There are so many things a gardener wants to find under the tree on Christmas morning. But not another decorative fork and trowel set with floral design handle and little practical use, or that grainy, green organic soap, please Let’s get serious and define gardening up front here, as it relates to the garden owner:… Continue reading Christmas Presents for Gardeners
Classic Navarin of Lamb Recipe: A French Comfort Dish
Navarin of lamb is a classic French stew, bursting with hearty flavours and rustic charm. Known for its tender pieces of lamb and a medley of fresh vegetables simmered in a rich, savoury sauce, this dish is a perfect marriage of simplicity and sophistication. It’s a meal that not only satisfies the palate but also… Continue reading Classic Navarin of Lamb Recipe: A French Comfort Dish
Shropshire Hedgerow Heroes
The Shropshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England is on fire this year with hedge related events The hottest events in the CPRE (The Countryside Charity) volunteer & event calendar this year are shaping up to be in Shropshire, whose CPRE branch have made practically international news in the Shropshire Star for their… Continue reading Shropshire Hedgerow Heroes
Does Silver Birch Make a Good Hedge Plant?
No, silver birch does not make a good clipped hedge plant. It will serve, but it’s a somewhat sad sightHowever, it is a good tree to grow as part of a pretty, wildlife friendly mixed native hedgerow, featuring a standard tree every few metres Silver birch is about the worst native tree to try to… Continue reading Does Silver Birch Make a Good Hedge Plant?
Tree Hugging Ineffective, Studies Show
Despite organising Britain’s largest tree hug, Coventrians are unable to prevent 26 big old trees getting the final chop-chop In the largest scientific study of its kind, Coventry demonstrated that when the council is out to build you some roads, a tree hug isn’t going to change that, even a really big one. Coventry Council are… Continue reading Tree Hugging Ineffective, Studies Show
Habitat Aid Hedge Planting Video
Habitat Aid is our all-time favourite, award-winning, impact driven, Somerset based business founded in 2008, and their hedge planting video is educationally inspirational Native hedge plants are proven to be tough as cookies made of brass monkeys, and Habitat Aid demonstrate how rough and ready you can be with them. Hawthorn in particular is absurdly… Continue reading Habitat Aid Hedge Planting Video
Belfast’s Phantom Fruit Tree Planter
We don’t need to sell anyone here on the virtues of masks and dogs, but joining a Paramilitree organisation at my age seemed impossible “Ah, go on” says the Phantom Planter in a musical Irish voice, “you will, you will” All you need is the dogs, safety masks, your mate Dave with a spade, and… Continue reading Belfast’s Phantom Fruit Tree Planter
How to Rake Gravel Masterclass
Being a Rake-y Master in the garden looks easy when you see a professional Irishman on the job, but it’s a gravely serious task The secret to lush, flowing gravel that wows and pleases is to start with natural, smooth gravel, and then to give it a regular raking. In the good old days, gravel… Continue reading How to Rake Gravel Masterclass
Surrey Schoolkids Publish Tree Book
“The Thousand Year Tree,” a book featuring children’s artwork from Surrey, was published after a year-long project by Lucy Reynolds and Katie Hickey. Funded by Defra’s Access for All fund, it aims to raise awareness about the conservation of mature trees. Educational Outreach The Surrey Hills Society took Weyfield Primary Academy students to Newlands Corner… Continue reading Surrey Schoolkids Publish Tree Book
You Won’t Believe the Difference Between These Hedges
At home, we are used to formal evergreen hedges exactly like this yew one: In coun’ryside, we have perfectly maintained native hedges, probably laid by heartthrob layer, Paul A. Lamb. If you don’t have him handy, friends and family will have to do; it will tire them out beautifully by tea time: So how does… Continue reading You Won’t Believe the Difference Between These Hedges
What Are the Plants of Christmas?
Traditional is what you make it at the end of the day, but green and red is the classic theme, and in late December your suitable plant options are limited. Only evergreens are in leaf, and few plants are flowering in the house or in the garden; florists can source flowers from greenhouses. Norway Spruce… Continue reading What Are the Plants of Christmas?
Chadderton Plants Community Orchard for Giants
Making Community Orchards work is blooming tough, and it helps if you start with the right size trees We are in full armchair gardener mode on this one. Granby Street in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, is bravely attempting a community orchard, the first of 4 planned in the area. Community Orchards, like communities in general, are usually… Continue reading Chadderton Plants Community Orchard for Giants
Chelsea Garden Shows for 2025
Garden design is inherently divisive: different gardens please various tastes, and serve a range of purposes from practical to political to pulchritudinous. What to choose? The best way to consider anything serious, according to kings and queens of yore, is to drink on it, and to think on it, on separate days.That’s a useful approach… Continue reading Chelsea Garden Shows for 2025
Urban Fruit Growing: Soft Fruit Edition
Wiltshire-based garden designer Dan Combes wonders why there aren’t more berries, especially in urban areas and their small gardens where a fruit tree might be too big Over the last the weeks, I have planted thousands of bulbs: all inedible. But why (London, I’m talking to you especially) am I not being asked to plant… Continue reading Urban Fruit Growing: Soft Fruit Edition
Forestry Commission Agroforestry Tree Species Guide
Agroforestry is primarily practised by farmers, but elements are increasingly applied to homesteads and large gardens If agroforestry is new to you, one really should start with ART – Agroforestry Research Trust. Agro-forestry means cultivating trees with other agricultural crops and/or livestock, in the same field. The trees are grown in lanes an appropriate distance… Continue reading Forestry Commission Agroforestry Tree Species Guide
Why Willows and Drains do not Mix…
A video on why willows and drains should not be too close together…
Cooking with Cider this Christmas?
