The headline is a bit misleading. I do start by planning a new border and stick to the planting plan. However as time passes shrubs and perennial plants die and leave spaces. Sometimes those specimens are replaced by something similar but at other times there is this eureka moment! Ok, sometimes that eureka moment turns out to be the wrong thing to do but at others it is a bit of wonderful inspiration. Never be afraid to experiment in your garden. After all it is just that, your garden.

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Another Chelsea Flower Show has passed by and it is time to reflect.

What did you learn from the show? We are told each year by television presenters and commentators that there is much we can take from the show gardens as inspiration for our own gardens.

So much is made of the expensively put together show gardens but I have to admit that many leave me cold. What is more it is not very often that I see anything to copy and put into my own garden. ... << MORE >>

This week’s diary is as much about the garden wildlife as the flora in the garden.

Everything in the greenhouse is taking off in spite of the unseasonable cold days and nights. I have only just taken down the bubble greenhouse lining which has helped to keep the young plants warm but does restrict the light levels. The only heat in the greenhouse has come from the propagator which is also now not in use.

Several large beetles appeared in the greenhouse, and I do mean large. Turns out that they are Cockchafers or to give them their common name Maybugs. I can only assume that an adult laid eggs inside the house and the hatchlings have matured and are trying to find their way out to wreak havoc. Reading about them it seems that they used to be quite a pest in grass crops such as wheat before chemicals started to be used to control them.

On a happier note outside in the garden our resident blackbird has brought his two fledglings into the garden to feed. What a lovely spring sight it is to see him stood by an apple on the lawn trying to feed himself and stoke up the two gaping holes in front of him! The best of it is that when he flies off they continue to feed themselves. To be fair they do appear to need him to break through the skin of a new apple presented.

For many years we never saw a long tailed tit in the garden then one year we heard a flock of them passing through. For anyone who has had the experience you will know what I mean. It would be a very short stay but as each year went by they stayed a little longer to feed on the peanut and fatball. Imagine the joy this year when a crèche of new noisy fledglings appeared in the magnolia. Definitely new out of the nest as when they tried to take off to follow a parent there was chaos as they tried to get to the height of the garage roof and failed miserably. One was even hanging upside down clinging desperately to a tea towel on the washing line while a brother or sister did actually manage to land on top of the towel. Thankfully the one on top of the towel did not leave a souvenir behind.

Maybe it is due to the much cooler conditions this spring but the rhododendrons are staying open longer and one is only just opening. In a hot spring the flowers seem to wilt very quickly in the sun.

After the damage caused by the harsh winter there is so much to do in the garden but there is so much colour at the moment that it is a joy to be out there. It is not just the bright red of the rhododendron or the pure white of Exochorda The Bride, the vibrant Acer Palmatum, the masses of blue forget-me-nots and the bottlebrushes of the laurel but the fresh luxuriant greens that you only get in spring.

We are promised that the cold winds will soon be gone and that the wind will not be coming from the cold north. Something to look forward to!

• My Garden is My Space - Hints, tips and how to articles for gardeners. Reviews and offers of garden tools, gardening equipment and many other garden related items
• Garden Diary - Stories, hints and tips by a gardener
• Gardening News - Online garden newspaper with garden and gardening news from around the world
• Gardening and Wildlife - Gardening and wildlife stories, hints and tips...
• How to Vegetable Garden - How to vegetable garden each month of the year with hints and tips on a variety of vegetables
• How to Vegetable Garden in April - Seasonal hints and tips on how to vegetable garden in April
• How to Vegetable Garden in May - How to vegetable garden in May as the soil starts to warm up

        

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For many Easter weekend is the first big effort in the garden, the clearing away of last season to make way for new planting and maybe the time when the first construction and landscaping project is completed. ...

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Thank goodness I took advantage of the couple of day’s fine weather to do some “real gardening”. Since then we have gone back into the depths of winter with snow and cold temperatures. In fact the cold wind has made it unpleasant to do anything than to work in the greenhouse. However I you see the world news of earthquakes, floods and mudflows I realise just how lucky I am. Once the snow and ice has finally gone I may have quite a bit of work to do sorting out any damage and debris but at least I will have a garden to work in and many poor souls will not even have a roof over their heads.

