It is time to pull the hanging baskets out of the glasshouse and let them take their chances in the outside world. I love cosseting hanging baskets in the greenhouse early in the year, it is one of the real benefits of having a greenhouse: that you get to grow them on for a bit […]
Most people buying compost still have no idea what’s in the bag – or why it matters. As the climate crisis escalates, that needs to change – and fast. I recently did a spot of crowd-sourcing via social media: Twitter, in this case. I asked – via the hashtag #peatfree – for ideas, tips and […]
Jean Vernon explores some of the plants that are ideal for your first greenhouse Let’s be honest, what’s the first plant that springs to mind when you think of a greenhouse? Chances are it’s tomatoes, and while they can be high maintenance there are ways to succeeding with tomatoes AND there is nothing tastier than […]
Seldom found in glasshouses or conservatories this compact shrub is near ideally suited. Although requiring lime free compost and rainwater this’s not much disadvantage as tub culture is so easy and allows the plants to be moved outdoors for those months when they’re dormant. Beautiful flowers? Yes, like large white heather bells these bloom on […]
Sow: outdoor cucumber, marrow, squashes, pumpkins on edge, individually in 7.5cm pots plus French and Runner beans and Sweetcorn in gentle heat in multipurpose compost in a propagator. Tie in the leading shoots of tomatoes, peppers and aubergines as they grow to support growing stems. Continue to prick out and pot on seedlings, gradually increasing […]
Well the greenhouse is finally back up and running! The last couple of months I have written here about how the greenhouse had become used as a bit of a dumping ground when we demolished our big old shed, sledges and spare rabbit hutches taking the place where tomato seedlings should be thriving. We did […]
I always get wisteria envy at this time of year, because it’s one climber I don’t seem to be able to find the right place for. I’ve planted two in my lifetime and the first one was in a Northamptonshire garden in the late 1980s. I recently went back for a peek and it’s now […]
Cut your ties to plastic – there are plenty of renewable options that provide plant support without microplastic pollution. Off they go, carried on the breeze – motes of pink, persistent pollution blowing up and away into our world. A small, shimmering cloud of glinting alien fragments, destination uncertain, their effect on the web of […]
Grow your own has been on-trend for a while now, but this year with all the uncertainty of Brexit and indeed the increases in food prices, growing food for the table is ever more popular. You don’t need an allotment to grow veg. You don’t even need a veg patch. A raised bed or some […]
In any glasshouse or conservatory there are shady spots where the majority of herbaceous plants would not flourish even those we often choose for such places. As light levels fall choice narrows further becoming dominated by ferns and then only where it’s also moist enough. Well Selaginellas are not actually ferns, neither are they club-mosses […]
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. From the middle of the month onwards, sow dill, basil, coriander indoor cucumber, courgette, squash, sweetcorn and tomatoes for later transplanting outdoors. Protect peas, broad beans and sweetcorn […]
As ecological crises mount, we need to take a closer and more honest look at what we’re doing in our gardens. It’s not as green out there as we think. Red lights are flashing everywhere. Natural emergencies abound. A collapse here, a crash there, a pollution calamity unfolding (air, water), climate breakdown accelerating… the more […]
