Legend of the Green Stripy Badger
Who doesn’t love a giant vegetable? Show me the gardener who is unmoved by a prodigiously sized pumpkin and I’ll show you a giant fraud....
I have seen the future of GW*
For those of us who are familiar with the Gardener’s World format, the penultimate programme of the 2016 series was a bit strange. (Pic...
A raspberry surprise
There was a report on the BBC World Service this week about the latest fast food ‘craze’ coming from Mexico. The technical term is...
The lavender kill job
There are many mysteries in gardening. Why do plants bolt? Why are some hydrangeas purple and blue? And why is the dog called ‘Nigel’ and...
The tall girl in the school photo
Gardening is so much about inspiration and visualization and to be a great creative gardener you need to have the inspiration to...
Flopsy Mopsy
Last year there was a proliferation of gigantic, mophead hydrangea macrophylla on sale at the garden centre, but at prices of £25+ they...
Glastonbury comes to KT6...
...but without the mud. It was our daughter’s 18th birthday and the lawn experienced the closest thing to Glastonbury it’s ever going to...
The First Cut is the Deepest
I know, I know, I know – I’ve talked about this before. But it still raises a laugh in the office when I say I’m going to France to mow...
Tulip; Single, Lonely, NSOH
There used to be a television programme called The House Detectives in which chuckly old cove Dan Cruickshank would pad around some very...
Von Stauffenberg's apple tree
I need to be a bit more careful about the kind of audio books I listen to in the garden. On my daily 45-minute commute into work on the...