GARDENER'S WORD - IDEAS AND TIPS

I have a small garden and a very small lawn separating three borders.  I care for my lawn as much as I care for the plants that surround it.  Keeping my lawn small means that I can water it without using too much water. With a large lawn, that is a different story entirely but to cut any drought-struck grass short during a heatwave of a few days and more is asking for trouble.  Yes, grass is a survivor and it does come back but it is weakened and, if it was in a  poor condition in the first place, it could be dead 💀. I managed to persuade a council gardener on a ride-on lawn mower to leave what remained of a beautiful area of grass, packed with beautiful yellow, white, and orange wildflowers, before he mowed the lot to the ground.  This below is the result the day after the grass was cut, still during a heatwave well above 30C.    Grass cut during UK heatwave - 26 June 2026 Lawn care during a drought - 2018 I know two people, for example, one hires a ...

This post is, in particular, about a Japanese maple that I planted years ago in the wrong position at the top of a slope and rather exposed,    (yeah, I know!),   and which I now cannot move because it has jammed its main roots under sub-surface rocks and under my lawn. The chances of digging it up without killing it are low and so it has to stay put.  A couple of days ago the wind was so fierce here, at 850ft high above sea level on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire, that I thought it was going to rip the canopy off poor old Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' that I am growing, for practical* reasons, as a multi-stem tree:   multi-stem Katsura / multi-stem Jordan . Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' after ferocious winds You can see that there is a little wind burn but not half so much as I was expecting.  The above image was taken two days after the strong winds had hammered it. It seems like the olla pot that I embedded a couple of feet uphill from ...

Despite having gardened for over fifty years, it never fails to surprise me just how beautiful different flowering plants can be. This year I have bought and planted the Bearded Iris 'Stepping Out'. I cannot recall growing bearded irises before although I might have, in the distant past, and I decided to plant it into a terracotta pot, for now.  Iris reticulata is something I am familiar with and have often grown for spring displays but this year I also chose three types of Iris hollandica (Dutch Irises) and I don't recall planting them before either.  I chose 'Purple Sensation', 'Blue Magic', and 'Carmen'.  I tell you, they have put on a fabulous display.   Dutch Iris 'Blue Magic' with 'Carmen' in the background Out of the three already mentioned, Blue Magic was the first to start opening, followed by Purple Sensation.  The RHS  describes Blue Magic as a bulbous perennial which achieves a height of 65 centimetres, with narrow upright...

Recently I reduced the size of my lawn, increasing the size of my borders, and that gave me an area at the top of my sloping garden which was perfect for dianthus (Cottage Pinks).  It is east facing (south-facing is also good), gets sun almost all day until sundown in warmer months, and is very free draining. Perfect for pinks. The three I chose are Valda Wyatt, a strong pink; Letitia Wyatt, a mid pink; and Cranmere Pool which is described as white but really it is more a very pale pink which fades to almost white with age.  Dianthus 'Valda Wyatt'  The label describes Valda Wyatt as having large double rose pink blooms with a wonderful perfume through summer.  A good garden variety and prolific bloomer. Perfect for cutting to enjoy indoors. A very popular border plant, also good in rockeries and for gravel beds. Evergreen and perennial.  It achieves a height of 80cm and spread of 30cm, preferring full sun or part shade. It has the RHS Award of Garden Merit....

In 2009 I moved to where I live now and my small garden was a blank page, just grass and a couple of neighbours' encroaching shrubs.  I love being able to create a garden entirely of my own making with no permanent fixtures. My garden constantly changes over the years without any planning. Plants that I had years ago might not still exist and that contributes to the ever changing appearance as new plants take the place of old. Today I took a short video of my approximately 30ft x 30ft garden and I will point out below what plants are shown as it progresses with links to posts where applicable. My Garden 05 May 2026 You can hear the wind making noise on the iPhone's microphone, even though it is not strong today.  At least we can hear the birds singing too. At the beginning of the video you can see my 17 year old Ragdoll cat, Alfie, in his favourite hot spot.  Above him is one of four hanging basket planted on an east-facing wall with a Gold Edger hosta which is virtually...

