I have been rummaging around for my favourite seeds that can still be sown now, in the green house and outside, so that I can make sure spring is off to a good early start in the vegetable patch next year. Broad beans and hardy peas are the obvious ones, and both real favourites of […]
Daily tidings of impending ecological catastrophe make it hard to stay positive – but gardeners have can-do ways to mitigate the crisis. Down one day, up the next. Gloom and doom gathers, before some light shines in. ‘Why bother?’ worms its way in, and then is cheerily ousted (usually) by a jolt of ‘Yes!’ can-do […]
One of the attractions that’s fed the “influencer’s” fiendish passion for promoting houseplants is probably that, in general, it’s hard to kill one – a houseplant that is. Anywhere that you are comfortable, be it conservatory, greenhouse or light-filled room, so will be whatever pet plant(s) you nurture. Three years ago, I acquired a rubber-tree […]
Heating a greenhouse can be expensive over a long, cold winter, and not just at night. Winter sunshine doesn’t provide a huge amount of heat, and the cold air outside lowers greenhouse temperatures even more. Inside my greenhouses here in New England, summer temperatures outside can easily soar to over 100˚F, but during winter the […]
Those of us who garden, know that there is something very special and very healing about our hobby. Gardeners have known that gardening has health benefits for years but sometimes find it difficult to quantify or justify it. Finally scientists are now agreeing that nature bathing, or spending time in nature is good for us […]
When you’re transplanting in the greenhouse this fall, your soil mix will probably be peppered with small white granules. Yes, that’s perlite. But, after years of using it at my own potting bench, I realized I didn’t actually know what it is, or where it comes from, or whether its environmentally sustainable. For answers, I […]
A clue as to why you might want this in your greenhouse is the common name. In a similar manner to French Marigolds it’s thought having this discourages Whiteflies. I can attest I’ve seldom seen one since I started growing these. Oddly you may already have had this appear by accident as this half hardy […]
Now’s the time to sow sweet peas in a cool greenhouse for an early display next year. Soften the seed coat by putting the seeds between two layers of kitchen towel on an old dinner plate. Dampen the towel, drain off excess water, then sow those that swell or sprout, after about 48 hours. Leave […]
In the last 30 years I’ve had two gardens and, although there were only 20 miles apart, they were as different as chalk and cheese, a bit like my children! My old garden in Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, famous for its beer, was a stone’s throw away from the church. The one-acre garden was on […]
