I often ask myself, why I’m a gardener. The answer’s somewhat mundane. I was a twin and we shared a small bedroom in a terraced house. We had entirely different personalities because we were fraternal, rather than identical twins My twin brother was the beautiful one. He got the curly golden hair, the navy-blue eyes […]
This coming spring is the perfect time to add trees to your garden. And as you decide what to plant, have you considered allergies? Allergies, especially to windborne pollen, are on the rise around the world. But Thomas Ogren says you can create a garden full of low-allergy trees and other plants—and he should know. […]
What’s the best way to label plants and seedlings?? Even the most knowledgeable gardener needs to use plant labels. It’s all very well being able to identify what different plant seedlings look like, but if you are growing from seed you also need to know the variety. But the problem with plant labels is that […]
It is about this time of year that I start getting a little twitchy to do some sowing in the greenhouse. This is a bit unfortunate, as it is way too early for the vast majority of things. The exception is chillies and pea shoots, and so I have sown them both. They are sown […]
Much vaunted for its health value and expensive to purchase Turmeric is the swollen root of Curcuma longa, a decorative greenhouse plant with large leaves. This flavourful colouring spice is grown in huge quantities in Asian countries for many dishes and it’s essential for Indian curries. Used since Classical times as the dried root or […]
Plants like peppers, chillies and aubergines, which need a long growing season should be sown this month. If you sow them now, they will ripen but leave too late and they will not. The third week in February is ideal, mid-March is fine and the first week in April is the limit. They need light, […]
Gardeners are an ebullient lot, because we’re always looking into the rosy future and, at the start of the year, the future’s rosier than ever! We’re enjoying the garden’s renaissance and mostly that’s sheer joy, although occasionally I shed a tear when a lost friend is remembered by a plant. The snowdrop ‘Fieldgate Imp’, named […]
Why would you want a blight-beating tomato in your greenhouse, where blight is rarely an issue? Because in these increasingly unpredictable times, it pays to think laterally. Solutions to gardening problems sometimes arrive in moments of sheer serendipity. My greenhouse was the setting for such a moment last summer, when the conditions inside flipped from […]
There’s been a couple of snow flurries, but the days are early-spring-balmy and the soil dusty, plants equally so. It’s a glasshouse moment for sure–watering and fussing over the greenery that lives outdoors in summer, and indoors during winter. So I’ll keep this brief out of necessity, as I’m hard pressed to turn my mind […]
The internet is loaded with gardening advice—good, bad, and atrocious. But excellent online information is available, so it’s worth spending the less-demanding gardening months poking around online. Here’s a sampler of what’s out there in the way of classes, webinars, and podcasts from reliable experts who can help you make the most of your next […]
At this time of year, many greenhouse owners are getting ready to start seeds. I find that pepper seeds take up to three weeks to germinate, so I usually start them first, followed by eggplants, tomatoes, and flowers. However, there’s a problem starting heat-loving plants in a small greenhouse in late winter. The seeds of […]
If you had space in the greenhouse, and time on your hands, you may well have sown your sweet peas in autumn. They are very happy with this treatment, and will put down good roots over winter and be ready to produce good early flowers this year. If, like me, you did not find the […]
