David Marsden

LATEST ARTICLES ( 334 )

• Priory Picture Post # 17

  

  Erodium x kolbianum ‘Natasha’ is a favourite of mine – and a fine name to say out loud.  I first came across  it when working in an Alpine nursery and was... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Snipping Amphibians …

  

  … is, I imagine, an unpleasant experience and one I try to avoid. Common Toad – Nov 2011 The gardens at The Priory are watery. Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• The Watcher

  

  Yesterday, I was working in the greenhouse and gradually became aware that I was being watched. I glanced out of the windows to see whether any of Margaret’s... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Priory Picture Post # 16

  

  Still got plenty of …… to collect.  So have to spend a lot of time over at the …… trying to make more space.  But whenever I do a local busy body …… turns up.... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Sussex Eucalypts

  

  Were you to walk up the drive from The Priory you would, after a couple of hundred yards, come to an area of mown grass surrounded on three sides by a small... Read more

  Posted on 12 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Making Leaf Mould

  

  There are a lot of trees in the Priory gardens.  Six very big oak trees, six big weeping willows, two large ash trees, nigh on twenty alder, half a dozen... Read more

  Posted on 09 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Echium Pininana

  

  It was only when my Agave americana started whimpering and heaving itself out of it’s pot, millimetre by millimetre, that I thought, “Hmm, really must repot... Read more

  Posted on 05 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Retired to the Greenhouse

  

  Why do holidays speed past … so … darn … fast?  Is it a plot?  Evil magic?  A little time spent strolling about Bath, Stroud, Gloucester and Nailsworth and... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Away Awhile Again

  

  The first frost has struck the Priory and the tropical bed wasn’t happy.  Dahlias were disheveled, discoloured and crumpled when I turned up for work (bright... Read more

  Posted on 21 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• My Pond Leaks …

  

  … and I should like to fix it.  (That’s a phrase straight out of a 1970’s Hungarian/English phrase book; in the Socialising/Dating section).  But sadly, I... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Gunnera Manicata

  

  Now that I’ve decided on gardening glasnost (see ‘To Make A Gardener Anxious’), I can tell you all about one of my less resounding successes. (Plenty more of... Read more

  Posted on 15 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• The Ten Minute Gardener – Book Review

  

  I was asked a week or two ago to write a book review by those lovely folk at Transworld Books.  Even though the request came by e-mail, I still found myself ... Read more

  Posted on 13 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• To Make A Gardener Anxious

  

  I always try to show the Priory off at it’s best.By posting photos of it looking (hopefully) alluring and interesting andbeautiful.   It seems impolite somehow... Read more

  Posted on 10 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Let’s Build A Compost Bin!

  

  A few weeks ago, I wrote about the compost bins at the Priory (see “Composting the Priory“) and was inundated with one request for more information on how I... Read more

  Posted on 07 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• The Chelsea Chop

  

  There is only one plant that I always administer the Chelsea chop to.  Come rain or shine, without fail, and that’s sedums.Except this particular one which, com... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Priory Picture Post # 15

  

  Mahonia isn’t the prettiest shrub in the land.  Indeed, when I’ve speared my fingers for the umpteenth time on it’s dead leaves, I tend to be even more... Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Summer’s Almost Over …

  

  … and there is a nip in the air.  The trees, for the most part, are still green and holding onto their leaves.  Swallows and martins show off  and delight... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• A Security Breach

  

  Have you ever gone into a garden centre and asked for advice on ‘rabbit proof plants?’  Well, don’t bother because here’s the answer: there is no such thing. Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• Flowering Stones

  

  Over the past week, I’ve been keeping a beady eye on one of my lithops.Very intently.  Because …… it’s been gearing up to flower.Each day I’ve willed it on,urge... Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2011 GARDENING, HOME

• A Bargain

  

  A few months ago I was visiting a well known Swedish furniture store and spotted a sickly Ficus with half a dozen leaves and a dejected air.  It was reduced by... Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2011 GARDENING, HOME