If we’re to truly break free from peat-dependent gardening, what’s needed is joined-up oversight with the vision to see the bigger picture. Unlikely as it sounds, there is every chance that gardening will soon turn noticeably greener, as our gardens, allotments and greenhouses – after three decades of delay, doublespeak and deception – are finally […]
After a wet, cold May and low light, let’s hope plants and people can finally enjoy some sunshine. Aubergines, peppers and chillies should be transplanted into pots one or two sizes larger once they have formed a good root system but before they become pot bound. Transplant repeatedly until they reach a final pot size […]
This is the month when gardeners enjoy adding to their collection of plants. So, I’ve called on knowledgeable colleagues from different parts of the country, to find out what they can’t live without. When I asked them to name two, one person replied, “That’s like picking a favorite child!” With a lot of culling and […]
The cool spring has been great for getting salad leaves going in the greenhouse, lettuce in particular. Most plants are in the greenhouse now to keep them warm while the weather is still uncertain – I even have new perennials sheltering in there as it has been so chilly and I haven’t wanted to plunge […]
Even in a larger greenhouse, choosing the right plants can be difficult. I once decided to grow a banana plant so I could harvest my own bananas. It grew and grew and grew right out through the skylight until it was about 4’ taller than the 12’-high greenhouse. Every summer the wind off the ocean […]
Habitat is a word much in use today and has come to mean many things, but one of its earliest descriptions, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in 1796 when it was defined as “the natural place of growth of a plant or animal in its wild state. This is now generally expressed as […]
I’m probably going to cause a riot, although I’m not a Kaiser Chief! I believe the bowling green lawn, the one with the counter-running corduroy-like stripes, is fine for Premier League footballers but not for gardeners. It’s old hat and trying to maintain that level of perfection means killing the daisies and the moss with […]
Jean Vernon exposes one of the biggest Insider Gardening secrets. Gardening is more magic than muck With a few million more people dabbling in the fine art of gardening, those with a few years experience under their belt are offering advice and support across a wide range of platforms. Gardening is not an elite sport, […]
A most valuable greenhouse crop for those who love good food is Apium graveolens. An Umbellifer of marshlands found almost worldwide was known to the Ancients as Smallage. This was grown in gardens, or rather herbariums, solely for its medicinal use, until the Sixteenth century. Then in Italy this almost toxic plant was developed into […]
It’s time to look beyond plastic – there’s a new pot on the plot that promises pollution-free planting. If gardening wants to get serious – and I mean serious, not just some fluffy padding that fills a few column inches now and then in glossy magazines – about its darker side, the one that blights […]
Although we should be looking forward to May, it’s impossible not to comment on April’s extraordinary weather where conditions were totally alien gardeners in warmer parts of the UK. First sowings were abandoned or delayed and the ground was too cold and dry for transplanting. I have never known anything like it! First of all, […]
Fig trees typically grow in warm climates, so there are many regions too cold for them to survive the winter. In general, hardiness zones lower than 6 are not fig-friendly. One old-style method of protecting a fig tree during winter in cold climates is to tie up the branches after they’ve shed their leaves and […]
