Pests and diseases in the garden are an evergreen topic of conversation for gardeners and seeing holes munched in leaves or whole plants struggling is equally frustrating whether you grow fruit and vegetables or ornamental plants. I mentioned last month that gardening is part of the mainstream move towards a more sustainable and nature friendly lifestyle, and we are all...
Working with small spaces is always challenging whether you are furnishing a room or laying out a garden. When you cannot fit in everything that you would love to have, it is time to prioritise and that is especially tough when your small garden has to serve both family and wildlife. An internet search for wildlife gardening quickly yields a...
Adding wildflowers to your garden has become something of a trend recently, I suspect prompted by increasing awareness amongst media and public of the dreadful statistics on the loss of 95% of UK wildflower meadows since the 1930s. So should we all be planting wildflowers? Firstly let me clear up a common confusion: Wildflowers are not the same as Weeds. But...
Providing shelter for overwintering wildlife: You will know that I am keen on encouraging wildlife in the garden and there is good news for anyone struggling to find time for all that autumn cutting and tidying. Leaving herbaceous perennials and grasses standing through the winter instead of cutting everything down to ground level provides great shelter for insects and amphibians. They...
