I really love the end weeks of winter, which in the UK is February and very…
Gardening help
How to guides and other tips, tricks and help gardening.
January gardening ideas: mid-winter
I love winter, especially on cold crisp days when the world can be seen with such…
Five examples of when not to prune
I’ve been watching all of the posts on social media recently instructing us to prune this…
How to grow ferns from spores
Ferns are very easy to grow from spores and although it takes a number of years,…
How to remove ground elder organically
I love lots of plants people call weeds (see my book) but there are some plants…
How to grow Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’ from seed
A number of years ago RHS Chelsea Flower Show was filled with a new flower, Lysimachia…
How to prune salvias and when to do it – three pruning groups
A group of plants I grow a lot in my own garden and in my clients’…
How to grow hardwood cuttings
Hardwood cuttings are an easy way of taking pieces of woody stem of shrubs, some trees…
How to grow Brussels sprouts organically and cook them
I used to have a mild apathy toward Brussels sprouts, boiled and soggy, I can’t say…
Allotment plan 2023
We took on our new allotment in Yorkshire in February 2021 and, with almost two full…
The importance and benefits of keeping fallen leaves around plants
One of the pieces of advice the gardening world has got wrong over the years is…
How to grow dahlias from cuttings
Dahlias are remarkably easy plants to grow once you get to know them. One of the…
March gardening ideas: signs of spring
You know spring is on its way as daylight hours lengthen, temperatures warm and while the…
April gardening ideas: spring is here
In the UK, early April is my marker in the year when I know everything needs…
May gardening ideas: end of spring (month six)
May is the month when all plants start growing rapidly, resulting in lush, immaculate leaves. Everything…
June gardening ideas: summer (month seven)
Summer! Well, if the weather behaves. It often feels like summer has stop-started into action at…
August gardening ideas: high summer (month nine)
Late-July and August will always be ‘real summer’ to me, with the hottest heatwaves, the driest…
October gardening ideas: autumn (month eleven)
There is no denying that autumn is upon us as the shorter days bring colder weather,…
November gardening ideas: start of winter (month twelve)
It’s a tale of two parts to November; the first half can feel a lot like…
December gardening ideas: mid-winter (month one)
You may be wondering why December is ‘month one’ in my calendar when typically it’s seen…
How to grow organic microgreens from seed
Microgreens are young salad crops that are grown from seed and then picked and harvested as…
How to collect and store seeds and why
I find the process of collecting and saving my own seeds increasingly rewarding. In fact it’s…
7 ways high altitude gardening impacts plant growth
Our London garden in Clapham was approximately 20m (66ft) above sea level, our new garden sits…
5 steps to a floofy patio that controls weeds organically and permanently
Do you have a patio that constantly has weeds coming up between the slabs? Perhaps some…
Review: Stihl RMA 448 TC cordless battery lawn mower with Stihl Connect
I’ve been given a Stihl RMA 448 TC cordless battery operated lawn mower to trial in…
How to grow dahlias organically from seed and save your own dahlia seeds
In the past I’ve grown mountains of dahlia cultivars but over the last two years I’ve…
How to make an Aeonium arboreum branch (part three)
I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple of years for an update on my…
How to support vegetables and flowers
I thought I’d jot down some quick notes about how I am supporting the plants that…
How to grow annual Persicaria orientalis from seed
One of the Persicaria we’re not judging on the RHS Persicaria Trial Forum is Persicaria orientalis…
How to grow organic rhubarb and cook it – the tastiest around!
I love rhubarb. I love its flavour and I love how easy it is to grow.…
How to divide a miniature water lily
Not everyone has a miniature water lily but they really should! Easy to grow in any…
11 ideas to grow your way through Coronavirus self-isolation boredom
Supermarkets have plenty of food to see us all through the coronavirus (covid-19) but in the…
How to grow organic purple sprouting broccoli and cook it
It wasn’t until I started growing my own vegetables I even clocked that purple sprouting broccoli…
A year in vegetable, fruit and herb photos
We’re taught not to play with our food but WHATEVS, I love arranging veg to show…
How to grow Begonia leaf cuttings
I love leafy begonias with their wonderful patterns, colours and shapes. In fact, I can’t have…
6 Gardening podcasts worth a listen
In my Telegraph column this week I highlighted a number of allotment and kitchen garden podcasts…
October is a great time to divide perennials
One of my favourite things to do in the year is divide perennials in autumn. You…
11 things learnt at Homeacres with Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty
On our recent trip to Somerset Chris and I caught up with Charles Dowding and Stephanie…
How to support dahlias for borders, pots and cutting
I’ve often written that in some ways growing dahlias well is the easiest thing in the…
How to prune a Cordyline australis
Here’s my guide to pruning / pollarding a Cordyline australis: chop it down to whatever height…
Different ways to grow from seed
I don’t know how it’s happened but I seem to have used up all of my…
How to take hardwood cuttings for free plants
Many trees and shrubs can be grown from hardwood cuttings, roses being one of the most…
Grow your own, change YOUR world
I was reading the BBC’s seven charts on climate change article and one major thing scientists…
8 tips to demystify growing Begonias as houseplants
When I first started going to garden events like RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the first thing…
Crocks in pots: what is the myth, that they do or don’t work?
For decades gardeners around the world have added crocks – broken bits of terracotta pot or…
National Dahlia Society Annual Show 2018, RHS Wisley
Is it just me or are there fewer yellow dahlias at the National Dahlia Society Annual…
Control meadow grass using parasitic yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor
Many meadows have one problem: overly vigorous grasses. If soil is even a little too rich…
Outdoor mini aubergines for pots and containers in small spaces
Here I show you the small aubergine plants I’ve been growing in pots at home and…
Video of giant dahlia ‘Emory Paul’
One of the first dahlias we grew was ‘Emory Paul’ and it’s come back every year…
Pot’s Growing On: creating space, sunflower for foliage and ornamental aubergine
Stepping out into our garden one morning this week was different. Not least because we had…