In the era of the Snowflake, prejudice is seen as something evil. But gardening prejudices are often useful. They can help you develop your own style. Some plants, I simply can’t get along with. The idea of growing African marigolds and chrysanthemums just seems wrong to me. However, that said, sometimes it is good to have our prejudices challenged. I used to think of spring bulbs as being a tad boring. This grew from seeing neglected front gardens overrun with [...]
THE TREE - they smell GOOD, make our living rooms into a grotto for a few weeks and occasionally stab us with their needles - why do we do this every year? Find the right tree for you and then make it a more sustainable tradition... FROSTED HISTORY The branches of the evergreen Conifer have been flailed about in celebration since the pagans danced with them and strung them up for the Winter solstice, and the Romans fought and lounged around them [...]
Commonly known as the Dogwood the Cornus is a group of botanically diverse plants with a lot of year round interest to add to any planting design. Planted on mass they can be used to give winter and spring interest with their vivid stem colour. There are two species which are alba and sibirica. Dogwood are vigorous growing shrubs reaching 4 to 6 foot in high depending on variety. Dogwoods prefer a sunny position in moisture retentive soils. The second year after planting [...]
