I was interviewed by the lovely Joyce Veehary of Lend and Tend. There’s a video and a blog post on the Lend and Tend site. I’ve included the video at the end of this post. Joyce started this fantastic project to help people share their gardens with keen gardeners who don’t have their own space. It’s an awesome idea! We… Read more →
Tag: children
A Bad Case Of Winter Denial
As usual, I’m finding the transition from autumn to winter a tricky one. The clocks went back but I’m struggling to accept that the growing season is over. I have not yet wrapped my banana tree up with fleece to protect it from the cold that is inevitably coming. I failed to plant garlic cloves and broad beans in the raised beds before… Read more →
How To Build A Bug Hotel
It was a gorgeous day today and there was nowhere I’d rather have been than in my garden. Well, truthfully, I’d rather have been relaxing on a beach lounger, listening to the lapping waves of the Indian Ocean, but that wasn’t an option. I sat in the sun and watched the bees that were busily collecting nectar from the pulmonaria… Read more →
How To Make A Mini Frog Pond
I got a text from my mum yesterday informing me that her pond was full of wrestling frogs. I think I can safely assume that “wrestling” was my mum’s euphemism for “having sex”. It’s that time of year when all sorts of creatures are busy making babies. The blue tits in my garden are frantically nesting, male blackbirds are squabbling… Read more →
Big Garden Birdwatch
We had a lovely time watching the birds in our garden when we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. The kids and I set up our birdwatching station in front of the french windows, where we had a great view of the garden. We had comfy cushions, binoculars and bird books, as well as the checklist… Read more →
How To Build A Hogitat
Inspired by a recent newsletter from the RSPB, I decided we would use the next dry day to build a hedgehog house in the garden. So today, we fleeced up and mustered outside, to build a warm habitat for our hogs to hibernate in over winter. Hedgehog numbers are worryingly in decline in the UK: “Our beloved hedgehog has had… Read more →
Swab the deck!
At the bottom of our garden, in a shady north-east facing corner, is a deck. It was built by the previous owner and cleverly incorporates an old cherry tree, which actually grows up through the middle of it. This year the tree produced lots of really tasty cherries – the lovely warm weather we had in June must have helped… Read more →
Bambooserie and cardoons
We had a lovely, slightly damp, time at the Bishop’s House Garden in Norwich on Sunday afternoon. I’ve been meaning to visit all summer. It’s a hidden, walled garden, positioned right in the heart of the city, near the cathedral. Unfortunately it’s not always open to the public and you can only visit on occasional open days. Yesterday was a… Read more →
Best children’s garden toys
I thought I’d do a round up of my favourite children’s garden toys, following on from my last post about childhood memories of playing outside. We have a few garden toys that the kids have absolutely loved and that they continue to play with year after year. You’ll notice that I haven’t included a trampoline. I know they’re popular and… Read more →
Gardens as memory keepers
This is me, aged 3, in a friend’s garden in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1981. You’ll probably see a similar scene if you visit me in my garden now. I lived in Kenya until I was nearly 14. It was a pretty idyllic childhood in many ways, and I have lots of memories of playing outside. I remember squeezing snapdragons so… Read more →