Greenhouse Border

What would Christopher Lloyd be without Great Dixter? Vita-Sackville West without Sissinghurst? Lawrence Johnston without Hidcote? Gardeners make their gardens, but in turn too, gardens make the gardener. Without the legacy of her own incredible garden, the horticultural talent, that is Miss Ellen Willmott, has been forgotten, or simply diminished to the yarn of a prickly old lady who liked to scatter Eryngium giganteum seeds in gardens she visited. Respected [...]

Plucky or preposterous, but I find myself incredulously in disagreement with the infinitely eminent Piet Oudolf. According to my garden guru, colour in the garden is only an added extra1. Quite remarkable, as his designs with their distinctively striking streams of colour are legendary. According to Oudolf, colour sets the mood in the garden, but remains a secondary dimension where good planting should be able to look interesting in a [...]

Just beyond the vibrant Greenhouse borders stand our nemeses; two enormous Leylandii. Initially planted over fifty years ago as a quick fix replacing demised Yew trees, they’re now as dear to us as Asbestos. Screening they certainly provide and evergreen they may be, but it’s their incessant desiccating of all that’s good in the soil, that creates such problems, especially for the few audacious plants around and underneath them, struggling [...]

On hearing him say ‘When it comes to strawberries, I like the bit just below the skin’, one could be forgiven for thinking Toby Buckland, a blue-sky sort of man. However, just forty minutes of conversation revealed an erudite, practical gardener, whose knowledge is far more profound than ever divulged on television. From widespread press coverage, it’s clear that the Buckland PR drive has been rather successful, as most will [...]

Time to concede. The central heating is now on and warm wooly jumpers have made their comeback. Quite unbelievably, winter with its festivities is almost on our doorstep. The barrage of ‘merry’ adverts has long started, with vast ranges of seasonal wares ubiquitously on offer. Imminently, we’ll be treated to that pinnacle of seasonal delights; chronic Christmas jingles blaring from all places retail. Yet, despite the expeditious onslaught of colder [...]

With the dogus in tow, one very determined gardener hustled down the motorway to attend the last open day of the year, at the renowned Crocus nursery. As Crocus is not open to the public, with sole access to their wares available online, the open days are normally a prominent fixture in my calendar. Our garden is simply chock-full of delightful Crocus horticultural offspring, and offspring thereof. Consequently, being able [...]

Encouraged by Rachel (thank-goodness-my-husband-wasn’t-watching) de Thame’s, notable report on Gardener’s World in early June, the Greenhouse borders were subjected to their first ever Chelsea Chop. Since, their infamous crew cut, progress has been carefully monitored by yours truly, to gauge the chop’s efficacy. No need to explain that this experiment has absolutely no lab coat & clipboard gravitas, though the results are interesting and will dictate next years approach. Just [...]

Just a few days ago, I penned a post questioning how to keep one’s borders looking fresh and new for the summer. Thereby, ensuring that the seasonal transitions, run smoothly for the herbaceous borders. Fortunately for me, the telly proved not just entertaining but refreshingly informative, providing some of the much needed answers. Thank you Gardeners’ World, and in particular, thank you Carol Klein. Carol’s infamous Glebe Cottage garden is [...]

A talented fellow blogger, from across the pond, wrote recently that the start of the summer is nothing but depressing. I thought at the time, that this was a rather odd statement, particularly for a gardener.  Moreover, the mighty Monty, echoed this sentiment on the recent episode of Gardeners’ World, where he acknowledged that as the garden enters a new season, July and August can be pretty tricky months. Though, [...]