Taking notes in the garden

hat and books on garden table
Add a notebook to your garden toolkit for more effective planning
Image source: Shutterstock

Ask any gardener what’s on their list of must-have tools and chances are they’d say a trowel, fork and secateurs. Good gloves and stout boots also often get a mention but there’s something else I’d add to the gardening essentials – a notebook.

Keep a journal or notes on your garden. It’s one of the best ways to plan ahead and remember exactly what you’ve done.

Combine it with a camera and you can keep track of all those gardening jobs and flashes of inspiration. This helps you improve your plot every season and keep a detailed history of its development.
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How to choose and plant roses

pink and red rose bushes
A quintessential English garden wouldn’t be complete without roses
Image source: Viktoria Kuzemnko

For summer spectacle and scent it’s hard to beat the rose, and few gardeners feel their plot is complete without at least one.

The colour range is vast and with everything from rampant ramblers to dainty patio roses, there’s something to suit every size of garden.

While they may be the stars of summer, between November and March is the best time to plant. Bare root roses are not only cheaper than potted plants, they also establish more easily. Continue reading “How to choose and plant roses”

What to grow in the winter garden

red and orange bushes dogwood
Enjoy colour in the garden year round with Cornus.
Image source: Van Meuwen

More than any other season, it’s winter that sorts true gardeners from mere dabblers. Putting on a good show when flowers are plentiful is easy, while the stripped back nature of winter soon exposes any weakness in design.
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How to grow your own soft fruit

mixed soft fruit berries close-up
Growing your own soft fruit is easy and yields delicious results
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Soft fruit is one of the easiest and most rewarding things to grow at home. It can be squeezed into a small space, and needs minimal care. Soft fruit also freezes well, helping to avoid the ‘courgettes with everything’ glut scenario that can happen when growing your own food.

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Why I love compost

cupped hands holding compost
Homemade compost is the best way to enrich your soil.
Image source: Pixabay

Home-made compost is a winner on so many levels; little wonder few serious gardeners would be without a heap. The perfect way to get the best out of your plants by improving the soil, compost makes use of otherwise waste material and it’s cheap to get started. The best news? It’s really easy to make – here’s how…

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