Diary Of A Wild Country Garden

These days I cannot walk past a garden center without checking out the far end of the plant section where they usually put all the discounted plants. These poor plants are generally tired, limp and dry as a bone. All jumbled up together unloved and unwanted. Frankly, I find it very sad that had they just been watered regularly they would probably be just fine right now.  Anyway, usually heavily discounted, I search through them all to find ones that have a chance of survival. Often I find ones with good root systems and given a little tender loving care I take a chance on reviving them.  Today it was the turn of three Rosemary plants and a French Lavender. In particular, the French Lavender was a sorry looking plant half dead and very limp, I wasn't sure, but it had a good root system and urged on by my hubby (a recent gardening convert !) decided to take it home. An hour later after a good watering and re-potting and light pruning, it stands up proud in its new pot o...

Now is the time of year many people like to get away on holiday. It may be somewhere abroad for a week or two or in your own country for a short or longer break. Wherever you go it does mean leaving your plants behind at sometimes a critical time.  Action Plan For Your Plants While You Are On Vacation 1. If you can ask a friend, family member or neighbour to come in check them, mow the lawn, open greenhouse windows and close them again, water and feed your plants. It is quite a big ask, I know I have done it for a friend who had a huge garden with a massive veg plot for 3 weeks once!If the kind soul does this for you it is so nice to get them a gift. If they are a gardener maybe a lovely plant or cuttings from plants they admire in your own garden, some veg from your garden or just a beautiful gift. Even better offer to do it for their garden when they go away.  2. If that is not possible then you need to help the plants through what could be variable weather. I also a...

I have two bushes of dogwood in our garden. There are many variants of dogwood. In the summer the species I have in our garden is a large yet unremarkable plant. It does get tiny white flowers and small white berries and the leaves are quite pretty, but there are certainly more beautiful looking plants around.  So why does Dogwood deserve a place in my garden? For me with dogwood it's all about the stems. I grow red-stemmed dogwood as we love the colour red. In the late autumn when most of the leaves have fallen I cut about half of the stems. These stems are now very tall some are six feet high or more. Many are very straight, some are twisted or curved it depends how they have grown. So these stems are cut to size and in winter I use them to decorate our home. Some of the more unusual shapes and curves go into clear vases where the red stems and shapes really shine through. Others I tie up into a rustic bundle and place in a natural wicker basket by the fire. T...

If you walked into my garden you would see a burst of bright yellow sunshine from one shrub in particular.  Yet the forsythia shrub isn't one that fills most gardeners' hearts with delight. It is so very common and for much of the year is simply a green shrub. However, for me, it signifies one of the joys of Spring. It never fails, it has beautiful bright yellow blooms on bare branches, it lives happily and healthily with little attention from me in our mixed hedge alongside a lot of competition for food and water, yet it has never become a thug in the garden.  All I need to do is to prune it once a year immediately after flowering and for the rest of the year, I pretty much forget about it.  Why do I grow Forsythia? I have one forsythia we inherited with the garden and one we planted from my Mum's garden.    Well for the few weeks of that bright yellow bloom, I just love it and it shines out so much at this time of year, a beautiful burst of sunshin...

Magnolias are simply beautiful! The tree itself is lovely and provides us with gentle shade in the summer and the blossoms in April and May are stunning. From the tight buds with the promise of flower in March to the slow reveal during April to opening up to their full beauty, they are a Springtime delight I will never tire of.  I am lucky enough to have inherited a gorgeous mature magnolia in our garden. It has the most beautiful pale pink and creamy white cup-shaped blossoms. The blooms are very soft to touch and surprisingly strong. I have seen birds take them away to their nests, no doubt they make a good soft and secure base for eggs.    Now anywhere I go I will if at all possible plant a Magnolia. Most take several years before flowering but one or two like the Black tulip a deep pink bloom does flower early in their life. They do not generally like sandy soil or alkaline soil - do not put mushroom mulch on them. Leaf mould is good to mulch with.  ...

It shines a stunning vibrant red. We value it as much as the Daffodils in Spring.  Most of the year it is hardly noticed but now it shouts out and is beautiful. A plant swan song before it too loses its leaves completely here.  I love its rich red shiny leaves at this time of year. The way it trails up and over structures and other sturdy plants and shows off its amazing colour. On a bright sunny day, the leaves seem to shine and I think they look very beautiful. Even dark, dull rainy days are brightened up by its glorious display shining out for us to see. The vibrant red giving us a boost at a time many of us start to slow and slumber.   Virginia Creeper is quite an easy plant to grow. It likes sun or shade and is not fussy about soil type either, wet or dry it does not worry it, it can even grow in slightly alkaline soils. A lovely plant to have in the garden. Obviously, in a very dry spell it is advisable to water it and in its first year especially keep ...