The greenhouse has now been planted up with tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and some basil, and the growing year is underway. I want to say ‘finally’ – it is finally underway. It all happened quite late this year – that long, cold, wet spring really didn’t lend itself to early sowings and plantings, even under glass, […]

I feel as though I’ve been climbing up a very steep mountain, well more of a hill really, and I’ve got to the summit and admired the view and cooed and now I’m plodding down again – with an air of sheer relief. Yes, I’ve been to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show and I’ve seen […]

I hope that your greenhouse tomatoes are growing well, despite the lack of light. Itit is time to remove the side shoots of ‘cordon’ varieties, as they appear, using your finger and thumb, to create a single productive stem and channel moisture and energy into fruit rather than leaf. Keep the compost constantly moist, particularly […]

Now that most open ground is waterlogged for much of the year, under-cover space is more precious than ever – and a group of ingenious growers have found a way to maximise the benefits. Whooping, clapping, cursing, the clunk of metal on metal, and what sounded like a squeaking legion of wheelbarrows, crying out to […]

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 […]

Even in the shelter of the greenhouse it has been a cold, slow start to the spring this year – the endless rain in my part of the country has made getting outdoors a chore, at least up until very recently, and so I haven’t done as much sowing as I had planned to, and […]

May is the perfect month to plant those slightly tender, late performers such as salvias, penstemons, fuchsias and pennisetums, because they need to develop good root systems before winter arrives. All too often, nurseries sell these late-summer jewels in autumn when they look magnificent. However, there’s not much chance of them overwintering if they’re planted […]

If your greenhouse will overwinter Pelargoniums then it’s perfect for Heliotropes, members of the Borage family, mostly introduced from S. America in the 18C. The European Heliotrope was thought by the Ancients to turn its flowers to catch the sun thus the name. However the massed flowers of H. arborescens, Cherry Pie do not move, […]

Will you opt for a classic deadwood construction, or get creative – even weaving in living elements for the long term? Either way, a dead hedge is a win-win for your garden and its wild life. Angry autumn and winter storms harried and toyed with my garden’s boundary fence, leaving sections of it weakened, wobbly […]

I picked up a copy of The Times the other day to be met by a headline declaring that the wet weather we’ve been having is affecting our mental health. Yes, we are all feeling under the weather Mr Times, but we’ll all recover once the sun shines again. And so will my garden. It’s […]

Although greenhouse tomatoes have so far seldom been devastated by Blight to anywhere near the same extent as outdoor crops this seems worryingly on the increase. To say little of wilts, rots and the dreaded Mosaic virus. (Interestingly though Mosaic virus infections have decreased with the decline in smoking ie handling tobacco was the source). […]