Dive into the spirit of Easter with our delightful Easter Biscuits recipe (St George icing not included). These sweet treats, infused with a hint of spice and citrusy zest, make a delightful rustic addition to your festive table. Ingredients: Instructions: These biscuits are not only delicious but also a fun Easter activity for the family.… Continue reading Traditional English Easter Biscuits Recipe
Holly Hedge Revenge: A Tale of Revenge and Hedges
Peter Walker-Smith and Tersia Van Zyl were best of neighbours until bins and hedges drove them to war…
Salmon en Croute with Spinach, Leeks, and Poppy Seeds
Indulge your taste buds in an exquisite culinary journey with this Spinach, Leek, and Poppy Seed-infused Salmon en Croute. This Salmon en Croute a visual masterpiece with a delicious celebration of textures and tastes: an unforgettable dining experience that effortlessly blends sophistication with simplicity. Ingredients:
Why Didn’t My Daffodils Flower this Year?
Daffodils (Narcissus) are perennial bulbs whose lifespan varies depending on the particular species and cultivar, the growing conditions and care, or lack thereof! With the correct selection of Narcissus and proper care, you can expect individual bulbs to come back for several years. Before an individual bulb perishes, it is a common sight to see… Continue reading Why Didn’t My Daffodils Flower this Year?
Growing Dahlias in Pots and Patio Containers
March is delivery time for dahlia tubers, which are too tender to plant out any earlier in most of the UK, apart from the mildest coastal South. Because it’s still too cold in most areas to plant them out until April, the best thing to do is pot them up and store them somewhere frost… Continue reading Growing Dahlias in Pots and Patio Containers
Vegetable Seeds to Sow in March
The snowy start to March is true to the ancient proverb about the first calendar month of Spring: in like a snow lion, out like a lamb roast (it’s all that fresh new mint for sauce). The days are lengthening noticeably, the soil is warming and soon to be frost free in some areas, and… Continue reading Vegetable Seeds to Sow in March
When Should You Cut Back Your Spent Bulbs?
Is there anything more restorative than the first flowers of spring? Apart from spring flowers plus kittens wearing watermelon helmets, obviously? March is the time to enjoy the full array of spring bulbs – a rich reward for the aching back and sore knees from our efforts in Autumn. After such a wet winter, it… Continue reading When Should You Cut Back Your Spent Bulbs?
YoungWilders Hedgerow Project
No one likes a pedantic so-and-so who points out that planting country hedgerows, which are a feature exclusively of landscapes managed by mankind (mostly farmers) is by definition not a re-wilding project, it’s really a re-ruraling project. I, naturally, would never do that, any more than I would sulk over age precluding me from joining… Continue reading YoungWilders Hedgerow Project
Sowing Seeds Indoors in Late Winter / Early Spring
Sowing seeds indoors before Spring starts – done right – is a cheap way to have top quality plants ready to go as early as possible. New gardeners will learn so much about plants and soil from it, and experienced gardeners who like to experiment value the opportunity to test the limits of their favourite… Continue reading Sowing Seeds Indoors in Late Winter / Early Spring
Tidying Up Your Borders at the End of Winter
At some point between Autumn and the end of Winter, when the flowers and foliage have died down, it’s commonly held best practice to give your ornamental borders and beds a thorough cleaning. Of course, if you love the wild look and want to encourage wildlife (including slugs, or “homing frog lunches”, as I think… Continue reading Tidying Up Your Borders at the End of Winter
Chicken Satay Skewers on Salad with Fresh Herbs
It’s time to bid farewell to winter soups and stews. Spring is in the air, so try out our chicken satay and salad recipe using fresh herbs. Heighten your dining experience with the vibrant colours and flavours of this dish, embracing the essence of spring on your plate. Ingredients: For Chicken Satay: For Salad: For… Continue reading Chicken Satay Skewers on Salad with Fresh Herbs
Cutting Back Buddleja Bushes in Early Spring
Or: How to Record a Gardening Video Using a Potato I am sorry everyone, really. I genuinely didn’t realise how bad the camera in my potato is: it was a good potato when I bought it second hand down an alleyway ten years ago, so it came as much of a shock to me as… Continue reading Cutting Back Buddleja Bushes in Early Spring
Cutting Back Overgrown Elderflower in a Mixed Hedge
Elderflower, Sambucus nigra, inevitably finds its way into a country hedge sooner or later, and it’s far from unheard of to add it to the mix at planting time. It is suitable for growing as a hedge plant, and is desirable for its flowers and fruit that make elderflower cordial and elderberry syrup respectively. However,… Continue reading Cutting Back Overgrown Elderflower in a Mixed Hedge
Cherry Crêpes Recipe
Try something different this Pancake Day Shrove Tuesday is on the morrow, Tuesday 13th February, And you can mix up the usual chocolate or lemon filled pancakes with our delightful Cherry Crêpes recipe. These thin, delicate French style pancakes topped with juicy cherry compote will awaken your senses and satisfy your sweet cravings. Even better,… Continue reading Cherry Crêpes Recipe
Herb-Infused Chicken Katsu Curry Recipe
A Flavourful Twist on a Japanese Classic Indulge in rich and aromatic British herbs in Japanese cuisine with our take on the beloved Chicken Katsu Curry. This recipe combines the crispy goodness of breaded chicken cutlets with a fragrant and herb-infused curry sauce. Behold the delectable fusion of textures and flavours in these succulent chicken… Continue reading Herb-Infused Chicken Katsu Curry Recipe
Do Woodchips Make Soil Acidic, or Take Nitrogen from the Soil?
