I have been able to have my first sweet corn 2 weeks before anyone else, even before the commercial growers. My method is simple, and it will work in your area, too.

This is not a method for planting all your corn. It’s only for a part of your early crop. The two most important factors in this method are the section of the garden to plant in, and when to plant.

Decide the previous fall where to grow this extra-early corn. Choose a dry section of the garden where there is no sod, no manure or other fresh organic matter in the soil, and no green manure crop growing. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

Correct Conditions

Growing plants is one of life’s greatest pleasures. It is so simple, either to start them off from seed or to buy them once they are over their teething problems and tantrums, and raise them, watching the response to a little loving care. I cannot pretend that all plants are easy to grow, but the great majority ask for little more than to be planted in the correct potting mixture, to be given enough water — as well as a little nourishment — from time to time, and to be placed in the right situation. They are rarely over fussy and soon adapt to conditions which, while they may not be absolutely ideal, are not diametrically opposed to their likes and dislikes.

Growing in containers is a very controlled method of raising plants. Each plant, or group of plants, can be given exactly the right type of soil and amounts of water and food. The situation chosen for the placing of the container must be taken into account when selecting the plants. Read the rest of this entry »

Gravel is a versatile, attractive and relatively cheap paving material. It can look equally at home as the base for a patio in a formal town garden or as a sweeping drive in the country, but correct laying is essential if you are to avoid an uncomfortable ‘treadmill’ effect when trying to cross your path or patio.

Always ensure that gravel is laid on a solid subbase of well-compacted hardcore, the thickness of which should he between 7cm (3in) and i5cm (6in), depending on the underlying soil type and the amount of traffic — either cars or pedestrians. Over the hardcore lay a 5cm (2in) layer of 5cm (2in) diameter gravel and roll this well in. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my prime rules of garden design is that you should never be a slave to your valuable outside room. If you are a keen gardener, prepared to spend plenty of time on cultivation and maintenance, then that’s fine. If you are not, a carefully designed composition will ensure you never have to spend more than a minimal amount of time looking after the space. But whether you are a keen gardener or a lazy one, sitting outside on a hot summer’s day is one of life’s great, simple pleasures. The choice of furniture is extensive, ranging from custom-made built-in designs to an almost unlimited variety of off-the peg tables and chairs. The main consideration is that your choice reflects the underlying theme of the garden as a whole. While well-conceived moulded plastic chairs in primary colours can be great to sit in and look perfect in a modern design, they will appear quite awful in a period setting. In other words, think and look carefully before you buy or build, and if you are buying furniture always try it out. It’s surprising how often a really elegant-looking chair can be appallingly uncomfortable. Read the rest of this entry »

Walter realized that it would be some time before the climbers would make an effect on the bare walls, so one day, without telling me, he bought a collection of stuffed heads and mounted horns at a London sale room. Very soon heads, antlers and horns sprouted from every available wall, inside and out. The malthouse received the most imposing pieces from the collection, and very soon our house wasn’t known as ‘the one with the lovely blue clematis on the front’ but as ‘the house with all the heads on the outbuildings’. In a community largely composed of retired army people this display was definitely surprising, if not a little shocking. One adorned one’s house with one’s own trophies but it was rather unusual to buy them by the gross. Walter used to chuckle about his heads and was delighted when he could tell an enquirer that he had bought them and not shot them himself! Read the rest of this entry »

After I had made the terraced garden I had more walls to play with than I knew what to do with. I grew aubrieta from seed, all kinds of arabis, including the double variety and shades of pink and rose, also Arabis blepharophylla, which one so seldom sees, but which is an excellent wall plant with its tight rosettes of deep green leaves and stiff heads of magenta flowers. One plant of Dianthus caesius gave me innumerable cuttings, and all the rock campanulas were used ad infinitum. Saxifrages were stuffed into crannies, in some places I planted gypsophila to foam over the stones, in another Saponaria ocymoides. The trailing Geranium Traversii, Pritchard’s var., is good on a high wall, as it is generous with its trails, while Geranium sanguineum lancastiense can be used on top of a wall or in a rock crevice. Read the rest of this entry »

Description: A grass cultivated since ancient times, with a loose panicle and kernels covered with husks. The massive root system supplies the plant with the considerable amounts of water it requires. It is resistant to cold and this is why it is a common crop plant of both temperate and cool climates. Usually sown in spring, sometimes in autumn.

Origin and Distribution: The oldest evidence of oats being used by man has been found in Swiss pile dwellings of the Bronze Age, but only in the early Middle Ages were they frequently cultivated, as evidence from Slavonic and German dwellings has shown. Nowadays oats are grown mainly in central and northern Europe, North America and to some extent in Australia. Read the rest of this entry »