Being around food crops for most of my life, one of the things I can’t help…
Wildlife and nature
From West Yorkshire to Pembrokeshire (via East Sussex) and back, with everything in between
For our summer holiday this year Chris and I spent most of the week in Tenby,…
Our garden in Yorkshire
In February 2021 Chris and I found ourselves moving to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where…
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 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…
10 UK weeds to grow for wildlife
My book Wild about Weeds looks at the wildlife value of many weeds I feel are…
Beware plastic netting in lawn and wildflower turf
One of the biggest problems in designed gardens that I and people I work with come…
17 reasons to avoid fake lawns – how bad is artificial grass for the environment?
I never design gardens with fake grass for aesthetic, experiential and environmental reasons. That said, some…
11 steps to a wildlife friendly allotment
I love all life and I’m sure if you’re reading this you don’t need any explanation…
Stinging nettles, a troublesome but useful weed
Some people have asked why stinging nettles aren’t in my book Wild about Weeds and the…
Future experiments: flowers and insects
Last autumn I started planting up one end of my allotment to create a new freestyle…
Wild patch: the challenge of a wildlife friendly allotment
My allotment is not like most, I don’t have raised beds, I let weeds grow because…
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…
How to make a micro wildlife pond in a pot
When we open our garden for charity on the National Garden Scheme one thing people always…
Oh Beehave!
I was pottering around outside today in our little urban garden and while watering the ferns…
Designing for wildlife
This video is quite long but the presentation within it is important and well worth watching…
Our inner city wildlife sanctuary
I grow our garden as much for wildlife as for design and plants. Wildlife adds many…
4 Fundamentals of attracting wildlife in urban gardens
The other day I was in the garden watering our fern wall during one of those still and…
Top 6 Best Bee Magnet Flowers of 2015
One of my top priorities for 2015 was to have a garden grown as a nature reserve,…