The Shrewd Gardener

For Clever Gardeners Everywhere

Deed for the day: Helping a BumbleBee

Spring has finally arrived and so we were busy in the garden over the weekend. As the weather becomes finer we are starting to see more insect life, notably the BumbleBees as they come out of hibernation. It’s a fact that some do better than others and I was impressed to see a couple of [...]

Places to Visit: Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire

Mottisfont Abbey and Gardens is set in the beautiful countryside along the River Test. This is another National Trust property and is notable for the walled garden which has some fine specimens along the walls. Gardeners can get a real sense of how the old walled gardens were run from a visit here. For anyone [...]

Places to Visit: Stourhead – Wiltshire

Stourhead is on of the most magnificent gardens in the UK. I love it and try to visit whenever I’m over in that part of the country. The garden was constructed in the 18th Century by the Hoare family.  This area is a real taste of Jane Austen country as Stourhead is only about 20 [...]

Diary Date – Chelsea Flower Show 2010

The Chelsea Flower Show takes place between 25-29 May 2010 at its usual venue Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London. This is one of the major events in the gardener’s calendar though there are many other notable shows to visit. For visitors it’s four days of garden delights. Some designs will challenge your ideas of what constitutes [...]

Garden work finally underway!

This weekend finally saw the start of the gardening tasks for the year. There was plenty of tidying up to do and we were able to make a good start and get rid of some of the accumulated rubbish. The ground has now dried out sufficiently for me to think about aerating the lawn and [...]

Selecting secateurs for pruning work

Selecting secateurs is always a tricky business so over the years I’ve tried out quite a few different types. I’ve found that Felco make some of the best there are and it’s always worth paying just a little bit more. I use the model shown here and they are up to most of the pruning [...]

What will you be doing in your garden this spring?

The chances are that your garden has been left unattended over the chilly winter. My own garden hasn’t had much attention since late November/early December when Christmas was looming large and so there were plenty of other distractions. The wet, snowy winter that set in at the beginning of the new year has slowed down [...]

  • About

    This is where I blog about my interest in gardening and ecology. There is always something to do in the garden all year round and as we have an inner city garden the tasks are a little different to rural spaces.

    I work as a software developer now but a few years ago I had my own gardening design and construction business.

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