Kate's Cuttings

Kates cuttings You don’t need me to tell you that growing your own vegetables is very trendy at the moment as well as a good idea. My son had a balcony in his small flat groaning under the weight of potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and strawberries last year. I have to admit, he put me to shame as growing things to eat is not really my passion, unless it’s in the form of a lovely old fruit tree I can grow a rose or clematis up. It seems a lot of hard work and, unlike perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees, at the end of the growing season, you have to start all over again. You also have... Read more…

You don’t need me to tell you that growing your own vegetables is very trendy at the moment as well as a good idea. My son had a balcony in his small flat groaning under the weight of potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and strawberries last year. I have to admit, he put me to shame as growing things to eat is not really my passion, unless it’s in the form of a lovely old fruit tree I can grow a rose or clematis up. It seems a lot of hard work and, unlike perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees, at the end of the growing season, you have to start all over again. You also have to try and remem... Read more…

It has been written that you can spot a well designed garden even in the depths of winter. This assertion is usually made in a posh garden design book and accompanied by smart pictures of strategically placed and immaculately clipped box, or an expensive looking piece of sculpture at the end of a classically laid York stone path. There is much debate about the principles which guide garden design. For example there are those who prefer ‘garden rooms’ where each smaller garden has a particular theme or planting style. I have seen this done even in quite small outside spaces, where a secl... Read more…

Tulips – we tend to love them or hate them, rich folk in the 17th century paid huge sums for a single bulb. Either way they can add a bold splash of colour to the garden. I have a border which looks good in the Spring which is planted under an espalier pear. It has a lily flowered variety of tulip called Ballerina underplanted with deep blue forget me nots. The combination of white blossom on the pear, orange tulips and blue forget me nots is lovely as long as the forget me nots don't succumb to mildew. I love the lily flowered tulips, they are so elegant. Last year I bought a variety ... Read more…

If I only had one space in the garden for a fruit tree, it would be a greengage. We have a rather elderly specimen here that crops sparsely at the best of times, but the fruit is absolutely delicious. A couple of years ago we got a relatively heavy harvest. For an easy pudding I halved and stoned the gages and put them in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkled with brown sugar, baked for about half an hour and served with vanilla ice cream - they didn't last long! Second choice would be a plum. I tried to find out what the difference is between a plum and a 'gage'. If you will excuse the pun... Read more…

Are you sick of weeding? How is it that weeds seem to grow as soon as your back is turned when your carefully tended plants often don't? You may have heard it said that a weed is a plant in the wrong place. I'm not sure when a dandelion is ever in the right place in the garden, but I suppose if you were a rabbit you may disagree. As with many things in life, its all a matter of perspective. So, when I read in our paper last month of the huge benefit some 'weeds' can bring to the garden, I decided to read on. Take nettles. Horrid, pernicious stingy things I hear you cry. But no, they are... Read more…

Like many gardeners, we no longer have a bed set aside just for roses. They can look rather boring and ungainly for quite a long time when not in flower, so we have now incorporated them into a mixed border. It's not terribly easy as roses can be a bit unruly, but I try to get round that by planting plants such as foxgloves, euphorbia and penstemons close by. One truly gorgeous rose which flowers late June and into July is Tuscany Superb. It is a deep crimson-purple Gallica rose with golden stamens and a lovely scent. It only flowers once, but it is worth waiting for. I have a deep red ... Read more…

When choosing plant for your garden, what is it that helps you to decide? Do you, like me, have an anxiety attack if there is a gap in your border? Perhaps you buy on impulse because the flowers are pretty, or the right colour, or flower at the right time? Or do you chose for structure or size? How many times have you bought a plant that claims to be compact and ends up a few years later as a giant shrub? And do you consider the conditions you are planting into before you buy? I have several mature plants of galtonia which I had grown from seed some years ago that had outgrown their pot... Read more…

May is Magnolia and Wisteria month in our garden. We love Wisteria and have four plants altogether. The oldest and best covers the back of the house, facing roughly south west. Its grown up name is W. Macrobotrys and its large, blue flowers on long, loose racemes give a lovely, almost filigree effect. Two more are Chinese wisterias trained over a pergola. One has white, gloriously fragrant flowers and the other blue. The fourth is a newer acquisition and is in a very large pot which we are attempting to train as a standard. To get the best out of your wisterias, you need to prune them h... Read more…

April is the month our Armandii clematis flowers, and it's a wonderful sight. I'm told it gets its name because it has an almond fragrance, but the smell reminds me more of nutmeg. Whatever, it's a good smell and its pale pink (it also comes in white) flowers cover the plant which reaches almost the top of our house. What is great about this early flowering variety is that if it gets too big, you can cut it back a little or a lot after flowering, but its not necessary otherwise. Many folk worry about pruning clematis, but you can't go far wrong if you cut back the later flowering varieti... Read more…