Genistas are excellent choices for hot dry greenhouses and conservatories especially those where you have little time to attend regularly. Although most Genistas are fairly hardy including some natives a majority of the near 70 species come from around the Mediterranean and so revel in hot dry positions under a fierce sun. Most are deciduous, […]

The greenhouse has now been planted up with tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and some basil, and the growing year is underway. I want to say ‘finally’ – it is finally underway. It all happened quite late this year – that long, cold, wet spring really didn’t lend itself to early sowings and plantings, even under glass, […]

I feel as though I’ve been climbing up a very steep mountain, well more of a hill really, and I’ve got to the summit and admired the view and cooed and now I’m plodding down again – with an air of sheer relief. Yes, I’ve been to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show and I’ve seen […]

I hope that your greenhouse tomatoes are growing well, despite the lack of light. Itit is time to remove the side shoots of ‘cordon’ varieties, as they appear, using your finger and thumb, to create a single productive stem and channel moisture and energy into fruit rather than leaf. Keep the compost constantly moist, particularly […]

Now that most open ground is waterlogged for much of the year, under-cover space is more precious than ever – and a group of ingenious growers have found a way to maximise the benefits. Whooping, clapping, cursing, the clunk of metal on metal, and what sounded like a squeaking legion of wheelbarrows, crying out to […]

Even in the shelter of the greenhouse it has been a cold, slow start to the spring this year – the endless rain in my part of the country has made getting outdoors a chore, at least up until very recently, and so I haven’t done as much sowing as I had planned to, and […]