‘Tis the season to spend money and ’tis no good pushing back against the fact. Nor, I imagine, do we really want to, since we don’t want to be thought…
Gardens
Autumn Gardening
I like to think that I am a proper gardener, by which I mean that cataracts and hurricanoes have to spout until they drench our steeple (we live next door…
Apple Trees
There are three certain things in life: death, taxes and the presence of at least one apple tree in the garden you get when you move house. Of all ‘top…
The Appeal Of Coloured Foliage
What is it with gardeners and coloured foliage? Why do purple, red or yellow leaves seem to appeal so strongly? Is it a positive aesthetic reaction to these colours or…
Village flower shows
In the late 1980s, I was involved in the making of two series of programmes for Channel 4, entitled Village Show. We visited flower shows all over the kingdom, including…
Garden Roses
I can’t help it. Every time a friend tells me that they bought their house because of the wonderfully friable, medium loam soil in the garden, I gnash my teeth.…
Weeds in the garden
Ah, the merry month of May. How much we look forward to it, since it always feels like the time of greatest promise in our gardens. You can almost taste…
Should you buy ‘plug plants’ or sow the seeds?
I am slap bang in the middle of the seed-sowing season, that most hectic of times when the ‘windowsill’ propagator is packed with small pots, the staging in the greenhouse…
Gardening: why narcissi are the real stars of spring
Are there just too many daffodils in the world? Every March, I ask myself this question as I drive down country lanes near my home in the Midlands. Here and…
Best duck breeds to keep in the garden
Ducks are fun poultry, whether adorable call ducks to big, ugly Muscovies. So which are the best duck breeds? Beware though, your lawn may never be the same again. Once…