Learning to 'Flowerdew it'
Spring is poking its head round the corner - the snowdrops have long since appeared, the crocuses not long after, and the tulips are on...
The ghosts of plants past
Does this ever happen to you? You’re sorting through some old empty 3L pots, looking to pot something on – and you come across one with...
Spinach that thinks it's out of Africa
I've got to confess, I have no idea what to do with my beet spinach now the season is finished. The Guardian gardening guide calls it...
Doing the Green Bin Stomp
There are some things you can do without in the garden. Take leaf blowers for example. I’ve never been a big fan of leaf blowers;...
James and the Giant dahlias
When I saw the James Wong seed packet I was tempted – dahlia yams – that’s surely got to be a double whammy for the vegetable patch. Not...
The Buddhist Theory of Christmas Trees
Buying a Christmas tree is never a quick process, unless your only requirement is getting in and out of the garden centre before you get...
Exclusive: The new Council Bonfire Code
– a 15-point plan (First Draft) Autumn is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and lobbing things on the bonfire. Grumpy...
Jobs NOT to do in November
With so little going on in the garden at this time of year, sometimes the grumpy gardener has no other choice than to tidy up. It’s a...
An indestructable garden pest
Despite its reputation as an arena of miserable failure and strife, there is a certain degree of playfulness to be found in the Grumpy...
Inventing the 'Shazam' of plants
It can be supremely irritating when you see a plant and you can’t identify it. Unless you’re a professional horticulturalist, you must...
