October is a great time to divide perennials

One of my favourite things to do in the year is divide perennials in autumn. You can actually divide most perennials at any ti

Reframed

Chris and I have just come back from a week away in St. Ives in Cornwall with a one night pitstop in Devon on the first night.

First day on the RHS Persicaria Trial

Today was a really exciting day for me as it was the first assessment of the RHS Persicaria trial at Wisley. It was a special

Allotment Month 46: tomatoes, edamame, apples, raspberries and sunflowers!

At some point I really am planning to sow my salad crops for winter, I’ve been meaning to do it for weeks but what with

Visit our garden, 2 Littlebury Road, Clapham

Sunday 8 September at 1 – 6pm We’re opening our garden again for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) to raise money f

Book Review: the Garden Jungle: or Gardening to Save the Planet by Dave Goulson

The garden I’d love to visit the most at the moment is Dave Goulson’s… and not purely for his homemade cider

Garden of Medicinal Plants at The Royal College of Physicians

I’ve been interested in visiting the Royal College of Physicians’ garden of medicinal plants for quite some time.

Future experiments: flowers and insects

Last autumn I started planting up one end of my allotment to create a new freestyle design. It had no pre-prepared plan, I jus

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 Hafferty at the private mecca of no di

Large communal roof terrace in Fulham, London

This design had some particular challenges including craning a number of tonnes of top soil onto the roof terrace, along with

Allotment month 45: salad harvest, colourful potatoes and rainbow tomatoes

Yesterday I was busted sighing while hoeing weeds on my plot. I’d just mown everything and thought I was alone but one o

Google is the best plant ID app and it will only get better

There’s been lots of hype about plant ID apps and having tried most of them I’ve never been impressed. However, my

The Newt in Somerset

On our trip to Somerset we popped into the Newt Hotel garden to visit the newly landscaped grounds. Previously called Hadspen

Oudolf Field at Hauser and Wirth, Somerset

I’ve been wanting to visit the Hauser & Wirth art gallery in Somerset to see garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 

On the verge of a new way of gardening: do we need to change what we grow?

I’ve always written about our gardens being seen as mini-wildlife reserves, eco systems we protect and observe rather th

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 I love them and I produce food for us

A mix of feelings

I’m sitting in the garden as I type and right now I’m looking at a hover fly, wondering: where on earth do they ge

Garden design in Clapham, London

Over time the planting in this garden will grow to hide almost all of the fences creating a sunny and private seating spot at

Garden design in Clapham, London

Recently finished and planted, in this large family garden in Clapham, London I lowered a third of the area to make a more usa

Current project: garden redesign in Clapham, London

This garden already had a strong layout with some established trees and shrubs, though some of these were diseased and others

Current project: Belsize Park, London

The owner is having an architect designed extension to the house making the garden slightly smaller. Although it’s an aw

Garden design with studio in Braughing, Hertfordshire

This quaint cottage in Braughing had recently been tastefully renovated by its new owners with a modern glass cube added with

Living wall design in Camberwell, London

This garden was already well established with a collection of tree fern species viewed through huge glass windows of a new arc

Front garden design in Clapham, London

This challenging north facing front garden is in full shade and was previously a patch of struggling lawn. The brief was to ma

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 world and by equal measure, tricky

Umbilicus rupestris, navelwort

At the end of June 2016 Chris and I were in Chilham, Kent for the beautiful and dreamy countryside wedding of our friends, Sim

Allotment Month 43: priorities, supports and progress

Going into the fourth season on my allotment I’ve been pleased with how it’s shaping up. Part of the personal chal

How to prune a Cordyline australis

Here’s my guide to pruning / pollarding a Cordyline australis: chop it down to whatever height you want and it will grow

Gravetye Manor

Chris and I have been so busy this spring that we missed our 13th anniversary so we took a trip to Gravetye Manor in Sussex fo

One World stand at Chelsea Flower Show 2019

This year at Chelsea Flower Show I was lucky to be asked by One World to plant up their stand showcasing their furniture and i

Pot’s Growing On: road to our open garden

This month has been a whirlwind of finishing various garden designs, writing and planting up the One World stand for Chelsea F

14 Things at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019

It’s thoroughly enjoyable at Chelsea Flower Show this year. I’ve placed bets (in my head) on who will win best in show but

Long term planting on the allotment

When I was about six or seven I remember adding leaves to our houseplant pots to rot down and feed the plants, hoping I could

How to grow Persicaria runcinata ‘Purple Fantasy’

If there’s one plant I can guarantee you’ll see more of this year it’s Persicaria runcinata ‘Purple Fa

Allotment Month 42: weeding asparagus and carrots, potato, chilli and artichoke update

On Sunday I had the chance for a proper sesh down the allotment and it was marvellous! The sun wasn’t shining and it was

Life in the Treehouse

There are some things I feel people need to know about author and writer Alice Vincent. Crucially, Alice can tear up a dance f

Different ways to grow from seed

I don’t know how it’s happened but I seem to have used up all of my pots and seed trays. I don’t feel I̵

Pot’s Growing On? Planting sweetpeas, caring for permanent containers, ferns and dahlias are go

I’ve finally spent a good afternoon in our garden after being super busy with other people’s gardens for the last

Roundup of glyphosate weed killer research

I’m an organic gardener and avoid using chemicals, I’m particularly guarded around edible crops, such as on my all

Future Meadow: Winter One

The race to grow is primal in all living things. One of the challenges of planting a new border in autumn is that other plants

Pot’s Growing On: snowdrops and the great grass migration

February 2019 has shaped up to be beautiful weather wise with warm days of sunshine bringing out the bumble bees in our urban

A visit to Writtle University College

Imagine if this were your classroom! I’d never miss a lesson. Every time I visit Writtle University College to sit my RHS ex

Banana plants, floral arches, winter cuttings and Cordylines

I’ve been asked by my Instagram and Twitter buddies to explain how to grow bananas and to give some tips on the floral a

My allotment plan for 2019

Hello vegetable fans! Recently I wrote about why I practice crop rotation on my allotment in my Telegraph column, explaining h

Allotment month 38: don’t beat yourself up if things go wrong

I’ve just had the best day on my allotment for a long time. Zero degrees Celsius, literally freezing, but dry with the s

How our long border has evolved over time

I’ve been looking back over my old photos while planning our garden for the coming year and with hindsight the garden

How to take hardwood cuttings for free plants

Many trees and shrubs can be grown from hardwood cuttings, roses being one of the most common examples. Exactly as you’d

Looking back on a year of vegetables, fruit and edible flowers

I thought I’d share some of my favourite edibles from my allotment, organically grown this year. Despite the most challe

Reflections on another gardening year

2018 was a year in which I’ve been lucky to be washed in an overwhelming “go on you can do it” from so many

I have a shed!

When I finally settled on my allotment plan three years ago (here is an updated version) I earmarked a space for a shed. It fe