By Mark Evans
There’s no such thing as a weed, botanically speaking, just a plant growing where we don’t want it. Years ago, we removed a Lagerstroemia indica (crepe myrtle) from our garden. It had been lovely in its day, but it had to go. The rootstock never got the memo and sends up suckers through our beds – that decision we made then is now the thing we’re fighting to keep out.
Wrong … Read more »
Rather than risking overwatering our indoor plants and having water spill out of their saucers, we water them from below, filling the saucer and letting the soil absorb the water. If the plant is really dry, this needs to be repeated several times until an equilibrium is reached, with some water remaining in the saucer to be slowly taken up over the ensuing days. This same principle underpins wicking beds, an … Read more »
Growing your own vegetables is one of the most rewarding forms of gardening. It combines the joy of working with plants with the satisfaction of producing fresh, nutritious food. October is the perfect month to get started, as it’s when the widest variety of vegetables become ready for planting. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing seeds and seedlings transform into vibrant, edible plants and the spring sunshine in October provides ideal … Read more »
by Mark Evans
Whether you subscribe to the meteorological view that spring begins on the first day of September or to the astronomical view that it starts with the equinox on 2 September, this month marks the season that many consider the beginning of the gardening year.
The word ‘spring’ has a rich etymological history. In English, it comes from the Old English springan, meaning ‘to leap, burst … Read more »
by Mark Evans
Propagating plants from cuttings is one of the easiest and most common methods of plant reproduction. It’s also the quickest way to produce an exact clone of the parent plant.
Cuttings rely on the fact that plant cells are totipotent, meaning each cell has the potential to develop into a complete plant. A single plant cell can become either a root or a shoot, which is … Read more »
By Mark Evans
I’m no liquid luddite. Our thin boundary border beds and double arms-length wide vegetable rows all have a central snake of plastic dripper line to slowly soak the soil and if I was the lawn-watering kind I would naturally choose the efficiency of a sprinkler to cast a wide, even drink. But of all the forms of home irrigation, I find hand-watering the most satisfying.
Rain is the best way to water your … Read more »