For some strange reason we have been programmed to loathe stinging nettles, but these plants play a vital role in nature, says Jean Vernon. If your earliest memories of nettles is falling into the nettle patch or being chased around the playground by nettle wielding classmates, you won’t have a good relationship with these incredible […]
There are lots of positive things we can do to support our garden birds. High on the list is ensuring a rich supply of natural food, including insects. If you love the garden birds you need to love insects too because without insects our birds (and many other creatures would die). We need insects and […]
I have to be honest I usually find February a bit of a challenge. Of course, I know that spring is much closer, but February is still winter here in the UK and it’s still a bit early to be actively gardening. Even so, any sunny day provides a window to do a little outside […]
As the new year unfolds it’s a good time to plan ahead a little and decide how to make small, but powerful changes to your greenhouse and your garden. For many reasons, I didn’t get much gardening done last year and so the garden has run away with me a bit. But instead of letting […]
After years of trialing products for the Daily Telegraph I’ve had the pleasure and horror of trialing a huge variety of gardening tools, products and accessories for more than twenty years. Here are five of my all-time favourites Whether you are starting out gardening, or buying a gift for a garden-mad friend or relative for […]
With autumn in full swing, what’s the best thing to do with the leaves? Should you leave the leaves or something else? Jean Vernon explores. When we think of autumn leaves it either conjures the beauty of the fiery foliage fireworks as the trees shed their cloak and slip towards winter, or we envisage the […]
Whether you want to plant for wildlife or deter burglars, the humble bramble has many attributes I have a long and chequered history with the humble blackberry. As a child I lived on a crescent of houses and in the middle of the crescent was an allotment site, where we had a plot. We didn’t […]
Most gardeners love to inject their garden with a huge dose of colour, Whether that’s flamboyant bedding schemes, flowers for cutting or the spring spectacular of flowering bulbs. Colour is the lifeblood of most gardens. But it doesn’t have to be dramatic and lairy, it can be soft and calming too. Learning how to use […]
Don’t get despondent if there are weeds on your patch. Most are wildflowers and have a vital role for our pollinators and insects. In my world there is no such thing as a weed. Weeds are wildflowers. Many of our wildflowers evolved side by side with their pollinators or other creatures that depend on them. […]
Can I grow lemons in my greenhouse? If you want fresh lemons for your summer drinks maybe it’s time to grow a lemon tree in your greenhouse? Growing things to eat is one of the greatest pleasures of gardening and indeed owning a glasshouse. Growing high value ingredients is possibly the number one rule. Add […]
Our gardens really do have a route into our mind, body and souls. I don’t know about you but I simply love to lose myself in the garden or in nature. It’s something that I have always done and I didn’t realise it was a kind of meditation or mindfulness. There is something about escaping […]
We need to rethink our stance on greenfly, aphids, slugs and snails, says Jean Vernon Everything in nature is interconnected, pretty much every single creature has a role to play and a vital place in the food chain. It’s like a baton being passed from runner to runner in the Olympic relay race, but the […]