How about pheasant with caramelised apple and cider sauce! Ingredients (to serve 2-4) Method Pheasant and cider sauce Caramelised apples Once the sauce mixture is reduced, pour over and serve! Top tip This is a lovely, tasty wintery dish using well hung pheasant, but if you’re not the gamey type, it works equally well… Continue reading Cooking with Cider this Christmas?
Monty Don’s Urgent Hessian Sack Advice
BBC presenter Monty Don makes a helpful suggestion about caring for bareroot plants on delivery, but do you have enough hessian? Monty Don has done more to get girls in the garden than any other handsome, famous face: those cheekbones and that cheeky grin. For that, he is eternally forgiven for everything as far as… Continue reading Monty Don’s Urgent Hessian Sack Advice
HortWeek, the coolest name in the industry, releases the last 2 parts of their peat-free garden podcast extravaganza
Read our musings on parts 1 & 2. Full disclosure: peat bans are in our financial interests, so we have publicly supported them for years. It’s nothing personal against people who want to grow with peat: we liked growing with peat too. We don’t specialise in the plants that most benefit from peat, we already… Continue reading HortWeek, the coolest name in the industry, releases the last 2 parts of their peat-free garden podcast extravaganza
The Hedge Laying Down With A Lamb
Hedge laying is pretty important to anyone with an old country hedge: it’s uncommon to see a garden hedge laid, but most species are suitable Hedge laying is an ancient, pre-Bronze Age technology of cutting and stacking vertical woody stems lengthways, alive, braided in place initially with a wooden hurdle-fence structure. The cut hedge plants… Continue reading The Hedge Laying Down With A Lamb
Foraged Blackberry & Apple Crumble
Do you have a freezer full of blackberries? If not, then ignore the blackberry & enjoy your apple crumble! This time of year, mid-November, is hefty with apples. Down here in sunny Somerset, the late blackberries are only recently all gone from the bushes. If you have helpful kids around, chances are you have bags… Continue reading Foraged Blackberry & Apple Crumble
Rose Hips are Pretty & Good to Eat
Rose hips are mostly an ornamental second display from Autumn into Winter, but all rose hips are edible if you want to go through the trouble of preparing them And almost all roses will make hips if they get pollinated and you allow them to develop, which is not usually the case with a typical… Continue reading Rose Hips are Pretty & Good to Eat
North Wales St Asaph Tree Nursery
Denbighshire County Council’s Local Provenance Tree Nursery at St Asaph grows 24 native tree species using stylish Air Pots™, and so can you On the Bionet Wales website, we can read about how St Asaph focuses on using local provenance seeds and cuttings of native trees. With the help of volunteers, they propagate tens of… Continue reading North Wales St Asaph Tree Nursery
Smoky Sausage Stew Recipe
Looking for complete satisfaction of all bellies in the immediate area? You sure done come to the right place this time You can do this stew with a vegan sausage if you like, you can do this with a Cumberland or a sneaky sausage: it’s the size of the sausage in the stew that counts.… Continue reading Smoky Sausage Stew Recipe
Lazy Sunday Fruit Tree & Rootstock Grafting Videos
Grafting is one of Mankind’s ancient technologies, generally done in Spring onto rootstocks planted a full year ago, or mature trees Grafting two plants together happens naturally when compatible species jam up against each other, rubbing their bark off and then getting stuck long enough to fuse together. You see this quite often when inspecting… Continue reading Lazy Sunday Fruit Tree & Rootstock Grafting Videos
What Garden Zone Am I In?
“Where am I, and whose garden is this?” is a common question among cider drinkers and other fun people, and it’s pretty relevant to how your garden works Great Britain has one “temperate oceanic / maritime” climate and isn’t very big, but she is still varied enough that it helps to know where your garden… Continue reading What Garden Zone Am I In?
Whipsnade Tree Cathedral Restoration
The natural loss of Ash trees to dieback leads to a new generation of trees at National Trust run Sacred Grove of faith, hope, and reconciliation. Whipsnade Tree Cathedral in Bedfordshire is a war memorial of trees planted to grow into the form of Liverpool Cathedral, complete with chancel, nave, transepts, chapels, and cloisters designed around… Continue reading Whipsnade Tree Cathedral Restoration
HortWeek ‘End of Peat’ Podcast Series 1 & 2
HortWeek, the coolest name in the industry, produces 4 part peat-free garden podcast extravaganza Ashridge went through the Peat Free Thing on our nursery ages ago, so we can sit back and take it easy while everyone else sweats on this one. But for growers and gardeners across the UK, moving away from peat is… Continue reading HortWeek ‘End of Peat’ Podcast Series 1 & 2
Britain’s Other Greatest Trees
In what can only be a direct response to our post on the Skippinish Oak being made the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year, The Telegraph scrambled to release their article on Britain’s 20 greatest trees In our post on the Skippinish Oak yesterday, we allegedly uncovered an alleged scheme by Big Oak to take… Continue reading Britain’s Other Greatest Trees
Oak Tree is UK Band Manager of the Year
After being voted Tree of the Year 2024, an old Oak has promoted the Scottish ceilidh band Skipinnish from stardom to mega stardom Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year vote was won this year by a Sessile Oak tree called Skipinnish, after a Scottish ceilidh band. Under the tree’s management, they are now the most… Continue reading Oak Tree is UK Band Manager of the Year