The anchor plant, or Colletia paradoxa, is such a garden oddity – a shrub that seems to bear more affinity with a dinosaur than a vegetable…
Read moreDay 339: acanthus standing
It’s time to tame the acanthus, or at least, its aerial parts – getting to grips with its roots is something of a fool’s errand. But now the leaves are looking decidedly tatty…
Read moreDay 338: holly berries
I think it might be a good year for holly berries. Not the best, but better than the last, when the shapely dark green leaves had to carry the whole winter show on their own…
Read moreDay 337: the venerable pear
I’m not entirely sure anyone knows the exact age of the espaliered pear tree in the Blue Garden at Great Dixter. Trained against one of the original walls of the medieval house…
Read moreDay 336: December colour
Winter now. We’ve been preparing to accept the colour bleeding gradually from the world outside for a season…
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 2 Episode 4
Nature and technology might seem unlikely bedfellows, but there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t co-exist in comfort. In this episode, I’m joined by Sara Tasker to discuss how a relationship with nature influences her work in a virtual space.
Read moreDay 335: winter hopes
If we’ve learnt by now the relative futility of dreaming of a White Christmas, we can at least hope for a frosty winter. And, as the meteorological calendar ticks over to that season…
Read moreDay 334: a mossy step
While the wisdom of allowing moss to colonise your garden steps might be questionable, there’s no denying its romantic appeal…
Read moreDay 333: putting the gunnera to bed
Nobody forgets their first meeting with a gunnera (Gunnera manicata) in all its glory. Some plants are just memorable…
Read moreDay 332: the trouble with spindle
I know we’ve already spoken of the spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus), but having found its empty (for the most part) ornate seed cases on the ground
Read moreDay 331: English oak
The oaks are finally turning. Ever the most tenacious of trees, the English oak (Quercus robur) should never be underestimated, not least in terms of its autumnal activity…
Read moreDay 330: autumn collection
This is not ancient woodland – this is the deer park surrounding a historic house, and the collection of majestic trees is similarly noble…
Read moreDay 329: house leek
Green roofs have gained popularity over the past decade or so, and rightly so – what’s not to love about increasing biodiversity while greening the built environment?
Read moreDay 328: winter weedlings
Almost winter. The garden is drawing itself inward, but nobody seems to have told the weeds. Fine crops of juvenile foliage are appearing on perennial nettles…
Read moreDay 327: sayonara Cynara
You can remove dead stems with seed heads from your borders without having to deprive wildlife of either food or a place to sleep over winter
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 2 Episode 3
Weeds are generally shunned in the garden, entire sections of industry dedicated to their eradication. But what makes a weed, and who gets to decide? Garden designer Jack Wallington thinks we should not only be looking with a more kindly eye on these maligned plants, but using them with purpose in our gardens. We discuss his new book, Wild About Weeds, and discuss the practicalities of getting his message out there.
Read moreDay 326: fire
The gardener is in need of warming and, while engaged in the act of raking up leaves the body attains a comfortable working temperature, as soon as the rake is put down things turn distinctly chilly…
Read moreDay 325: winter greens
Having spent a bitterly cold day out in the garden yesterday, my toes are taking some persuading that we’re almost least two weeks away from winter…
Read moreDay 324: sweet gum
This is the seedpod of the sweet gum tree, Liquidambar styraciflua. I was once compelled to sack a client for, among other things, an infuriating insistence upon pronouncing the Latin name, “Likwee-ambar”, with great gusto…
Read moreDay 323: birch leaves
I don’t care that some think of the silver birch (along with the ash, another of my favourite trees) as a weed tree. Like all pioneer species, it moves in to newly disturbed ground quickly and makes the most of the situation…
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