Growing in the Border
a hands-on approach to gardening

We have passed St David’s Day and spring has arrived, though with the mild temperatures of late I think the garden has been stepping into spring with some determination this year. Through the winter I avoid stepping onto the soil as much as possible as this creates compaction causing long term damage to the soil structure, but I have been able to get the first of the post-winter weedings done, and managed the first long cut of the lawns to steer the garden back to where we’d

This month I want to focus on roses with five reasons you should grow them and five steps to successfully grow them. 5 REASONS WHY Versatility: There are roses for a wide variety of places in the garden. They enjoy hot and dry conditions, but will cope with colder more wintry climates too. There are large sprawling ramblers, which will comfortably cover walls, sheds and climb into trees. The more sedate climbing roses can be pruned and shaped into structured forms, and combin

Hopefully everyone’s had a good Christmas break. As we are now past the halfway point of January, and therefore the halfway point of winter it’s good to start those wheels turning in the garden with the first moves into the new year. This month I want to give you a gentle reminder and a gentle push of plants that can be begun now and in February. Firstly the reminder: Bare Root Plants. For most of us this will probably be bare root Roses, but other plants such as soft fruits

This month I want to look at structure in the garden because it is in the winter that it is most visible and has to do much of the heavy lifting with regards to the garden aesthetics. What is structure? In this instance we are referring to the permanent/semi-permanent elements within the garden that denote pockets of space, dictate how you move about and experience the garden, and often give a stylistic context to everything else within the garden. These can be built elements

As the landscape is alight with fiery colour at present, it seems a good moment to examine why some plants change colour in the autumn, and lose their leaves, and indeed why others don’t.  Firstly though why do plants have leaves, what do they do? Plants unlike animals are able to synthesise their own food/energy stores, and the leaves are the main areas of energy harvesting.  Through the process of Photosynthesis plants are able to combine molecules of WATER and CARBON DIOXI

As gardeners you may think that winter is the time to start thinking about next year’s garden and planning the jobs ahead. Certainly it...

Welcome to autumn, and what looks to be a damp and rainy week ahead. The last few weeks have seen plenty of emergency watering, just...

Hopefully everyone is coping well with the hot dry summer we have been having. Storm Florris may be tracking its way across the north of...

Having been asked by several people about watering I thought it might make a good subject for this month’s Diary post. During these hot...

This month generally brings with it a greater certainty of warmer and sunnier weather. That said as I write this I’m wearing a scarf and...

The month of May can often feel like the overture to summer. We’re not quite into the main performance, but this month gives plenty of...

As the garden seems to have taken its time to emerge this year I thought that this month would be a good moment to champion some of those...

As the garden pulls out of the winter we see many flowering bulbs come and go through the month of March. Dependant on the temperatures...

For this month's Diary post I want to focus on Camellias. In much of the British Isles many Camellias will begin to emerge through the...

So here we are in the New Year and the month named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god. Like many people my thoughts at this time of year...

As a Christmas treat this year we wanted to send you all a step-by-step for making a 'dry' wreath, one without any need for a moss or...

Thinking over last Friday's Willow Weaving Course I thought it might be interesting to see how material from the garden is used at this...

Well November is here and it's come around quick. Despite the gloom of this week winter is still holding off, and much of the garden...

This month started with the air smelling of autumn, and the temperatures having noticeably dropped. It can feel strange to be starting...

This month I want to look at dahlias in depth. For a long time out of fashion these plants are now very much loved. I don't tend to place...