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…
Gardens
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…
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…
Gardening: sources of help for novice gardeners
I’ve been thinking about novice gardeners and how they learn. One morning in the autumn, I helped my daughter to dig out ‘bootlaces’ – the subterranean rhizomorphs of honey fungus…
How to stop rabbits eating trees
“How to stop rabbits eating trees is like adopting the mantle of Mr McGregor” a forestry expert once explained to me. “If you want your own patch of woodland, you…
How to grow rhubarb: rescuing old plants
The rhubarb plant is almost indestructible and even better, it’s easy to grow in a kitchen garden. Here’s my advice on rejuvenating rhubarb you may already have, how to recognise…
Why there’s still hope for the UK’s hazel dormice
David Tomlinson takes a look at the state of hazel dormice in the UK, and finds out what is being done to protect them. The country house chicken comes in…