I am the proud owner of two Hartley greenhouses, one heated and one unheated. I have a problem, Houston! They’re just not big enough at this time of year for all the things I want to grow. By early May they’re both groaning under the weight of dahlias, tomatoes, pelargoniums, countless annuals, sweetcorn, peppers and […]

Isn’t it confusing? We all love the garden birds and wish them no harm. But feeding them seems to be causing problems. So, what do we do to keep the garden birds safe? Everyone loves garden birds. We stop and listen to their melodious songs, we watch their funny antics around the garden and we […]

Compost, leaf mould, bracken, wood chips, even grit… it’s time to sieve your way to gardening gold. Blackcaps are serenading overhead. Spring sun warms my cheeks. A cool, light breeze gets the bluebells shimmying – and I’m joining them. My arms and upper body are moving to a steady, repeating motion, left-right, left-right, as I […]

My greenhouse in May feels like it is buzzing with potential, the warm, humid air, the trays of seedlings stretching towards the light. This May has felt a little different. There are still trays of seedlings but it has been so cold of late that there isn’t the feeling that everything is bursting to get […]

Purple Passion is a striking greenhouse soft shrub, the reddish violet colour alone makes it stand out. As you look more closely you notice amazing furriness on every part. As soft and hairy as Lamb’s Quarters (Stachys) in the open garden, similarly gentle under the fingers. Indeed a tactile plant you are driven to touch […]

Check greenhouse seedlings daily. They should only be watered if necessary and ensure they are not overwatered. They need watering less often when light and temperature levels are low. Use tepid tap water. Continue to inspect plants daily; look out for the three main greenhouse pests – aphids, whitefly and red spider mite – on […]

Solar technology is developing apace – but that’s not without controversy. For friction-free, life-enriching solar power, think no-tech – and look no further than your garden. I’m in my greenhouse, cheeks warmed by spring sunshine: calm, relaxed – smug, even. Beyond the glass, the sun at large is sending society into a bad-tempered frenzy; argy-bargy […]

Have we been brainwashed into keeping a monoculture of high maintenance grass plants across a huge area of our garden, asks Jean Vernon? I’ll let you into a little secret. I don’t have a lawn. That’s rather ironic, as for many years I tested lawnmowers for The Daily Telegraph. That was possibly one of the […]

This’s more a curious, architectural greenhouse foliage plant than a spectacular floral display. Although these cute flowers last for many weeks they’re not impressive compared to their sister bulbs, the rose red Blood Lilies, Haemanthus coccineus for this is H. albiflos, a white flowered species. Hailing from South Africa these members of the Amaryllis family […]

Joan Loraine gardened at Greencombe close to Porlock in Somerset for over fifty years. The garden is well-named because it’s sandwiched between the Bristol Channel, which is barely half a mile away, and wooded slopes that “tumble between high Exmoor and the sea” to use Joan’s exact words. As a result, Greencombe’s sheltered from the […]

Sow broad beans, spinach, cabbage, calabrese, kohlrabi, cauliflower, lettuce, peas for pods and shoots, onions, salad onions, turnip, radish, beetroot, leeks, leaf beat and chard under glass in pots or modules for later transplanting outdoors. Sow bunching onions, beetroot and round rooted carrots in pots for later transplanting outdoors. From the middle of the month […]

With the price – and the cost – of oil overshadowing global politics, the need to break our gardens’ dependence on it is more urgent than ever. Imagine it: drops of black, oily rain pattering down onto your greenhouse roof, congealing, blocking out the sun. Outdoors, your plants coated in the same foul-smelling, hellish precipitation. […]