Yes, you did read that correctly - I use an eraser to help keep my secateurs clean. OK, this isn't something I fished out from the bottom of my school pencil case - this eraser, by garden tools specialist Niwaki, has been created specifically to clean garden tools and it works a treat as I will quickly demonstrate ..read more

Left to its own devices a Pampas Grass can soon get out of control and dominate smaller gardens.  There are various ways of cutting it down (best done in late winter) however having done this a few times with various large grasses now I have a quick and easy way to cut them back without creating a massive cleaning up headache.  In this post I will show you step by step how to cut back an overgrown Pampas Grass the easy way ..read more

It might be cold and dark and wet and grey and damp and really not a lot of fun but there are still plenty of things you can be doing in your garden. Others have more detailed suggestions (see end of article) but I have a few to offer ..read more

As I understand it, we (Brits) are a low productivity economy and need to be "investing" so we can be more "productive". Taking that onboard and keen to do my bit... a few years ago I invested in a set of Bosch Easy Prune Cordless Secateurs – just the ticket I thought to zipping through my pruning tasks and being more "productive ..read more

Spring has sprung - well sort of. March is the early spring month and whilst there is still more cold and wet weather to come, the daffodils are up and about and telling everyone else to wake up and that includes you - there is plenty to do ..read more

Ah February, the last month of winter, and whilst there are signs here and there that plants are stirring from their slumber the weather is going to be cold for quite a while yet but don't worry, there are still plenty of things you can be doing ..read more

I have lost count of the number of times I have encountered the remains of a small tree/shrub where the top is long gone, but the stump remains. Why? Well, usually the answer is that removing even a small stump can appear to be difficult job so why not let it just rot away. Unfortunately, that may not work as quite a few stumps can regrow.  So, removal is the way to go here I will show you how I remove a small stump without too much effort ..read more

Sprouts are the marmite of vegetables with people either liking or passionately hating them. However I always take the view no matter how much you dislike a particular food thing, there is always a recipe out there that could change your mind. So if you run a mile when sprouts are mentioned then stop and give this Waitrose recipe a go as I think you will be pleasantly surprised - it is really a doddle to make, cheap and very very tasty and without that bitter taste are often associated with Sprouts ..read more

As January is the mid-Winter month this means it is likely to be the coldest month of the year so in theory there isn't a lot to do... or is there ..read more

When a perennial is starting to outgrow its spot and is muscling others out of the way it is time to divide it.  The most common approach requires two garden forks to prize the lifted plant apart but what if you don't happen to have enough forks to hand? Well there is a simple way to split your these plants as I will show you ..read more