Winter

Winter garden maintenance

Garden maintenance, Gardening, Winter Garden advice, Garden maintenance, Garden services Bath, gardening, pruning, Winter gardening jobs

Winter does not mean that the garden has to become a no-go zone. We do not believe that a garden needs to be ‘put to bed’ as there are so many jobs still to do and plants to enjoy. Here are some of our ideas on the kind of tasks that can be accomplished before […]

Snowdrop Time

Days Out, Gardening, Planting, Spring, Winter borders, Botanic, branches, Bulbs, flowers, garden, grasses, greenhouse, hazel, insects, Lacock, lawns, leaves, National Garden Scheme, snowdrops, summer, Trees

There are occasional moments in February, when the gloomy grey skies lift and a sparkling sunny blue sky is revealed and early spring sunshine brings some temporary warmth to otherwise freezing days. These are the best times to get out and go for a walk and after weeks of being safely tucked away indoors with […]

The kindest cut

Edibles, Fruit and Vegetables, Gardening, Planting, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Winter annual, apples, Bees, branches, disease-free, fruit trees, loppers, productive, pruning, pruning saw, RHS, roses, secateurs, spade, spur-bearing, Trees, wildlife, Wood

I am often asked about pruning apple trees as it seems complicated to many people, but actually it is one of my favourite jobs in the garden and one I used to love when I was doing my gardening apprenticeship many years ago. Rather like pruning roses or other shrubs there are certain rules to […]

Christmas Plants

Garden Design, Gardening, Landscaping, Planting, Winter Amaryllis, Bulbs, Christmas, compost, green fingers, house plants, Hyacinths, Narcissi, peat, perlite, pots, scented, terracotta

I am not very good with houseplants. Any green fingers I might have fail me at the door and I have managed to murder many spider plants, money plants and any plant best suited to living inside over the years. I have also fallen foul of the most abused houseplant of all, the Poinsettia. Sold […]

The Beauty of the Botanical Gardens

Autumn, Bath Parks, Garden Design, Gardening, Landscaping, Planting, Spring, Winter Bath Botanical Gardens

First of all, I have a confession to make: I am ashamed to admit that there are many well-known gardens in the South West that I have not visited. I won’t name names. However, there is one place I go to on a regular basis, the Botanical Gardens at Victoria Park. I realise that the […]

Christmas plants – show me the way to Amaryllis

Winter Amaryllis, Cyclamen persicum, Cymbidium, Festive plants, Hippeastrum, Hyacinths, indoor plants, Narcissi

Bright bulbs for dark days

Autumn, Winter Bulbs, Hyacinth

Its easy in these sunny warm autumnal days to forget the cold dark days which lie ahead, and whilst I don’t want to depress you all by reminding of this fact, it is worth planting some bulbs now to relieve those particularly miserable post-Christmas weeks. I love the way that bulbs have an almost mystical […]

In the bleak midwinter

Edibles, Winter Brassicas, Cabbage, Cavalo Nero, Kale

Since the earliest times Kales and their Brassica cousins have kept us from starvation during the so-called hungry gap of January through to March. These are the least productive months of the year. Kale is perhaps one of the toughest of green vegetables; it endures freezing temperatures and is one of the few vegetables growing […]