The short answer is no, woodchip mulch does not make soil acidic. However, if you are gardening on chalk, woodchip mulch will tend to reduce the pH closer to neutral. Questions about mulch in general and in particular the effect of woodchips on soil arise with every generation of new gardeners. People know that woodchips… Continue reading Do Woodchips Make Soil Acidic, or Take Nitrogen from the Soil?
Rhubarb Fool Recipe
Early-sprouting rhubarb will soon be ready for harvest. Whether it’s your own produce or from your friendly local greengrocer, give this rhubarb fool recipe a try – a delightful pick-me-up for the promises of spring around the corner! Ingredients: Method: 2. Whip the Cream: 3. Combine Rhubarb Compote and Whipped Cream: 4. Chill: 5. Serve… Continue reading Rhubarb Fool Recipe
Why Steven Edholm’s Fruit Tree Pruning Films are Better Than Ours
As a company, we have invested billions (approximately) in producing nicely edited videos about planting and pruning fruit trees Rodney, local movie star and coincidentally our warehouse manager, has been ogled over a million times on YouTube, where his charisma and acting skills steal the show in our best film work to date, how to… Continue reading Why Steven Edholm’s Fruit Tree Pruning Films are Better Than Ours
When do Daffodils Bloom in the UK?
The first wild Daffodil to bloom in the UK, as measured by a car park in Somerset, was 11th February 2024. This is it: Wild Daffodils start flowering when the soil temperatures reach around 10C, usually in February or March. In a warm winter like the one we’ve mostly had this year, we are seeing… Continue reading When do Daffodils Bloom in the UK?
Soft Edges in Urban Garden Design
Modern buildings and roads tend to create stark boundaries: all structure with no life Well-thought-out planting will soften these hard lines and corners, and bring them alive, like adding a great painting to an empty frame. In general, you want to employ a lot of evergreen shrubs and climbers that cover things up all year-round.… Continue reading Soft Edges in Urban Garden Design
How to Prune Trees VS Clipping Hedges
Pruning woody plants is a big part of a gardener’s life, and winter is when a lot of it gets done – especially after windy weather leaves some rough edges to tidy up. When we examine a typical branch, we can see that there are basically three ways one could cut it: So, a hedge… Continue reading How to Prune Trees VS Clipping Hedges
January-February Garden Tasks: Our Favourite Online Gardeners Share Their Tips
It’s almost February: time to do January garden jobs!
Garden Plants for Winter Colour
Colour from bark, leaves and some flowers will light up your winter garden
When do Snowdrops Bloom in the UK?
Who doesn’t love snowdrops? People who don’t read this article!
How to Propagate Hardwood Hedge Cuttings in Late Winter
Right now is an ideal time to try, when the soil is nice and damp and not-frozen.
Britain’s Favourite Spring Flowering Bulbs
There’s a special thrill that comes with burying your dry bulbs in Autumn & early Winter, followed by months of anticipation till Spring, each with their own payoff: Daffodils are cheerful, Tulips are romantic, Snowdrops are cutie pies, and Hyacinths are just too much, I need to lie down for a while! These and other… Continue reading Britain’s Favourite Spring Flowering Bulbs
Why John Lord’s Gardening Films Are The Best
More people have taken the plunge into gardening with a floral shirt and a medium pickaxe thanks to John Lord than any other famous plantsman in Ireland’s Ratoath Gardens There is at least an introductory paragraph of reasons why John Lord’s YouTube films are the best before I get to my reason, so let’s ask… Continue reading Why John Lord’s Gardening Films Are The Best
Many Layers of a Shrub Honeysuckle Hedge
This Lonicera nitida hedge in a local Somerset car park is a prime example of how good this hedge plant looks despite neglect! A good hedge is thick and bushy down to the base, which is easy to maintain in most cases by trimming at least once or twice a year.Years of neglect tend to… Continue reading Many Layers of a Shrub Honeysuckle Hedge
Our Favourite Food Growing Channels
“That Computer Goggle Box” may be a clunky nickname for YouTube, but people goggle at the Computer Goggle Box far more these days than they ever goggled at Ye Olde Goggle Box with its handful of channels for everything. Just by way of example, our fruit tree planting video has been goggled at over a… Continue reading Our Favourite Food Growing Channels
Cheese and herb aigrettes
These miniature savoury doughnuts make a lovely canapé served with a glass of fizz, perhaps at a coronation celebration, or indeed if you want to mark National Doughnut Week which also falls this month (20-28th May). They’re a fun way of using fresh herbs in your cooking too. If you have one of those new-fangled… Continue reading Cheese and herb aigrettes