Author Archives: Tend&Grow

The Exotic Garden at RHS Wisley seen here looking up the central path and down the central path in late January. The tender elements such as the Ensete bananas, the Alocasias and the Sonchus fruticosus amongst others are moved out of the garden and stored in the nursery area under heated (10C) glasshouse conditions. TheContinue reading “RHS Wisley Exotic Garden – January”

Native to the mountain ranges of Afganistan east to Taiwan Clematis montana seems equally at home in British gardens mountain or no mountain. Generally it’s appreciated for its flowers in springtime and otherwise overlooked, however if you have resisted cutting it back after flowering you might be lucky enough to appreciate the seed heads (akaContinue reading “Clematis montana/Mountain Clematis”

Working in the garden through the seasons, in all weathers, 5 days of seven, sometimes 7 days of seven when tending my own garden also, because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

It would be surprising if any garden authority recommended establishing a colony of Hart’s tongue fern in the mortar lines of a vertical red brick wall. It’s worth taking note of where plants place themselves especially if it seems to defy logic or understanding. There’s a lesson to be learnt in such occurrences and greaterContinue reading “Asplenium scolopendrium/Hart’s tongue fern”

Brown’s work fell from favour soon after his death (1783), dismissed as dull and insipid as the new fashion for the Picturesque embraced rocky crags, blasted trees and rushing torrents. He was largely ignored by the plant-hungry Victorians, and really only rehabilitated in the 1950s. Today, his preoccupations seem remarkably like our own – sustainableContinue reading “Capability Brown/Petworth Park”

Always a great textural shrub and particularly valuable for winter flowers and evergreen foliage in any of its forms. The Prostrata Group are truly prostrate, as seen here, having wonderful visual appeal and great character at a quiet time of year.

The Royal Academy of Arts. Built during the summer of 2013 to mark the redevelopment of the Keeper’s House. This tiny garden creates an outside social space for the restaurant, bar and lounge. It seems almost like a canyon excavated out of the brick and receives no direct sunlight. Nevertheless, it is an unexpected entrancingContinue reading “Tom Stuart-Smith/Keepers House Garden”

Any gardener will tell you that as soon as you start scratching around in the garden a Robin will join you, perhaps perching on your tools as if to suggest a photo opportunity. They probably eat as many garden friends as garden enemies but still insectivorous birds play a key role in a healthy gardenContinue reading “Erithacus rubecula/Robin”

Equisetum arvense is in a fascinating and ancient family of plants (Equisetaceae), but not one used in ornamental cultivation because of its invasive tendencies. Horsetail, closely related to ferns, does not make flowers, fruit or seeds but reproduces by way of spores released by non photosynthesising stems early in the season. Its deep rooting rhizomatousContinue reading “Equisetum arvense/Horsetail”

Is Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii under appreciated on account of its ubiquity and its habit of being quiet during the summer? It instead chooses to display when few are looking, with first rate foliage in late November prior to the beginning of winter when the days are short and most folks are inside and thenContinue reading “Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii/Mediterranean Spurge”