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Nutcutts Book of Plants
It may seem strange to include in this list what is to a large part a nursery catalogue, and it is unashamedly in a part an advertisement for Nutcutts. The thing is it is a treasure trove of information on garden plants presented in a concise and assessable style. Thought the content is about the…
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So how is a plant name constructed?
A basic plant name consist of a genus which starts with a capital letter and a species which does not both of which should be written in italic or underlined. This is to make it clear you are looking at a proper plant name. Good as this simple system is, and if that was it…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