I seem to have a serious addiction to Japanese maples / acers, as I have now yet another. Acer palmatum 'Beni-Maiko' has joined  Katsura , Jordan , Moonrise , Osakazuki , Orange Dream , and Sango-Kaku  in my small garden. Most have the Royal Horticultural Award of Garden Merit ( AGM ), including Beni-Maiko. All except Katsura and Jordan are container grown. The foliage colour in spring starts bright red, then pink, green during summer, then red in autumn before all leaves are lost on this deciduous tree.   Acer palmatum Beni-Maiko - late spring Japanese maples are not the easiest of plants to care for, particularly when young and particularly when grown in pots.  If you only have a small garden, with little spare room, there isn't really any option but to grow them in containers and restrict their growth by root and top/canopy  pruning in the way that bonsai trees are created. I love the delicate leaves on them but they can be prone to scorching so even whe...

Wow! This trailing Pelargonium peltatum (ivy-leafed) 'Amethyst; is a right-in-your-face colour, and belongs to the Temprano series. I bought four from a local garden centre and quite honestly stuck them out in their hanging baskets a couple of weeks ago and despite seriously cold nights it survived here on the Pennines of West Yorkshire, 850ft above sea level. In all honesty, I forgot to protect them😂. I think pelargoniums are tougher than experts like to make out but don't go and kill off your pelargoniums just because I said that. We have to find some things out for ourselves.   Pelargonium peltatum 'Temprano - Amethyst' While on the subject, I have had four trailing pelargoniums of the Sybil series planted in corner baskets in a somewhat sheltered but open west-facing porch since last year and they are still alive and well. All I did was tuck a little Biofleece 30 ®  over the compost surface.  If you were looking for trailing geraniums that look like this then yo...

It has been eight years since I last posted about my Crassula ovata plant and I thought it deserved another mention. I have actually had it for about ten years, since it was very small. I grow it similarly to a bonsai but without the root pruning, and I cannot remember when I last repotted it. I keep it in a shape I like by pruning or nipping off what I don't want. I water it occasionally during warmer months, feeding it even less often with very diluted Baby Bio (just because it is that which is always near to hand in my home). In winter, I rarely water it as its leaves store water from which it can draw. I'd say it is pretty much left to its own devices.  Crassula ovata 2026, c.10 years old I love the thickness of the trunk and how I have managed to make it spread out in the way that English oak trees grow.   Crassula ovata 2026, c.10 years old Crassula ovata 2026, c.10 years old Crassula ovata - 2018 Crassula ovata - 2017 The plant is in a terracotta pot which I painte...

Papaver cambricum (Welsh Poppy) formerly known as Meconopsis cambrica, is one of nature's little survivors, often turning up in our gardens with no effort from ourselves. I have had them appear here and there for years and so that they don't spread too far I just deadhead the flowers before they can make seeds. Even so, they still make surprising appearance. I have a couple right now who have emerged near my ferns at the bottom of my sloping garden. I love them and so do pollinators. Welsh Poppy - Papaver cambricum Welsh Poppy is a hardy, tap-rooted, deciduous perennial and I mentioned it on my blog over ten years ago when I tried to pull one out that was growing close to the house wall. They are unfussy about soil and aspect though they like, according to the RHS , partial sun and to be sheltered.  Obviously the one at the front of my home all those years ago didn't get the memo because it got sun from noon until sundown and is it far from sheltered there. 

