Mark McNee

Author: admin

  • Tackling the weeds

    Yes you could dig them out with a garden fork, and you set out into the garden, fork in hand, and a heart full of spirit. About 10 minutes later some of the shine is going to start coming off the idea! Digging a garden is slow hard work, you only have 24 hours in…

  • Shrub

    A plant with a system of woody stems which branch out and last from one year to the next gradually increasing in size. Ranges from prostate to several metres in height.

  • Hardy Perennial

    These are plants with no woody stems lasting from one year to the next. Some have leaves which persist from one year to the next but by enlarge they die down to the ground at the end of each summer. Hardy perennial grow by spreading horizontally and tend to establish and flower quicker than trees…

  • Introducing plant names

    I should really start off by saying something about plant names, as this is a real bugbear amongst gardeners. I thing just about everyone who has worked professionally in horticulture has been asked, generally in a tone of exasperation, why do we insist on using these weird names in a language of a people how…

  • Photinia ‘Red Robin’

    Photinia ‘Red Robin’

    This is a very common shrub in gardens – that is not to say it isn’t very worth while one to have in your garden. It has a lot of desirable features to recommend it. It will happily grow in most gardens being happy in sandy or clay soils. Its large evergreen foliage makes it…

  • The Well-Tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd

    I am starting with this as when I’m stuck this is generally the first book I turn too. I was first introduced to the writing of Christopher Lloyd by my amenity horticulture lecture, Richard Bisgrove, as an undergraduate and I have been a fan, particularly of this book, ever since. This is not so much…

  • To begin at the beginning!

    To begin at the beginning!

    In the coming posts I’ll walk you through the problems associated with starting a new garden. I grant only a small number of people are at anyone time in this position but it will illustrate how a garden develops, provides a logical starting point and even if you are not actually starting a new garden…