How to grow bay trees
Offering year-round structure and interest, slow-growing Bay (Laurus nobilis) is a great choice for adding an evergreen welcome to your home and makes a fabulous focal point for the balcony,…
Top tips for shady gardens including shade-loving plants
Most gardens have at least one dark or shady spot, and many of us have very shady gardens. Trees, buildings and fences can be the key to blocking the sun,…
December miscellany
As we all rush towards Christmas willy-nilly – or it towards us – it is all too easy to become absorbed in the usual commercial hype, and forget that it…
Brittany Observed (or parts of it)
Quintessentially France I have just returned from ten days in Brittany – wonderful weather and over 700 miles of touring, door to door. Camera and journal / sketchbook allowed me…
When dreams become reality
Whether you are reclaiming ground, starting from scratch or re-planning an existing garden, turning dreams into reality requires a certain amount of foresight and strategy. But where to begin, particularly…
Allotments
bulbs
Christmas
Flowers
food & recipes
fruit
garden care
herbs
planning
Potatoes, Garlic & Onions
shrubs
Vegetables
Progress in our ‘Dobies’ garden plots
We’ve gone from four inches of rain in two days to nights of heavy frost and freezing temperatures. But on the good days in between I was actually able to…
Ideas for the Cutting Garden
With the clocks having gone back yesterday, there was time over an early cup of tea to work my way through the new Dobies Annual Flower Catalogue for 2013 –…
It’s here – and wildlife time, too!
The unexpected arrival just after lunch of the Dobies 2013 catalogue has taken me unawares and out-performed my scheduled topic for this week. Indeed, as I removed it from the…
Fruit, Nuts – and Pancakes
Thinking about fruit when walking around almost any supermarket has me realising just how glad I am that years ago we planted fruit trees in our garden, and have continued…
Christmas Extra – missing link
Now that Dobies is back in session post-Christmas, it’s been possible to check the website error, that would not allow me to post the link to the remarkable ‘fruity’ hedgerow…