GARDENER'S WORD

Early last summer I had a garden room built in my small garden and it has become my little haven, my Utopia, a place to read, and snooze.  You wouldn't think that such a small space (about 9 x 7ft) would be anything special, but it is.  The light in there is bright and lovely and it only takes a bit of sunshine through that one wall of glass to warm it up.  There's no heating installed.  The glass in the double-glazing is special; it filters out harmful sun rays and stops fading and sun damage to what's in there (hopefully, that includes protecting me too).  I don't want plants in there, at least not in winter, as I am trying to keep it a  dry and damp-free space.  But I love plants and I love cut flowers too, so I did the next best thing and bought some cheery artificial ones which I put in that sugary-glass vase.  I know many people aren't fond of artificial flowers but the makers of them are getting really good at it nowadays and sometimes, whe...

There is widespread snow across the UK today and the forecast is grim.  The media is calling it the Beast from the East.  How's that for dramatic.  Here, in West Yorkshire, we seem to have got off lighter than some with only a few inches of snow whereas in Scotland, in an area between Glasgow and Edinburgh and extending north to Perth, there's a red alert as the snow is so heavy up there it could endanger life.  Actually, a thin dusting of snow can endanger life if you go and slip on it and break your neck.  The advisory is to stay put and not go out, and not drive if you can avoid it.  No need to ask me twice.  I got in, before it arrived, enough food to feed an army.  I've fed the birds in the garden to keep their little bellies full to try and keep them warm.  Actually, it doesn't seem so cold out there to me but then two quick minutes clearing the three feet distance between the kitchen door and the dustbin is hardly time to give me hypot...

Wouldn't you just know it, I buy a little bay tree and it was doing so well last summer and autumn and until quite recently. Over the warmer months it had put on quite a bit of leafy growth; all lovely for picking and putting in stews.   And, cherishing it, I bring the little plant indoors during winter to stop it perishing from the freezing cold of our rather cold and snowy winter here on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire.  Then, recently, I noticed small amounts of sticky stuff appearing on the upper leaves.  Checking on the internet, I discovered that it is a sign of scale insect.  Seems that Laurus Nobilis, Bay Trees, are prone to such little suckers.  So, I inspected the underside, could see very few signs of scale insects, and washed the leaves in soapy water.  And still the sticky deposits appeared overnight.  So, I then submerged all but the roots of the still small plant in soapy water for over 24 hours, thinking that shou...