I think I’d almost grow the teasel for its botanical name alone – there’s something very satisfying about intoning ‘Dipsacus fullonum!’, loudly, as if it were some kind of Potterish incantation…
Read moreDay37: home wrecker
Someone could live here. Days are drawing out, and thoughts inevitably turn to spring, I can I feel the urge to get involved with the wintery detritus…
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 1 Episode 13
“Ask a busy person”, they say, if you want something done. And since I wanted to talk about how our gardens join together to form something more than the sum of their parts, who better to ask than garden designer Jo Thompson, whose Springwatch garden at the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival was a celebration of just that.
Read moreDay 103: Dead wood
We felled a young ash sapling last weekend that had shot up with indecent speed in a corner of the garden. Most of its wood will be bound for the log store, but some will stay at the back of the plot…
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 1 Episode 5
For episode 5 of the Gardens, weeds & words podcast, I’m joined by Kate Bradbury, author of Wildlfe Gardening and The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, to talk about the wildlife in our gardens, and our relationship to it. There’s the usual seasonal garden sountrack, a micro review of two more of my favourite gardening books, and some really bad piano playing. So, all in all, a fitting way to see out the year. I do hope you’ll join me.
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