This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: Artist spotlight with Charlie Ford first appeared on Jack Wallington | Nature & Gardens ..read more

Recently I asked the Government Department for Energy Security & Net Zero for their map of potentially suitable sites for onshore wind and solar farms. A map based on widely available data on wind strength, topography, nature protections etc. Bearing in mind this is the department we have all entrusted with our energy security, their response literally blew my mind: Government does not routinely collect or manage information on the suitability of locations for onshore wind sites in the UK. Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024 What? The very department responsible for gettin ..read more

Throughout my life I’ve felt the same question from society, sometimes people actually ask me it, other times I can simply tell people think it because of the way they behave with a lack of care for life. The question is… “What’s the point in protecting nature?” To me the answer is both obvious and hard to explain. I can never really believe I have to put an answer into words. It’s like being asked “what’s the point in protecting human life?” But, after forty years of seeing nature’s eradication speed up, not slow down, it’s time to address it. The only people who can truly halt the decline of ..read more

There’s something about the partnership with pets that I love, when the animal is put first, as they should be, it can be wonderful for them and the people who look after them. It feels like a relationship with parts of nature that humanity can continue to explore over the coming millennia. But when pets aren’t looked after properly, they can cause problems, such as untrained dogs hurting people, a disrespect for nature where roaming cats aren’t controlled in important wildlife spots or when meadows for horses aren’t managed correctly. In reality, most pet owners will be responsible and aware ..read more

I try not to be party political, I don’t care about archaic football team politics where everyone picks and defends a team, I care about real issues, in particular: equality (which covers things like poverty, healthcare and opportunities) and protecting nature and environment. Get these right and everyone wins. Which is why I’m excited about Labour setting out plans committing to address renewable energy with the publicly owned renewable energy company, Great British Energy. This is a no brainer, energy can and should be renewable by now and it should be back in public ownership – our bills wo ..read more

The vibe this year during Chelsea press day was very much relaxed, enjoyable and a sense that Chelsea had a small bit of its mojo back after a couple of post-pandemic years. It was of course helped by a glorious sunny day. Perhaps Chelsea this year felt better because some of the pressure to be perfect is off and expectations parred back. Below I’ve included a few things that caught my eye this year – it’s not exhaustive because I didn’t get a chance to see everything. 1) National Garden Scheme show garden by Tom Stuart-Smith Tom Stuart-Smith is the most awarded designer in the show’s h ..read more

This week I finally plucked up the enthusiasm to work out the plan for our allotment in 2024, shown below. I rotate the crops in light green, and I’ve moved some of the perennial stuff at the bottom around. Mainly to move the perennial veg up the slope making it easier to care for, and the cut flower bed – which needs very little attention – down to the end where it’s harder to access. I’ve included past plans below this one. Oh, one extra change is that I’ve added a new horizontal path near the top, this will make it easier to maintain the top half of the plot. This year I want to improve on ..read more

I’ve been watching all of the posts on social media recently instructing us to prune this and prune that. You’d think if you didn’t prune something the world would end! Now, I hold my hands up to being guilty of contributing to this great prunathon with articles on the topic. It is true, that one of the big mistakes us gardeners can make is to not prune shrubs and climbers at the correct time and in the wrong way, which can lead to preventing flowering the next year by cutting off the buds, poor shape, unsightly stumps, disease, a shrub outgrowing its space or becoming congested. Pruning is al ..read more

What’s most important to you and your small garden: planting? A place to sit? A place to dine? A place to sunbathe or play sport? No matter the size of garden, the place I always start is with the question: how do you want to use the space? You probably already have some ideas about this, but it’s time to consider this question in much more detail because often, we don’t really know how we’ll really use a space in future when it’s locked in our imagination. Often our imagination is wrong. In a small space you can’t do everything, so what stays and what goes? There are a number of key question ..read more

Hazel’s true name is Corylus avellana, it’s one of our best known wild trees all across Europe. It’s been closely tied to humans because of its use in building, fencing and thatch. To grow stems that are straight and roughly the same size, our ancient ancestors struck on the woodland craft of coppicing, to cut the stem to the ground encouraging new young shoots to grow. They would have seen this happening naturally when large herbivores broke or ate the plants, causing regrowth. According to the Woodland Trust, coppicing hazel can extend its natural life from 80 years to many hundreds of years ..read more