Taking risks is one of the things I like about gardening. What can really go wrong? The plant dies? Gets too big? Flowers the wrong colour? This is a low risk sport apart from wallet damage and a dent in your pride when things go belly up. There are ways to reduce your risk though…

Long ago, when I first started to garden I was confronted by hundreds of metres of bare space beneath ancient beeches. The soil was thin, too dry for hellebores and spring bulbs, too dark for some of the understorey shrubs I wanted to use. Research led me to two plants, the first was Brunnera which…

Much of the discussion in gardening circles is about ‘season of interest’ as in, how much bang for your buck do you get with certain plants? How long do they flower for and how long do they look good for? Many of the cool new plants don’t stay cool for long if they don’t have…

Bamboo – the word conjures fear for many people. ‘isn’t it invasive? Will it grow too big – does it not run through the flower beds. Bamboos get a bad rap. Their reputation spoiled by lots of collective experiences with the more vigorous varieties. It’s a pity because nearly every garden can benefit from a…

In deepest winter, when not much abounds except for skeletons of summer past, the attention turns to winter interest in the garden. I first fell in love with the magic of grasses all those years ago when I first tried Miscanthus species, then Stipa species and then finally I fell for the charms of Chionochloa…