if your garden is bigger than a courtyard, but smaller than an acre
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Do you avoid using Latin names for plants? Do they seem too complicated or even unnecessary? After all, we can all have beautiful gardens without knowing the Latin names of our plants. So I try…
I've always wondered about 'no dig flower borders' for annuals, shrubs and perennials. Not that I ever do much digging. But I wondered if the principles of no dig veg and no dig flower borders…
Do you fancy a mini meadow garden? I've seen several beautiful strips of wildflower meadow in show gardens this year. And also in friends' gardens. Ever since the 2012 London Olympics, meadow gardens have been…
What do you imagine to be the essence of a 'March garden'? January and February stand for frosts, snowdrops, the brilliant colours of cornus stems and even the last remaining seedheads. By April, there are…
I first heard the term 're-wilding' at Glee 2017, the horticultural trades show. It's one of the big new trends in gardening. It means appreciating, re-introducing or conserving the wild plants, animals and bugs that…
Yasmin Hossain makes natural dye from garden plants. She uses it to dye beautiful silk and wool fabrics. And I believe that grow-your-own dyes from garden plants is a trend that will grow enormously in…
Is it my imagination or are we seeing more 'weeds' in gardens now? I don't mean gardens that look unkempt. Some of the prettiest gardens now unashamedly seem to have weeds sprouting alongside the bedding.…
Until 100 years ago, we used medicinal plants to treat most illnesses. And, according to a new book, The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants, they still do in Africa, Asia and South America. Even the chemical…
What do you consider to be a 'wildlife garden'? Do you think it means weeds and untidiness? Or a great deal of hard work? In fact, a wildlife garden can be smart or scruffy. It…
Christmas garden decorations. Do you love them, or do you worry about light pollution? Decorating your garden at Christmas is a trend that has crept over from the US. When we went to Virginia in…
When did you last wash out the bird bath? I keep walking past mine, thinking 'must do something about that.' It's so easy to forget. Time goes by. So this weekend is my 'wildlife friendly audit'.…
Did you know that you can make literally hundreds of dyes from your garden plants? As you harvest your first rhubarb of the year, don't throw the leaves into the compost. Boil them up to…