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Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

Categories Bee Friendly Plants, Composting, container gardening, General comment, jobs to do in ..., Organic Gardening, Pest control, Roses, Spring Garden, Wildlife gardening2 Comments on Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

I had quite a few ideas about gardening that I believed wholeheartedly but quite without foundation - that is before I started my formal horticultural training. One of these truths was that there was no such thing as the over-use of fertilisers. A little more would surely provide extra benefit. Well, no, it turned out.…

Continue reading ➞ Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

Dodging the showers for a kaleidoscope of flower and fruit – roses, camellias, hellebores, hollies, decorative leaf, bark and seedheads

Categories Acid-loving plants, Architectural Plants, Autumn garden, Camellias, dark foliage plants, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, Fragrant plants, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, jobs to do in ..., Open to the public, Ornamental trees, RHS WIsley, Roses, Seasonal colour, Seeds, Shrubs, Tropical, Winter Garden1 Comment on Dodging the showers for a kaleidoscope of flower and fruit – roses, camellias, hellebores, hollies, decorative leaf, bark and seedheads

The roses too continue to put on a good show, with some near perfect blooms - and other joys - I'm hoping the rain will stop so I can get in an afew hours in my  own garden this afternoon - there are dahlias to lift and a venerable banana to wrap up before the…

Continue reading ➞ Dodging the showers for a kaleidoscope of flower and fruit – roses, camellias, hellebores, hollies, decorative leaf, bark and seedheads

A little juicy fruit …. raspberries, currants white red pink & black, gooseberries red green & yellow, and blackberries, boysenberries, wineberries, cranberries and honeyberries. Well the last few, just a glance… Oh – and the Veitchberry too

Categories Acid-loving plants, Fruit Trees, General comment, jobs to do in ..., Propagation, Pruning, RHS WIsleyLeave a Comment on A little juicy fruit …. raspberries, currants white red pink & black, gooseberries red green & yellow, and blackberries, boysenberries, wineberries, cranberries and honeyberries. Well the last few, just a glance… Oh – and the Veitchberry too

A little tour around the fruit garden at RHS Wisley, where all manner of soft fruit are left either au naturel or trained into fans and cordon, tied and regimented into wires and pruned carefully for the maximum harvest and healthiest plants. I've a little reading to do but have picked out the following articles…

Continue reading ➞ A little juicy fruit …. raspberries, currants white red pink & black, gooseberries red green & yellow, and blackberries, boysenberries, wineberries, cranberries and honeyberries. Well the last few, just a glance… Oh – and the Veitchberry too

What did I say about February? Tricky already…. A Snow/No Snow day

Categories Architectural Plants, Bedding, Bulbs, container gardening, Cutting Garden, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, jobs to do in ..., Petersham Nurseries, Winter GardenLeave a Comment on What did I say about February? Tricky already…. A Snow/No Snow day

A light dusting of snow in the woods around Ham, though at home in Teddington there was enough for a serious game of snowballs between the children heading to school. (below) The churchyard at St. Peter's Church by Petersham Nurseries. While the Cutting Garden, while not exactly deep and crisp and even, had a wintery…

Continue reading ➞ What did I say about February? Tricky already…. A Snow/No Snow day

February made me shiver….

Categories Alpine, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Clematis, Dahlias, David Austin roses, Evergreen shrubs, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, jobs to do in ..., Lawn Care, Pruning, Roses, Shrubs, Snowdrops (Galanthus), spring flowering, Spring Garden, Vegetables1 Comment on February made me shiver….

I am dreaming of Spring, mostly. There is a great deal to admire in February so I worry that we might wish the month away without appreciating what is looking - or giving - its best right now, or the quiet simplicity of our gardens stripped bare of all of the spring and summer fireworks…

Continue reading ➞ February made me shiver….

Hand-made Christmas decorations using the very lovely Ginkgo biloba (a Blue Peter moment…)

Categories Architectural Plants, Autumn garden, General comment, jobs to do in ..., my projects, Trees for smaller gardens1 Comment on Hand-made Christmas decorations using the very lovely Ginkgo biloba (a Blue Peter moment…)

One very good reason to have your own very own Ginkgo tree, a local and renewable source of original hand made Christmas decorations - I've had to 'scrump' for these leaves but they do make lovely little baubles. Well, I think so. Now I'll do a little research to find just the tree suitable for…

Continue reading ➞ Hand-made Christmas decorations using the very lovely Ginkgo biloba (a Blue Peter moment…)

Practical Classes in Rose Pruning

Categories Autumn garden, General comment, jobs to do in ..., Petersham Nurseries, Pruning, Roses1 Comment on Practical Classes in Rose Pruning

Already halfway through here - I began yesterday afternoon but didn't have my camera with me, so the full extent of the transformation will be a little understated. This rose, which we believe is Olivia Stone, a Harkness rose, was a towering thing, flowering at 8' to 10', more even, and a dense thicket of…

Continue reading ➞ Practical Classes in Rose Pruning

At a glance – jobs to do in April

Categories General comment, jobs to do in ..., Spring GardenLeave a Comment on At a glance – jobs to do in April

Cherry Blossom Time (though this picture was taken at Kew Gardens on 7th May last year, I suspect the display was late by a more than a week or two on account of the freezing temperatures endured all through the month of March. This set everything back - I didn't see a rose in bloom…

Continue reading ➞ At a glance – jobs to do in April