Rachel the Gardener

I have a Client who wanted to grow Wisteria up the back wall of their house, but they'd had the patio relaid, right up to the wall.

Bird feeders have been in the news a lot this year, with the RSPB firstly telling us to stop feeding them, in order to stop the spread of disease: then being lambasted for continuing to sell bird food on their website: then changing their advice to say th…

Not my favourite plant... as a gardener, I have strong dislikes (which I try to keep secret from my Clients, for the obvious reason, although most of them can tell that I'm not keen on Euphorbia, by the way I always "happen to mention" that their sap is v…

I've written about this devastating little pest several times recently: to remind you, it's not the same as Box Blight, the fungal disease which has killed off a huge number of Box plants, and which typically starts by killing off whole patches of the pla…

"Oh no!"

I had a question from a Patron the other day ("Hi, Stephen!")

Part of the art of being a good professional gardener (is it possible to be a "bad" professional gardener?

Oh yes they do!

When you move house, "they" always say that you should not make any changes to the garden for a year, because you don't know what is going to pop up, at different seasons.

Further to a recent post about restoring a Nitida hedge, I had a question from new Patron Jude (waves enthusiastically) who sent me pictures of the Nitida hedge she has inherited, which is wild and woolly at the top, and rather bare at the bottom.

Again!

OMG!

Yes, that well-known spring-flowering climber, beloved of country cottages, is at it again: What is going on with our gardens these days?

Yes, it's that time again: we have enjoyed the beautiful flamboyant Opium Poppies - Papavar somniferum: ... but they have had their day, and now they are over, it's time to remove them.

I'm often asked about where to buy plants: is it necessary, Clients ask me, to go to a proper Garden Centre, or can we take advantage of the very cheap plants which they sell at the “sheds” such as B&Q and Homebase and, increasingly, our local supermarket…

If you've only ever seen Hen and Chicks being rosettes, you might not know that they do, from time to time, produce flowers!

As it's Friday, here's what I hope will be a mildly amusing, short, article.

I do have a bit of a "thing" about removing old leaves from Bearded Iris: this has always been for two reasons, but now it has gone up to three.

It's summer, and all the lovely summer rain is a timely reminder that one day soon, there will be another hosepipe ban (!)

As a garden owner, there are some plants I dislike, and won't have in my garden - not just the obvious ones such as Ground Elder and other spreading weeds: proper plants, which other people love and cherish, but which I would put straight in the green was…

Yes, I know everyone says this... but honestly, they don't.

It seems like only five minutes... but here we are again.

Does this ever happen to you?

Ladies, are you troubled by your Sedum flopping about all over the beds?

I've yet to meet a garden owner who actually likes this plant: The proper name is Arum maculatum, which always makes me think of eye problems (macular degeneration, I think), or Arum italicum if you have the version with white marbled leaves: commonly kno…

I am very proud of one of my ad hoc Clients: they have an overlarge Hebe, a large-leaved one, which was getting huge.

Yup, it's that time again: the earliest Daffs are already over, although there are plenty more yet to come.

Said the Highwayman.

Or is it??

I recently gave a course on Tree Identification in Winter, in Wiltshire, which was a lot of fun - well, it was for me, as I love teaching!

We all love Winter Jasmine - Jasminum nudiflorum - for the wild splash of colour it gives us, in the depths of winter, at a time when not a lot else is flowering.