My Journal
Protecting your garden from late frosts
Late frosts can be a gardeners worst nightmare – especially if they come after days of warming sunshine! Here in Yorkshire (and much of the UK) late frosts are common in April and May. Worrying about them shouldn’t stop you from planting your garden, but frost can be a killer for your tender plants and seedlings! Here are a few tips on how you can protect your garden plants from late frosts.
Plants for shady gardens
It's easy to sing the praises of a gloriously sunny, south-facing garden. Just like the plants we grow, many of us love to soak up the sun! It's tempting to think that beautiful plants only grow in sunny gardens - but there are lots of wonderful plants for shady...
Cottage Garden Border Plants
I am often asked about my favourite cottage garden border plants. The truth is, almost any plant can be used in a border - just make sure you provide them with the correct growing conditions and they will thrive! In this blog, I’ve created a small set of border plants...
Top tips for any gardener
Spring is here! It’s a great time to put your hand to gardening. Be it growing from seed, nursing plug plants or planting established shrubs, I’ve put together some information a gardener of any skill set may find useful. Get to know your space If you’re new to...
My favourite plants for spring colour!
When winter is nearing its end and the garden is just starting to come back to life, there are a few ‘old faithful’ plants that I know I can rely on to bring bursts of colour to my garden. Whilst most other plants slumber in the depths of winter, these early risers...
Winter Garden Maintenance
Winter might seem like a quiet season for gardeners, but there’s still plenty to do! Even though the midst of winter brings the coldest months, the New Year brings longer days and the garden begins to grow and develop making it the ideal time to start thinking about...
Tips for winter garden design
It's tempting to draw the proverbial curtains on your garden over the winter, and any outdoor space can easily become a bit of a dumping ground. Tatty, carpeted in dried leaves, stacked with empty pots - a winter garden might hardly be a feast for the eyes! I'm a firm...
The best vegetables to grow for winter
The garden is largely quiet and still during the winter, with the odd evergreen, winter bloom and hardy shrub brightening things up. It could seem that during the colder months, most home-grown crops wouldn't survive, but there are actually some excellent vegetables...
Caring for winter wildlife
It's a real joy to watch all the birds and animals that might visit our garden in the spring and summer - but did you know that it's even more important to make an extra effort to support winter wildlife in the colder months? Although in the winter your garden may...
The best garden plants for winter colour
There's a real magic about the depths of winter in the garden, when you're able to spot the rich colours of evergreen and hardy plant life still brightening up the space. In the summertime, bold and colourful flowers are everywhere - but in winter, it's important to...