1.  Less Lawns; More Planting: As people globally become more aware of their own energy consumption and contribution to the environment, we predict that contemporary garden design in some countries will favour less lawn, more planting.  You may wonder why anyone would want to get rid of a lush green carpet of lawn.  Well a…

Leaf mold is like hair conditioner for your soil! – basically its best attribute is to help your soil retain water. According to some university studies, the addition of leaf mold increased water retention in soils by over 50%. Leaf mold also improves your soil’s structure and creates a lovely habitat for soil life, including…

In many ways, we’ve come full circle. The global recession has prompted us to dig deep and re-examine our values – and also for many to re-examine our bank balances. Perhaps a good thing, is a resurgence in interest in growing our own food. We love this wartime list of vegetables – from 1948 –…

If you’re looking for what vegetables to grow in your garden now, or a vegetable growing diary, -we’re here to help!    We thought we’d start gather information real-time from our students in different areas in the world, as to what food to plant right now.  Whether you’re an allotment gardener, have veg in pots, or…

You don’t generally think of compost for its beauty.  But I do think this timelapse video of rotting compost really captures its beauty.  Strange but true.. The time-lapse video was made by a doctor who identifies himself as Henry and is posted on his site Webiocosm.

September is the time we often consider learning a new skill.  It’s probably deeply ingrained within us, from years of schooling where September is traditionally the time for a new start, a new term and new knowledge.  But as an adult, it’s not always easy to know how to choose a new evening class, or…

We all love some good stats. Especially about behaviour in the gardening market. These are some of our favourite highlights from the latest market research (Mintel June 2011) – that are helping us understand buying behaviour in the gardening market.  This especially applies to the UK, but most of the macro trends we’re also seeing…

Our friends at Love the Garden are running a Vegetable Garden competition for all bloggers out there. The prize is a £200 meal at a restaurant of your choice (so don’t choose the chippie – you’ll be in there forever). This month’s theme is potatoes, so all you need to do is post a potato…

It turns out my son, Jude Bonaparte Sinclair, has inherited my grandad’s green fingers. He won best petunia in school award. Not best in class, not best in year, but best in SCHOOL. The competition was arranged by Byrkley Garden Centre. They distributed seeds to local schools, including Jude’s, All Saints’ CE Primary School in…

Strawberries are one of the most universally grown fruit all over the world.  (Let alone one of the prettiest – and not forgetting delicious – fruits that many of us grow to love as children). So here’s some of our top tips on how to grow strawberries and which varieties to choose:   Strawberries don’t…