What's new, what's growing, what we're learning. Updates, guides and stories for people who take their garden seriously.
In spring the peach leaves blister, curl and turn red: peach leaf curl. Why you can fight it only before leaf-out, how a rain roof protects the tree, and which varieties shrug off the attack better.
Fire blight is the most dangerous pome fruit disease and notifiable. How to recognise the suddenly scorched-looking shoots with the typical shepherds crook, why you must not prune yourself, and what to do on suspicion.
Brown patches on apples and foliage: apple scab is almost unavoidable in wet years. How to recognise it on leaf and fruit, why scab-resistant varieties save all spraying in the home garden, and what else helps.
A layer of mulch saves water, slows weeds and builds humus. But mulch is not just mulch: why fresh grass clippings rot, why bark does not belong on the vegetable bed, and how the right material in the right place protects your soil.
Bright orange spots on the pear leaf: pear rust looks dramatic but has a decisive weakness. It absolutely needs a juniper as its second host. How to break the cycle and get rid of the rust for good.
Raised strong and then burnt in the bed? Why the last link of seed-raising is so often forgotten, how to accustom your young plants to sun, wind and cool with a simple ten-day plan, and when they may finally go outside.
Tomatoes, peppers and chillies need a head start only the windowsill gives. Why most seed-raising fails not at germination but at going leggy afterwards, and how bright instead of warm raises sturdy young plants.
Why organic fertiliser takes a quite different path from mineral feed, what the three nutrients N, P and K really do, which organic fertilisers are worth it, and why with the amount less is almost always more.
Garden and kitchen waste become the best fertiliser you can get for free. Why the whole secret lies in the ratio of green and brown material, how to avoid rot, and what must never go on the compost.
