Author: Rhiannon SM

  • Cottage garden furniture design: how I built my outdoor office

    Cottage garden furniture design: how I built my outdoor office

    Working from home? Work from the garden These days, I’m lucky enough to spend a good deal of my week working from home. My job can be intense at times and I’m always looking for ways to become more comfortable. I also wanted to spend more time in the garden;…

  • Grief in the garden

    Grief in the garden

    A year after my father passed, I dug up my gooseberry bush and shoved it down into the compost heap. I was numb and paddling in grief, unaware of how deep I trod; I let the bush’s prickly branches feather grazes up and down my arms, grateful for the exertion…

  • What kinds of food should you grow?

    In the UK, we are extremely lucky: these days, our climate supports a wide variety of crops. We won’t be harvesting avocados or dragon fruit any time soon, but don’t let that stop you – once you understand what you can grow easily and naturally right outside your house, I…

  • What to sow in March

    When it comes to seed sowing in the UK, March is where things start to get busy! Not for you, though – you’ll have everything planned out using these guides. Here are just some of the seeds you can sow in March in order to grow food and flowers. This…

  • What to sow in February

    If you’d like to grow food and flowers this year, here are some things to sow in February. It’s a bit of an odd month – not quite as “all systems go” as March – but as gardeners know, no matter the time of year, there are always jobs to…

  • Get started with polytunnel gardening

    Of all the things I have done with my garden, adding the polytunnel is probably my favourite (and Caspar’s favourite, too. What more could a cat want on a warm summer’s day than a secret napping space, away from the evil magpies?). Polytunnel gardening has enriched both my harvests and…

  • What will work in your garden?

    As a new gardener, the most important thing you can do is to figure out what will work best in your growing space. Your garden has its own microclimate; over time, you will get to know it as one does a friend. You will learn its areas of light and…

  • What to sow in January

    In the UK, January is a great time to start vegetables and flowers that need a long growing season. It’s also a good time to get bare roots plants (such as strawberries, roses, and fruit trees) into the ground, while they are still dormant. This is not an exhaustive list,…

  • Best UK seed suppliers

    Best UK seed suppliers

    Where are the best places to buy seeds in the UK? It’s really hard to buy bad seeds. Good seeds don’t have to be expensive, and you don’t need to buy unusual or rare varieties to get a bountiful harvest. Your local pound shops, garden centres and nurseries are all…