…
Scotch roses are hardy, scented and reliable.
Scotch roses were all the rage in Regency times, with some nurserymen listing more than 200 varieties. But by the middle of Queen Victoria’s reign, they were described as being…
Egyptian Walking Onions
The Egyptian walking onion is a smallholder’s plant – which is a polite way of saying that it is untidy, difficult to harvest and an acquired taste. On the plus…
Fuel: Will a wood-burning stove reduce your heating bill?
Not long after my parents retired to their dream cottage on the fringe of the Highlands, my father announced he was going to build a woodshed outside the back door…
Early harvest potatoes
Maincrop potatoes may spend many weeks in storage, and a great deal can go wrong during those months in the dark. It is said that McDonald’s revolutionised potato storage…
Hardy roses for severe winters
Christmas is a realistic time to think about roses. The days are short, frost hard, wind bitter and this is the time when things that are thinking of dying will…
Practical garden hedges and boarders
It seemed like a good idea at the time – this is one of the saddest phrases in the English language, and in the garden it can mean that you are…
How to grow rhubarb: rescuing old plants
To grow rhubarb used to be the preserve of West Yorkshire’s Rhubarb Triangle rather than for the humble kitchen garden, but the hardy plants have fought their neglect and are…