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When you inherit a new garden, it’s always a good idea to spend the first year seeing what emerges.  The tally in my last garden never got much beyond the small oak tree, the four shrubs, three herbaceous perennials and a patchy lawn that I found when I first moved in.  The previous owners had … Read more

What can I do with the shape of it? Using an OS map to understand the shape of my new garden is an interesting exercise.  My plot and the others in my road represent a logical carving up of land developed on a hillside in the 1960s.  The result is that each garden has its … Read more

For a start it’s alive – well at least in the sense that just one teaspoon of soil contains more microbes than there are people on the planet. It also supports a whole host of fungi and invertebrates which decompose organic matter, releasing vital nutrients for plants. Soil thrives on a wholefood diet.  Regularly feeding … Read more

In times past an ornamental garden pond was a statement of wealth and prosperity – particularly in warmer climates where only the richest of people could treat water like art. But for most of us nowadays it’s an affordable addition to a garden that offers enormous benefits for the humans and creatures that share it. … Read more

Hosepipe bans are becoming a regular feature of our summers.  Despite the predictable downpours at the start of the school holidays it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be lugging watering cans across our gardens to keep them hydrated.  Setting up water butts to collect rainwater is a great way of avoiding the use … Read more

I sometimes wonder whether if I counted my socks in and then out of the washing machine I might not have so many odd ones.  But maybe it’s at some other stage in the domestic cycle that they come a cropper.  It remains a mystery. I often hear people complain that plants also have a … Read more

Often the answer to a question about what to do in the garden is best answered by referring back to what happens in nature.  If you want to know the best position or soil for a particular plant, it helps to think about where the native species would naturally grow.  Mediterranean herbs like thyme or … Read more

The forecast was for a couple of sunny days but the fact is that even the warmest weather in October isn’t enough to dry things out.  I gave the lawn a final mowing anyway, and managed to avoid creating too much of a mud bath. For those of us who work with hard baked clay … Read more

I’ve designed my own gardens since I can remember.  The first surrounded an old chicken coop at the bottom of a childhood garden. I remember creating fences with whatever junk I could find so that I had the power to invite people in or, on occasion, keep them out.  I remember the delight of parking … Read more

It is always a good thing to look after wildlife and the wider environment.  And there’s no question that plants will generally thrive when they have the conditions they like.  But beyond that there isn’t a right or a wrong way of creating a garden.  The fact is, as with our homes, we have different … Read more