If you didn’t manage to get your vegetable seeds sown in the greenhouse earlier in the year, you can still fill your veg beds for summer. Go into any garden centre now and you will find rows and rows of small vegetable plants, ready to plant straight out. These little plants are a great resource […]
As summer unravels in our garden world, the weather, as always shapes our gardens and our greenhouses Keeping new plants alive in hot weather can be a challenge. Don’t let the dry spell cost you in terms of water or lost plants. There are so many ways to make the water you use in the […]
Often confused are the edible Ginger (the root) of commerce and these flamboyant greenhouse ornamentals. However that’s not surprising as they’re closely related, and similar in appearance and habit. However the Kahili ginger, Hedychium gardenerium, is most definitely not edible, which is a bit unfortunate as this grows considerably larger and would make a great […]
Now that greenhouse tomatoes are growing rapidly, remove the side shoots of ‘cordon’ varieties, as they appear, using your finger and thumb, to create a single productive stem to train up the cane. Keep the compost constantly moist using tepid water, checking regularly, particularly if you use growing bags as the compost dries out rapidly […]
Pernicious weed? No: beneficial insect magnet, wildlife buffet, nutrient-rich feed, compost fodder… this superpowered plant is one to welcome into your garden and greenhouse. Be sure to have some thick, sting-proof gloves at the ready – because I’m going to get you all fired up to grow arguably the most useful of all garden plants. […]
I was lucky enough, just recently, to visit Beth Chatto’s Nursery and Garden near Colchester in Essex. It should be a place of pilgrimage for every gardener but, if the only way isn’t Essex, there are plenty of tempting, expertly-grown plants on offer on the nursery’s website. The conditions within this 7-acre garden vary between […]
Nothing about this year is making me want to start moving anything tender out of the greenhouse and into the open air. Normally around this time I would be starting to think about planting out – a tiny bit earlier than elsewhere but generally here in Bristol in the south west we have a mild […]
Sometimes a few well-chosen accessories and tools can make life not only much easier, but also more satisfying too. You’ve probably got a favourite spatula for scraping the cake basin and a trusty bread knife, but what’s your go to greenhouse gadget? Here are some of mine, in no particular order. Watering wizards One of […]
It is important to ‘harden off’ or acclimatising greenhouse grown plants to outdoor conditions before finally planting them out. Move them straight from greenhouse to garden and they can suffer from shock, particularly in cooler weather; most recover but it checks growth, causes yellowing and some vegetables may ‘bolt’ or run to seed. ‘Hardening off’ […]
Even for an experienced composter, unearthing an old heap can offer a salutary refresher course in the need to treat ‘compostable’ claims with caution. I never imagined I would see this pair of Y-fronts again. They should be long gone by now, the threadbare organic cotton rotted away, disintegrated beyond recognition into crumbs of dark, […]
I know! I admit that I have too many plant passions for my own good. It begins with snowdrops, goes on to hellebores and then there are my hardy ferns, erythroniums and trilliums. Once summer arrives, it’s peonies, roses and phloxes all the way, and then my beloved dahlias take up the baton. Weather permitting, […]
It is not too late to use your greenhouse to force some early strawberries. There have of course been strawberries in the supermarkets all winter long, but these are grown in much warmer parts of the world, often with supplementary lights and heating, and then flown to us, coming with a huge carbon footprint and […]
