GARDENER'S WORD - IDEAS AND TIPS

I live high on the Pennines of West Yorkshire and despite the blustery wind that we so often get here, my garden is jam-packed with healthy plants including trees, shrubs, climbers, perennials and annuals.  In that small space is also a 9 x 7ft garden room, a shed, two patios (one at the top and one at the bottom of my sloping garden) and a small lawn dividing two deep borders. My garden is always a work in progress and I love that every year is different. Some plants die, others take their place such is the way of nature.  West Yorkshire garden  The above image was taken on 10 May, 2026 and no doubt will look a whole lot different by mid summer when the dahlias, the acidantheras, sweet peas, clematis, and various other things put on a display.  I have six Japanese maples right now, some very young, some a few years old. In the image there is Acer palmatum 'Katsura' at the top left and Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' (brightly yellow at this time of year) on the right....

I bought an Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' from a seller on Amazon UK, a seller I had happily used several times before but Orange Dream looked nothing more than a twig when it arrived and a long way from the two foot bush advertised.  I was refunded but it means that it will take longer before the Orange Dream can put on a decent show.  I think I might be destined not to have Orange Dream as vine weevils ate my last one which was a lot bigger than the one shown below. I got rid of the weevils and their voracious offspring and have hopes for the new one.  Young Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' - May 2026 Note that the young shrub is planted plastic pot within a heavier terracotta pot. Melcourt Sylvabark Pine Bark Mini Much is packed around the plastic pot, giving it stability.   Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' - October 2025 Orange Dream has the RHS Award of Garden Merit so that's encouraging. The RHS describe it as a "medium-sized bushy deciduous shrub, up to...

I have six Japanese maples (acers) in my garden.  Katsura and Jordan are planted in borders but the others (Osakazuki, Orange Dream, Moonrise, Sango-Kaku) are in pots, still small. I plan to root prune them in the future, if and when necessary, to restrict their growth in the way that bonsai trees are restricted.  The latest addition is Acer shirasawanum 'Moonrise' which I have now planted in its plastic pot inside a heavier terracotta pot, surrounded by Melcourt Sylvabark Pine Bark Mini Mulch for stability. Right now it is huddled in a little corner of my garden, safe from the icy winds and the blasting sleet and hail which we are getting here today high on the Pennines of West Yorkshire.  Acer shirasawanum Moonrise in a Fiora frostproof terracotta pot Moonrise arrived like a small tree although I had hoped for a more shrubby formation so I could easily grow it as a multi-stem tree.  I can still do that but it means dealing only with the growth above the graft. Belo...

I recently bought an Acer palmatum Osakazuki which is about six feet high with three main stems.  I have transferred it into a slighter larger plastic pot than it came in and planted the pot inside a heavyweight Kitchen Garden Terracotta Pot (made in Turkey by Argun and Son, sold by the RHS), and then surrounded the plastic pot with Melcourt Sylvabark Pine Bark Mini Mulch. In total it weighs a lot!  I needed to be able to easily move the container  around on my little garden's top patio. 'Kitchen Garden Terracotta Pot' on an eight-caster plant caddy I bought a strong plant caddy with eight-castors, made from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) which is a durable and rigid thermoplastic polymer known for its high impact resistance and toughness. The plant caddy is marketed as being able to tolerate a 230kg weight.   Eight caster ABS plant caddy with wheel locks The assembly was a little fiddly but easy to do and it has a bit of weight which makes it feel strong...

I want to share a couple of photos I took this morning of Acer shirasawanum Jordan. Every spring it puts on a fabulous display to match any golden daffodil, and it is pure magic. I now have six Japanese maples : Jordan, Moonrise, Sango-Kaku, Osakazuki, Orange Dream, and Katsura but right now, mid May in West Yorkshire, Jordan is the attention grabber.  Acer shirasawanum Jordan - 13 May 2026 Acer shirasawanum Jordan 13 May 2026 Jordan is being trained as a multi-stem tree which is the way to go when you only have a small garden and limited space.  Jordan gets scorched leaves every summer, unfortunately, and due to the fact that it has pushed its roots under rocks, under the lawn, it cannot be moved without the likelihood of killing it, so I have bought ollas pots which are mentioned here on my post about training acers as multi-stemmed trees to save ground space in a small garden. The RHS says " Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' should be situated in a sheltered spot prefe...

About 16 years ago I bought a Hozelock Compact Hose Reel and hosepipe which was attached to my home's wall. It is still as in good condition as it was when I bought it but I started to find it problematic having to pull the hosepipe out of the reel and haul it through my small garden without knocking down plants with it in the process. As I have a balance disability (sorry, I don't mean to harp on about it but it is important for those with other challenges to know), it wasn't ideal for me struggling with the hosepipe which kept kinking as it came off the reel, or ideal to be lugging a watering can around either.  Then I was mooching around a garden centre with a friend recently and spotted the Hozelock 'Wonderhoze'.  Hozelock 'Wonderhoze' It is simple to use. You attach the Wonderhoze to a tap (you will see I have white plumbing tape on my tap as that tap connection always manages to drip whatever I attach to it) and you turn on the water, The Wonderhoze wo...

I am all for making life easier in the garden and as a rather 'mature' gardener with a balance disability, I decided to add the 'Hozelock Watering Lance Spray Plus 90' to my garden tool collection. What prompted me to buy one right now?  Well, I thought it would be a wonderful idea last year to pack several very large and heavy terracotta pots full of spring bulbs close together on the patio area, between the garden room and the shed to create a glorious spring display. Then, later, I realised that not only could I not get between the pots to water those farthest away, I also couldn't water them with the hosepipe nozzle/gun without giving them a good old hit and miss blasting which is not ideal.  I can imagine the sorts of things that you are thinking.  Hozelock Watering Lance Spray Plus 90  Hozelock describe the watering lance as 'ideal for watering plants at different heights, 90cm long wand, adjustable multi-jet head, locking function, and flow control with 5...