Garden centres are fascinating places full of tempting plants and garden products but have you ever been and looked around the plants, then decided on a choice specimen because the label says it apparently has some amazing magic trick up it’s sleeve? This could be excellent flowering abilities, it may be a great ground-cover plant […]
About Alan
Growing Crocuses
The Stray at Harrogate always amazes with a fantastic display of crocuses in a range of purple, yellow and white, it is a display that is undeniably impressive. Spurred on by this, late last year I purchased several hundred crocuses and planted them in raised beds in the garden. I now see the first signs […]
February in the garden
This February seems such a cold, wet month for being in the garden, but it is actually a great month for catching up with garden tasks and also planning the months ahead. I think that all gardeners are looking forward to the spring when the weather will hopefully start to get warmer and the garden […]
Right shrub, wrong place!
Right shrub but planted in the wrong place? Over the years I have moved many shrubs and small trees that have overgrown their allotted garden space and now is an ideal time for digging up and moving shrubs, there’s a good chance that they’ll survive too. I’m sure many gardeners will have bought plants at […]
The Summer of 2013
It was a good summer to be out in the garden in 2013, and if you visited a garden centre or nursery and saw the range of plants on offer (and the amount of people shopping) then you won’t be surprised to learn that the sales of plants increased markedly, this of course was probably […]
Autumn Berries
Out and about I’ve been taking some photographs on my ‘phone of different berries I’ve come across in the last couple of weeks. These are just some of the pictures I have taken but they give an indication of the many different berry-ing plants that can be used in gardens….
Malham Tarn
Ideas for a garden can come from many places, it can be from other gardens, magazines, TV or just something spotted out of the car window in passing. But sometimes there are many hidden surprises where they perhaps aren’t expected – so off we went one evening during the summer to have a look at […]
Plant trials – Achillea
One of the great things I get to do with gardening is the chance to experiment with plants and test planting combinations before they ever hit the customers garden. This year I have planted many new perennials in trial beds to see how they cope in different situations and how they look with other perennials […]
Coldstones Cut Sculpture
Coldstones Cut near Pateley Bridge is an excellent example of a piece of sculpture on a grand scale – and well worth a visit. Not only is it something interesting to see but it can also be walked around, explored and viewed from many different angles. Designed by Andrew Sabin this massive piece of […]
Seeing plants grow
I have been away down in the Evesham area, it’s a great place to see many working nurseries growing and selling plants, as well as some of the enormous glasshouses on a commercial scale. One place that I often visit has a great outdoor growing area where all the plants are labelled up and growing […]
