Danielcarruthers

LATEST ARTICLES ( 843 )

• Win Biochar Plant Plugs

  

  I’ve been sowing and growing in biochar compost for over a year now and I’m a convert to its many beneficial qualities. Biochar is a form of charcoal that is... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2012 GARDENING

• Our New Look

  I do hope you love our new title banner as much as I do. It has been designed by Hannah McVicar (@HannahMcVicar for those on twitter), one of the most talented... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2012 GARDENING

• A Floral Feast

  

  The first RHS London Show of 2012 was a taste of things to come in the garden – and just like a sunny winter’s day in the garden it was buzzing with activity,... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2012 GARDENING

• Chit It

  

  I always think that setting potatoes to chit is a bit like putting eggs in an incubator – they just need the right conditions to get them growing. Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2012 GARDENING

• Green Patriotism

  

  I’m a devoted fan of @lizearle beauty products (especially Superskin) both for their ethical and organic origins and for the way they help me keep my skin in... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2012 GARDENING

• Repeatedly Wrong

  

  I recently showed a pot of Iris reticulata in the greenhouse that defied my advice that they need replanting each year because it isn’t warm enough for them to... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2012 GARDENING

• One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

  

  Our seed potatoes have just arrived and I’ll be putting them in seedtrays to chit. We ordered Foremost as out First Early, Kifli as Second Early, Charlotte for... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2012 GARDENING

• Many Happy Returns

  

  Crocus tommasinianus does it to me every year, one week there’s just a tuft or two of leaves, the next week there are clusters of fully-formed flowers. Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2012 GARDENING

• Sweet Peas in Waiting

  

  The autumn sown sweet pea plants are looking very good in the coldframe and they seem perfectly content with my regime of benign neglect (i.e. occasionally... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2012 GARDENING

• An Avalanche at Leaf Mountain

  

  Not so long ago my leaf heap was a neat and orderly affair, but as I’ve tidied beds and paths it has got a bit out of hand and every time I add more leaves a... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2012 GARDENING

• Garlic, Shallots & Good Weather

  

  The November planted garlic and shallots are looking good although I am worried about the lack of cold weather that it is needed to get the garlic to bulb up... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2012 GARDENING

• The Best Use of Hanging Baskets

  

  Ever since Germaine Greer said that hanging baskets reminded her of heads lining the road to the Forum, I’ve found it hard to like them when used for their... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2012 GARDENING

• A Newly Liberated Jacqueline Postill

  

  Until recently, poor Jacqueline was being slowly throttled by a far-too-enthusiastic Stauntonia, a climber for which the word ‘rampant’ seems to be an... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2012 GARDENING

• La Sylphide, Mr Fokker & Sarah Raven

  

  I love anemones, and none more than the cerise-flowered La Sylphide and the rich blue Mr. Fokker. I’ve planted up several pots and couldn’t help but notice an... Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2012 GARDENING

• A Notable Strawberry

  

  When I tasted Strawberry Malwina at a press event last year, I knew it was a variety I had to grow. Its fruit are a deep luscious red and the flavor is equally... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2012 GARDENING

• A Growing Population

  

  Unlike Snowdrop Valley, I can’t claim to have an entire valley carpeted with blooms, but I do have more each year. The very first in flower is a clump of... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2012 GARDENING

• National Nest Box Week

  

  It’s National Nest Box Week from the 14th-21st of February, so if you haven’t got any (or would like more) this is the time to find a spot for one. Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2012 GARDENING

• No-Dig Vegetables

  

  Charles Dowding (my new gardening god) is running a course on No-Dig Vegetables at Great Dixter on February 13th (£120 incl. refreshments and lunch). It is a... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2012 GARDENING

• Hamamelis Day at Gresgarth Hall

  

  On the 11th of February, garden designer Arabella Lennox Boyd is opening her superb Lancashire garden so that visitors can see her wonderful collection of... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2012 GARDENING

• Snowdrop Valley

  

  Snowdrop Valley, near Wheddon Cross on Exmoor, is open to visitors from Saturday 4th February until Sunday 4th March 2012. This remote valley with its... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2012 GARDENING