Growing Japanese acers (maples) in hot sunny weather is tricky, especially if they are young and ultra-especially when a plant supplier sends you one straight from a polytunnel where they have been mollycoddled and need hardening off to toughen them up. Right now, in West Yorkshire, I have four young acers, all grown in pots, in need of protection, and I have the right spot for them even if it is not very convenient for me. On my east(ish)-facing house wall I have an electric awning and although I often sit under it during hot sunny spells like we have this week, I have been evicted by plants. Garden awning gives plants shelter in hot sun Hopefully, when the Japanese acers are older, they will be more tolerant but right now I have only had them in my possession under one year so they are still quite young.  Off picture is a tiny Orange Dream , and on the patio itself is Sango-Kaku, Osakazuki , and Moonrise behind that.   The RHS webpage on growing Japanese Maples states...

Bearded Irises, such as Stepping Out, like full sun on their zhizomes (a modified horizontal plant stem that runs underground), and don't like to be waterlogged, so I decided to plant it in a terracotta pot, for now at least, where I can monitor it more easily. It is easy to see why it received the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The RHS states that it likes an acid to neutral well-drained soil, any aspect except north, and is as hardy as they come at H7. It flowers in spring, is deciduous, perennial, and clump forming. Exposure can be sheltered or not sheltered (I live high on the Pennines Mountains so I put a plant support in the pot, just in case). It achieves a height of about 1 metre with a 1/2 metre spread.  Bearded Iris 'Stepping Out' I am limited to what I can grow in my 30 x 30ft garden that has two patios, a shed, and a 9 x 7ft garden room in it. The top patio gets the most sun from mid morning until sundown in the warmer months when the sun is higher in the sky. The b...

The garden plant I am trying to help with an Olla pot, or two, is Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan'. Every year it is stunningly beautiful in spring and then the sun and wind comes along and gives it a passionate kiss and its top canopy of leaves curl up. 1.9L Olla pot I planted Jordan not far from the top of my somewhat sloping garden and didn't realise the problem until it was too late. Obviously, water is going to drain downhill away from its roots. Now its roots have buried under sandstone rocks (my garden is 850ft above sea level on the Pennine Mountains of Yorkshire) and I cannot dig it up without the fear of killing it.  So remedial action was vital. An Olla pot is now buried with its top jutting above ground, about twelve inches up-slope from Jordan so that the water from the Olla will trickled down towards Jordan.   First, I watered Jordan (it is hot and sunny today, and I sank the thirsty terracotta without soaking (you can soak it first if you please) and kept pouring...

Syringa 'Red Pixie' is a dwarf lilac with a divine fragrance, and said to grow to about 5ft.  Mine is now 6ft tall and I am growing it, like many trees in my garden, as a multi-stem so that plants can have space beneath it.  The plant spreading its 'wings under the lilac is Braun's Holly Fern (Polystichum braunii), my favourite. Syringa 'Red Pixie' above  Braun's Holly Fern (Polystichum braunii) Right now we are heading towards June, and here at about 850ft above sea water on the Pennines of West Yorkshire, Red Pixie has opened its buds releasing a wonderful fragrance. However, after a chilly wet May so far, it is extremely warm and sunny today, no breeze, and we've been thrown out of the freezer and into the furnace😂. I have extended my electric awning to offer shade to some more delicate leaves (like my young Japanese maples. Unfortunately, the awning is pushing into the top of the lilac.  As soon as the lilac has finished flowering, I will cut back i...

In my ignorance I made a terrible choice only recently. I bought an Acer palmatum Osakazuki, and put it outside in my garden based on the online seller's (namely the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS) information online. I was delighted when it arrived. As I opened the tall box the 6ft tree was full of lush, beautiful, green leaves and on removing it fully from the box I noted the three long stems that were a perfect foundation for me to grow it as a multi-stem tree which is how I train Japanese maples for my small garden. The RHS had given plenty of information about the tree but there was no warning that such trees were grown protected from the elements in polytunnels.  Acer palmatum Osakazuki - 7 May 2026 Within days the leaves showed damage and while I have been advised it is wind scorching or sun scorching, I was not aware that such purchases needed to be hardened off. So poor young Osakazuki is in a state of shock, I think.  I have been advised that it will recover soon e...

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...