The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
When a new garden opens for the National Gardens Scheme in Thanet it’s a major event, principally because there are only three others, one of which is my own. And this year’s newcomer, situated in an isolated rural spot known as Thorne Hill, is a beauty. Created by Andrew Montgomery, The Chapel is a […]
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The groundflame of the crocus breaks the mould, Fair Spring slides hither o’er the Southern sea, Wavers on her thin stem the snowdrop cold That trembles not to kisses of the bee: Come Spring, for now from all the dripping eaves The spear of ice has wept itself away, And hour by hour unfolding woodbine […]
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I was right about some things concerning this year’s Chelsea Flower Show; the weather was better; most designers defaulted to the tried and tested formula of multi-stemmed trees underplanted with tight-knit perennials; and Alan Titchmarsh’s garden was far from cutting edge – more of a blunt axe one might say. However I was wrong about one […]
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‘No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth … and no culture comparable to that of the garden … But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.” Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) In my first year at Reading University, all the Landscape Management students were required to […]
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It struck me last weekend that, amid all the frantic garden visiting, I’ve written very little about what’s been going on in our town and seaside gardens. This is for two very good reasons. Firstly, both plots have been going through major upheavals (it’s all proportionate in a tiny garden) and have been looking nothing […]
Read MoreHallelujah! With only 10 days to go until Christmas, the scaffolding is down and we have light in the flat again. The garden is, however, a disaster area, strewn with windblown carrier bags, stray coffee cups and other builders’ flotsam and jetsam. The lawn, which is normally a quagmire, defies any kind of positive description. […]
Read MoreI always think good gardening calls for a certain type of ruthlessness. Never is that quality more needed than at this time of year when almost everything has become overblown and top heavy. It’s fine to sedately mow and deadhead your way through summer, but there’s no room for sentimentality when it comes to autumn […]
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