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What to do with a squirrel (without getting prosecuted)

Well, you could set it an obstacle course. Or serve it up with shallots Gardeners are up against it. There are thousands of garden pests, exciting new ones discovered every day, and few remedies left with which to fight them. The wonderful cure-all chemicals we once depended on have long been banned — they ‘cured’ a little more than was intended. And how do you repel that king of garden pests,…

#squirrels

Making Veddw 8: the next version of the Veg Plot: no veg!

I think the worst thing was working in the garden until 9 o’clock or later. And then realising that if we wanted supper we would now have to pick, de-slug, wash and cook veggies. Almost as bad as trying to grow them. I think Charles got really tired and fed up, trying to keep it all looking good. So what to do with Veg Plot? Anne needed more inspiration. It needed to be something that looked good…

#cardoons #heuchera #holly #holly blight #veg plot

Making Veddw 7: The Veg Plot In its lost glory

It didn’t look like this for long. Charles insisted that we had to grow vegetables. Good old Ruth Stout….. There are some embarrassing names in the USA (and in UK no doubt). Did you know that to trump is to fart in the UK? So early on I mulched as above and I seem to remember stuck some runner bean seeds underneath the grass graves and grew some beans. I think. I did grow something. But my…

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Making Veddw 6 The things which w̶e̶n̶t̶ we got wrong in the Meadow

It was not all our fault. Well, you can see the Turkish Hazel are on their way. And if you create an avenue, you know, you need to close it with a focal point. Which is difficult if you’re low on funds. But we found this statue when we were on holiday in Brighton. Both affordable and a size we could fit in the car. No idea where the plinth came from. We decided after a while that it was naff and…

#Making Veddw Garden

Making Veddw: part 5. The Meadow.

There are never perfect solutions to anything in gardening. We have all got to have a meadow? Right. However, before I tell you about our meadow I must point out that we did not make the garden in the kind of chronological order that these posts may suggest. Every year, for many years, we had a massive and tearful (on my part) row about whether we should finish one bit before moving on to the…

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Making Veddw part 4: what did we do next?

We got married Today: We have a wedding Homemade clothes Smelly sheep Piles and piles of wood Tipar (what is tipar??) Making paths Bird Baths and Pergolas Wedding! A fun filled occasion at Newport Register Office. We got the sheep back. It was one way to keep the grass down. Hm. Did you know that a field full of sheep in close proximity are terribly pongy? And if you plant things, they will…

#Making Veddw #part 4: what did we do next?

Making Veddw Garden: part 3. The Front Garden

It was all very well making a garden in a London backyard, a bit different in two acres. And I intended to use the lot. And, being British, to stop being overlooked by our neighbours. That’s a later tale for you. I started by digging. We were overlooked on most sides. But I soon discovered that it was hopeless to think of digging the most part of two acres. Then somehow, I do not know how, I…

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#Front Garden #Making Veddw Garden

Making Veddw Garden: part 2: we arrive.

Well, that very weekend we found a house and thought – ok, it’ll do. My first view of the house – and yes, that’s me in the lefthand corner. I think the red car is ours. We used to have to hit the starter motor with a club hammer to get it going. Why did we think it would do? Well, it was shabby, damp, not at all country cottagey, even rather ugly. But filled all our requirements if not our…

Making Veddw Garden - a Love Story part 1.

Once upon a time, many years ago… How did we manage it??!!!! Well, this is a mostly true story, so here goes: I was running a local authority psychiatric hostel in London. And there was this guy working for me. Fancied himself a bit…… But, really, can you blame me??? And to cut a long, chaotic story short, I fancied him and thought I’d have a quick fling with him. A couple of weeks, I…

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Ambivalence about Snowdrops

Well, I’m sorry, but I didn’t have a happy Christmas. We were both full of cough and were quite unwell. I have not recovered, and I find myself quite unable to write anything new. So I dipped into The Bad Tempered Gardener to offer you a piece on those plants which gardeners obsess about at this time of year: snowdrops. Snowdrops Ok, I may hate gardening, but the slightest glow of winter sunshine…

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I've fallen in love with these.

I love my garden, I do. It’s at the heart of my life. But just recently I’ve been drawn back and back to a windowsill with some sweet dwarf pelargoniums. Pelargonium Dainty Damosel. (sic) I wanted something small, easy and sun loving for the windowsill of the conservatory and discovered these beautiful things. I instantly ordered far too many – they cost a fortune, and some are hopeless. Ouch!…

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Favour the Ferns

Many years ago The Financial Times sent me to do a feature on the RHS ‘Flower Show’ at Tatton Park . I was totally naïve and had no idea what I was supposed to do or to write about. So my excitement was tempered by acute anxiety. The term ‘imposter syndrome’ could have been invented for me. I found myself by a huge and bewildering display of ferns and had the desperate idea of asking the…

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Snowdrop mania is coming...

Snowdrop Mania: – In the UK, right now, the horticultural world is about to drive us all mad with snowdrops. Pictures of. Articles about. Gardens with them. Anything people can think of to bash us over the head with snowdrops. So I thought this year I would join in and help drive everyone barmy. Although I am notorious for screaming ‘no more snowdrops!!!’ on social media. Because snowdrops will…

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#John Sales #nurtons #snowdrops

Brilliant Brecon

Recently we made a visit to Brecon. This is not far from us, in case anyone was getting over excited about the possibility that I might have been travelling again. It’s in Wales, in the Brecon Beacons, recently re-christened Bannau Brycheiniog. We went to see an exhibition of paintings by David Jones, at the library, museum and art gallery (Y Gaer), which looks like this from the…

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You should have been here Next Year

Being Helpful Charles made a complaint recently when we were walking in the garden.When I complained about him complaining he told me that it was good for me to have complaints about the planting. Of course it is. And, indeed, it did make me aware of just how different our views of the garden are. Because Charles was simply (hm – maybe?) looking at what was in front of him. Whereas I was…

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Garden Seats - to make and sit on.

I am discovering more and more often that it is important to have a great many seats in the garden. In fact there should probably be one every three feet or so.

I am discovering more and more often that it is important to have a great many seats in the garden. In fact there should probably be one every three feet or so. That might be a bit cluttered, but the idea that you’re too busy gardening to sit down is shameful. A garden needs to be appreciated and it needs to be contemplated critically. Both are easiest to do sitting down. And, of course, you…

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Winter plants flattering the town: a short break in Chipping Campden.

I’ve been on holiday: to Chipping Campden. It was great. So if any of you think of visiting our garden at Veddw (shameless self promotion again) you’ll be pleased to know that Chipping Campden is only one and a half hours away, through beautiful English countryside. And it included a Roman Road, which always pleases me. But what does Chipping Campden have to offer gardeners in the middle of…

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