What a difference a week makes! After last weekend's swampy weather, this weekend was full of glorious spring sunshine. Saturday wasn’t spent in the garden though. I drove down to Chelmsford to make my regular monthly guest appearance on Down to Earth on BBC Essex with Ken Crowther. Our main subject... Read more..

Well the last week here at Harlow Carr has been rather a wet one. Much of the site is waterlogged, but we have been quite lucky in that most of the rain has fallen during the night, the days have been quite sunny and warmish, the first snowdrops are showing their heads and many of the hamamelis are well... Read more..

What a difference a week makes. This week Wisley has proved incredibly popular with happy half termers! I expect the mild weather has been something to do with it, along with the lure of the great outdoor space we have here. But I know that the Butterflies in the Glasshouse have also enticed many visitors... Read more..

It’s been wonderful here at Harlow Carr this week! After two week of snow on the ground this week has felt very much like spring has arrived!! The birds are singing and every day more and more crocuses are popping up their brightly coloured heads! It has been a real pleasure to be outdoors cutting back... Read more..

We have started summer pruning of our apples and pears which have been trained as cordons, fans and espaliers. These are called restricted forms as opposed to the normal orchard trees grown as a bush or half-standard, which are normally pruned in the winter. This type of pruning keeps the plants “restricted... Read more..

As a new gardener with the RHS, I am experiencing new challenges all of the time and I thought I would share this one with you. This week I was allocated the task of pruning the Sorbus thibetica ‘John Mitchell’. No problem I thought; this couldn’t be further from the truth! ‘John Mitchell’ is usually... Read more..

“Do you like heights..?” Not a question I am often asked as a trainee gardener, but it was for a special reason today. The wisteria growing on the front of Rosemoor House in Lady Anne’s Garden (now rented out as lovely holiday apartments) was due for its annual haircut, and this meant that we needed... Read more..

In last week's sunny weather, and this week's chill, the garden teams have been busy tidying the place ready for the cold season to come. The fine turf has been scarified, aerated and top dressed; the square columns of hornbeam have been carefully pruned back; oak leaves are raked up off the... Read more..

Ever had an unruly plant? There's usually one in every garden. Ours is a broom - Cytisus scoparius - which must be almost twice the size of all the other brooms. The problem is that it's doing a bit of a takeover on the plots. It seems a shame but we decided it had to be trimmed. Here are some... Read more..

Ace topiarist and expert in the Japanese art of niwaki, Jake Hobson, will be at Wisley on November 19th. He'll talk about his contemporary pruning style and show examples, followed by a short demonstration. The event will take place in the Wisley plant Centre, where there will be a range of tools... Read more..