summer gardening

After months of extreme temperatures and scorching winds, many gardens have suffered so much heat damage that they look as if someone held a blowtorch over them. New growth is dry and brown, fruit may be cooked on the plant, and lawns have disappeared. The natural reaction to seeing burnt leaves and stems is to get out the secateurs or...

Christmas. It's completely predictable because it comes at the same time every year; and yet every year, people are caught out. Either you can't get the year's hottest toy gift, the supermarket has sold out of prawns on Christmas eve, you haven't found time between your twelve festive get-togethers to mow the lawn, or it's four hours before Christmas lunch...

Mosquitoes turn time outside into an ordeal. Late afternoon and early evening are peak times for mosquito activity in summer gardens. As many mosquito repellents include plant extracts (for example pyrethrum or citronella) one of the dreams held by many gardeners is to find a plant that will repel mosquitoes naturally. Unfortunately there isn't one, even though many fragrant plants...