An Englishman's Garden Adventures
Gardening tips and techniques, including: pruning, planting and vegetable growing.
A brand-new dwarf hydrangea from Chelsea, a clever non-invasive Japanese anemone, and an unexpected eBay bargain. After clearing away the duller, sprawling ground covers, I’m plugging the August gap with five sophisticated new shade plants.
Here is my approach to controlling a new pest that is ruining Agapanthus across the UK. The article includes the hows and whys of the Gall Midge lifecycle, and how we can use this knowledge to clear it from our garden.
Spring: getting the garden ready for the season ahead. Cutting back, training, cleaning, digging, planting up pots, trimming hedges, removing and replacing plants. Plus battling new problems from invasive bamboo to duckweed and mildew. But lots of time to time to enjoy and photograph all the amazing plants and insects.
Struggling with patio weeds? Here’s how I turned a heat gun into a push-along weed-busting electric foliage-frazzler. Plus some thoughts about chemical and propane alternatives.
Winter in the garden: the earth slows down, takes stock, and so do I… not a lot of gardening, but plenty of observations… Seasonal photography includes flowers, frosts, starry nights, winter landscapes… along with ideas for the winter garden.
Here in West Sussex, the long summer extended gently into autumn giving the garden ample time for its final flourishes along with some of the best autumn colours I can remember. In my final garden diary of 2025, enjoy with me some of the gardening highlights, wildlife and wonder as the season comes to a triumphant end.
Here’s some of my gardening highlights from summer 2025: Fruit trees, drought, water, wildlife, roses, topiary, lots of beautiful flowers and… some astrophotography (obviously.) Plus, where did the box moth go this year?
In this article I share lots of neat tips and tricks for staking and supporting a wide variety of garden plants, including the use of upturned wire baskets, steel rebar, chestnut hurdles, peony cages, wigwams and more.
Here’s some of my gardening highlights from the last three months. Lots of mini-projects, tips and ideas, including pruning and planting, wildlife and weeds. Plus, what makes a garden ‘mature’ and living with box blight and box moth.
I’m shifting my diary dates to better reflect the gardening calendar. So, here is my Winter 24/25 diary: December to February. However, December appeared in last year’s Autumn diary, so you’re only getting January and February this time. Still, lots of lovely photos and gardening tips!
The final instalment of my Garden Diary for 2024, documenting the changes in the garden, along with tasks and projects I undertook. And, of course, plenty of beautiful flower and insect photography.
July to September — the garden is at its peak, busy with growth and buzzing with pollinators. In this article you can share in the best plants, wildlife, problems and projects that occupied me through the late summer.