If you're like us, which I suspect a number of people that read this blog are, you're sowing and growing plants at this time of year, ad infinitum (well for these spring months anyway). And as we go through the cycle of sowing and growing plants for the year ahead, the inevitable happens - we run out of space. Well, this saturation point has happened here, and with the spring being so ..read more

Hi everyone,Writing this blog to compliment the YouTube video I did, (watch it here ?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGtDDsMT4Es ??)discussing early January here, what we are up to at the moment and plans over the coming week or so. Firstly, it is worth mentioning that if you have any spring bulbs such as Tulips or daffodils, do get them planted as soon as you can. While ..read more

As always, with the spring bulbs all but finished and the summer colour not quite in yet, the question of what provides interest during early summer can be seen in the staging area. Overseeing the courtyard and staging area is the Carex elata ‘Aurea’ on the outside windowsillThere is a particular combination of three plants that really do catch my eye, as pointed out by one of my Twitter ..read more

Love this place, and that’s despite the weather over recent weeks and today being very damp and wet ...What else can I add about this garden? Well it’s a superb place to visit at this time of year if you travel to the locality, or even as a specific destination for a day out, and they’ve a plant centre and outdoor cafe on site too if you feel inspired to treat yourself.Happy gardening,Hugh ..read more

Hi everybody, Hugh here, fair to say I haven’t blogged in a wee while, so welcome back. I thought I might share this write up I did for a local group of learning gardeners, who asked what should they be doing about summer/ autumn colour in their gardens at this time of year. Containers and hanging baskets:Continue to keep you summer colour going for as long as possible. This can include ..read more

“The times they are a changin’” once wrote Bob Dylan, and for me, never has this been more true.  Since my last blog post here in 2018, I’ve moved from my much written about potager garden in north county and relocated to my new allotment space, which I’m now happy to call ‘potager’, once again. In getting to this place, there has been difficult times, not only in gardening terms ..read more

Yes, after all the colder weather of later winter and early spring, it's great to enjoy the sunshine days when they arrive. (Hugh, for the purposes of looking back in the future, we had ghastly weather at the start of March, with some more seasonal cold in mid March).  And now, with the clocks changed to summer hours, it's gardening full steam ahead.  For the purposes of this ..read more

The truth is, for many seeds and for many gardeners, it's just too early.  However, if you have access to a covered area that allows in plenty of light, whether this is a glasshouse, greenhouse, porch with glass, windowsill, coldframes, conservatory, artificial grow room, or other ingenious invention, there is always an opportunity to try growing something. In my case, let me update ..read more

So, I had an idea.  What if, on what's stated to be the darkest and dreariest day of the year, gardeners show a taste of summer - an opportunity to spread some joy and happiness, whet the appetite as we scour seed catalogues, and plan for the growing season ahead. The date in question is Monday, January 15th, otherwise known as #bluemonday. Last year on the same announced day, I posted ..read more

Before I go into my 2018 garden planning, I think it's good to introduce myself, or maybe reintroduce myself as you might have read elements of this blog in previous posts, or we've chatted. It's timely to pull them together into one blog post again and let you know about a little me. You may have already guessed it if we've chatted, either in person or via social media, but I'm ..read more