Hedging and Hedges

I love the geometry and neatness of Elizabethan knot gardens, the manicured symmetry of low box hedging filled with a tangle of flowers and greenery. The best, I think, are those planted with fragrant herbs such as rosemary, cotton lavender, marjoram, thyme, lemon balm and chamomile. On a hot day...

Every year the anticipation mounts. I look out of my bedroom window at the ornamental plum tree on the street, scouring its deep claret branches for signs that the colour is changing, life stirring within. Subtly, from a solid winter opacity to something with just a hint of deepest rose...

I used to have a serious problem with yellow. As a colour for clothes, for home decor and – most of all – in the garden. Even daffodils were banned. Somehow it seemed too cheery, too bright and, by association, just a little bit tacky and common. I was a sunshine snob. It’s...

Whether you’re thinking of a hedge, wallflowers, fruit trees, climbers, roses, lavender or ornamental garden trees, now is the time to get out there and plant to your hearts’ content. I’ve recently planted broad leafed lime trees to act as a screen to cover up the background of a town...

There are two obsessions that gardening induces; firstly the weather and most importantly your own garden taking over your thoughts and dreams. The weather Is it too cold, is the ground frozen or even warming up? Is it too wet, or too dry? Is it the right time to plant...

Being a complete novice to hedgelaying, my son (Harry) and I signed up for a competition run by the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt in East Pennard, Somerset. The competition was divided into two classes, the open for the professionals and the novice for the amateur enthusiasts, we were most...

Lavender is a herb, a flower, a medicine, a deterrent. Its uses are many and varied, probably more than any other plant I know. Lavender looks great, smells even better and despite being of Mediterranean and North African provenance is a classic English staple of cottage gardens, as well as...

Forgive me for boasting, but I understand how Latin plant names work. Learning about botanical nomenclature is one of my proudest achievements (it’s up there with touch-typing and mastering choux pastry). But I also understand that a lot of people don’t get it at all. It looks confusing. And unnecessary...

There’s no escaping it, January is hardly fun packed. After the jollity and cosy indulgences of December, it hits us full on with its chill, dark days and its unreasonable demands to live life more mindfully, more healthily, less lazily. But it’s a brand new year, and – believe it...

I’ve recently planted a beech hedge, which my wife has had in her mind for a while, just 10 days ago. We had an area of mown grass that was not really doing anything surrounded on three sides by borders, with a variety of flowers and shrubs. However, one end...