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16th May -7th June Dubbed ‘the fastest growing fringe festival ever’ by the World Festival network, the Chelsea Fringe, www.chelseafringe.co.uk now in its fourth year, is firmly established as a highlight of the gardening calendar. ‘The idea is twofold, to celebrate the amazing work that community gardens do, and to open up links between gardens and

Ideally flicking through a Summers Place Auctions (summersplaceauctions.com) catalogue of their forthcoming auction of Garden and Natural History on 14th and 15th April, my eye was caught by Lot 336:  ‘A collection of Pulhamite stone: 19th-century’. What on earth is Pulhamite stone? you are probably asking yourself. The answer is that it is a miraculous Victorian invention of

Having just been given a handsome new book ‘Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds’ by Victoria Summerley (wwwfranceslincoln.co.uk) my thoughts naturally turned to the ‘secret gardens of East Kent. The Abbey Physic Community Garden (www.faversham.org/community/clubs/abbey_physic_garden) in the ancient market town of Faversham instantly sprang to mind. Tucked away behind the churchyard of St. Mary of Charity by

Anyone encountering the ancient art of chestnut coppicing for the first time must wonder why a great swathe of woodland has apparently been wantonly chopped down.  Aren’t we meant to be protecting forests and woodland at home as well as in far flung exotic climes?  The answer is that coppicing is an ancient woodland management custom stretching back to Neolithic man which is

These days snowdrops are all the rage and more and more special ‘Snowdrop Days’ are springing up each year all over the country.  But it was not always thus  ‘One hardly ever heard about them when I first started gardening’  Margaret, Lady FitzWalter told me earlier this month.  What plant I wonder is ignored today that in fifty years hence will

Nothing lifts the soul like a waft of a  delicious scent in the garden at this time of year particularly so in the bitterly cold days we have all experienced this past week.  Wandering round the garden eagerly looking for signs of snowdrops exploding from the earth I was assailed by heavenly scents in several places.  Not nearly enough thought goes

‘You won’t get SAD syndrome if you grow  Hamamelis’ (a.k.a. witch hazel)  says Chris Lane of www.witchhazelnursery.com. I defy anyone to feel sad after meeting nurseryman Chris. He is a remarkable man literally brimming with horticultural knowledge and enthusiasm. It is both a privilege and a joy to spend time with such a consummate plantsman.

Window boxes in towns and cities really come into their own in the dank winter months.  In the summer there are flowers to be seen at every turn, in parks, square gardens, window boxes not forgetting many florists displays spilling out across pavements.  But in winter the cheery sight of a window box brimming with colour enhances

‘A day not in a garden is a day wasted’ says the celebrated garden photographer, Marianne Majerus. (www.mariannemajerus.com) and @MarianneMajeru5. What does it take to become one of the leading international garden photographers I recently asked Marianne? ‘The more you look, the more you see different angles’ was her deceptively simple answer. Over the years,

Border Lines Early January can only mean one thing to avid garden visitors – the arrival on their doorstep of the latest Border Lines brochure. www.border-lines.co.uk now in its twenty-eighth year specialises in exclusive garden tours both in Britain and overseas. Owned and run by James Bolton since 2008, Border Lines offers a thrilling medley