Kate's Cuttings

The book is ready to go! It is £8.50 from Kate in person, or you can order online using the options to the right. For any other payment methods or wholesale enquiries, contact Kate directly - kate@katescuttings.net. This is an entertaining read about Kate's long experience of gardening at 'Charnwood', a Yellow Book Garden in Nottinghamshire she has been developing since 1987. It is full of tips, stories, planting ideas and easy to follow explanations of how to be a successful gardener. It is beautifully illustrated with many colour photos of the garden through the seasons taken by Kevin... Read more…

Welcome to our garden. Peter and Kate Foale moved into Charnwood in South Notts with their son, David, in August 1987. As time, money and fitness has been available they have gradually developed the acre of garden and continue to plan new areas. The backdrop of mature trees and countryside makes gardening here a joy. Through the gate the front garden is dominated on the right by a blue cedar, probably at least as old as the house (1950s). The clipped box came from a local nursery, Ivor Thompson and has, unfortunately, been ‘trimmed’ in places by Jamie the dog who sadly passed away in 20... Read more…

Kate can offer advice about plants and planting schemes and gives a range of gardening talks including succession planning, the use of colour in the garden, plantswomen and men who have inspried her and why and what its like to be a 'yellow book' owner. Please contact her for more details.She is also an experienced garden writer. Kate Kate has been a mad keen amateur gardener all her life. Both her parents were skilled gardeners, her Mum, Margaret Newton lovingly tended her herbaceous borders until her death in March 2009 just a few weeks short of her 89th birthday. Inspiration for Kat... Read more…

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Sometimes a plant just won’t do it; it’s too dry, the season is too short, or it would simply look wrong. But a focal point is needed, or perhaps a little ‘something else’ to add some interest to a neglected corner. What do you do? I use the phrase ‘a work of art’ ‘to cover any inanimate but decorative object in the garden (not counting your snoozing spouse, of course). So it could be a lump of wood, a mirror, a group of pebbles or shells, or an actual statue. You can add drama, humour, or all year round interest in this way and it can cost a lot or very little. Some ideas that work we... Read more…

If the weather forecast is anyway near accurate, we may all be up to our necks in snow by now. Writing this mid October, it is very hard to imagine as there are parts of the garden that could fool you into thinking it’s June. One little group Charnwood includes is a pink English Rose, several spikes of a rich blue delphininum, some green tobacco plant ‘Lansdorfii’ and tall pink Cosmos. A tree can transform your garden, and November can be a good month for planting deciduous trees and shrubs, as long as a frost is not forecast. Bare root trees are cheaper and easier to transport, so a g... Read more…

It can be a sad, grey month, October. The clocks change, giving us less time in the evening to get outside and the weather isn’t conducive to lovely suppers on the patio with a glass of wine. But we gardeners can look on the brighter side; getting the garden ready for winter has a kind of end of season satisfaction about it. After all, it is the time to plan for next year and if we get it right we can look forward to a great display in 2012. Even if we get it wrong there is fun in filling the gap with a new purchase next spring. Planting bulbs in pots or straight into the garden is so e... Read more…

Don’t wince, but I’ve actually done my order for spring bulbs next year. I know it sounds ridiculously early to plan for March and April 2012, but because we have an acre of garden, bulk buying well ahead is needed if we are to keep the cost down and get a good choice. I use de Jager (www.dejager.co.uk 01622 840229), a company based in Kent. Their bulbs are good size, they never substitute and they almost always produce good flowers. I’ve ordered 250 Lent Lilies, Pseudonarcissus Lobularis, a small, native daffodil that grows to 15 cm and will look natural and (I hope) gradually increase ... Read more…

I’ve been going through a purple phase for quite some time. It was a very trendy colour at Chelsea a few years ago, and it has lingered since as a popular theme. Purple has the advantage of combining with almost every other colour, and looks lovely next to green or grey foliage. Even those gardeners who (unlike me!) prefer gentle, pastel shades usually find deep, rich purple acceptable. Purple for Spring: Tulips – my favourites are Van de Neer, which flowers around April and lasts for ages, even in my windy SW facing border, or the gorgeous lily flowered tulip that comes a little later ... Read more…

What a confusing year for plants and gardeners! A horrid, long and cold winter followed by a warm and sunny Spring, lulling plants into thinking summer has come early and then getting nipped by the frost. If you are concerned that, come July, all will be over, I suggest you plant now for some late summer and autumn colour. You may find some bedding plant bargains now, and early June is actually a good time to add tender perennials and annuals to your borders and pots. Call me cynical, but I suspect that garden centres put out those nasty little floppy plugs of bizzie lizzies, fuchsias a... Read more…