In the greenhouse it is nice to see the tomato seedlings coming on, new life with the promise of warmer days to come.

Also germinated is Lobelia but not the annual (tender perennial) type that use as annual bedding but the perennial variety. I have chosen a packet of mixed colour seed but from the packet they complement each other and so I do not have to wait for them to flower before planting out and worrying whether there will be a colour clash. The packet says forty seeds and I have to believe them, the seed is like powder so there was no chance of counting them. I could not even be certain the seed had rested on the surface of the seed compost! The good news of course is that as long as I can nurture them through to planting out I will not have to buy any more Lobelia seed or plants. I will be able to take cuttings and eventually divide the plants, a continuation of my policy of only buying plants when it is a necessity.

My Standard Fuchsia has leaves. The dead looking twigs of the many past weeks have decided it is time to start into life again. I keep it in the conservatory which has no heat whatsoever apart from any weak winter sun. It is still only young but the stem and branches are looking much thicker and stronger. If I find another of my fuchsias vigorous enough to train I will have another go.

The renewed snow and extended cold has brought the Fieldfare back into the garden. It might be cupboard love but I will take it as he will not be around for much longer I am sure. Hanging a large fatball in the magnolia outside the conservatory has paid dividends. We have had close views of birds that we normally only see from a distance and maybe not even notice them visiting. The Blackcap for instance, a pretty little bird with as the name suggests a black patch on its head, and Long Tailed Tits that we see flitting through the bush in gangs but not sitting still very often.

It is not all doom and gloom outside, the Christmas Box has opened up even more flowers and the perfume is just stunning as I walk through the back gate. It may be considered a dull looking shrub the rest of the year but for me it more than makes up for it at this time of the year.

The Snowdrops are in bud at last and one small patch that are catching the welcome bit of sun today has opened a flower or two. Soon there will be swathes of these little white beauties – I hope!

Although it is only the end of February many of the gardening news articles have vegetable growing as their theme. Mainly about planning the vegetable garden but it will soon be time for that vegetable garden preparation. It is good to see so many column inches being devoted to vegetable growing again. Like all gardening it can be hard work, frustrating and so rewarding. And all in the same growing season!

• My Garden is My Space - Hints, tips and how to articles for gardeners. Reviews and offers of garden tools, gardening equipment and many other garden related items
• Garden Diary - Stories, hints and tips by a gardener
• Gardening News - Online garden newspaper with garden and gardening news from around the world
• Gardening and Wildlife - Gardening and wildlife stories, hints and tips...
• How to Vegetable Garden - How to vegetable garden each month of the year with hints and tips on a variety of vegetables
• How to Vegetable Garden in February - Seasonal hints and tips on how to vegetable garden in February
• How to Vegetable Garden in March - Seasonal hints and tips on how to vegetable garden in March
• Snowdrops (Galanthus species): A Letter from Sylvia ... - We've received a letter from Sylvia on a bulb I know very little about - snowdrops. And it explains why my few spasmodic attempts to grow them have.

        

After weeks of winter weather that has included snow, frosts, ice, hard ground and very cold winds it has been a joy to be able to get back into the garden again if only for a couple of days.

In those couple of days I have been able to get on with some real gardening. What do I mean by real gardening? The answer may come as a surprise when I say starting to clear last year’s debris from the herbaceous borders, pulling up any weeds that have managed to survive the winter months, gathering leaves and cutting out and dead spotted on shrubs while weeding. I have heard so many people say that they enjoy planting up a border but hate the maintenance that follows. I can understand but gardening is not just about planting. Just like a room in the house the garden needs a bit of TLC to keep it looking good, how you plant will determine how much time you need to put into the regular tidying. I plant quite densely so most of my work is late winter / early spring clearing the borders before everything starts to put on a spurt and cover the soil.

Along the edge of one border I planted marjoram (oregano). The golden leafed form is a plant I would not be without; it is like a ray of sunshine in the garden and has the benefit of small but masses of beautiful flowers. Also along the border edge I have the larger varieties with much darker green leaves and these again have a mass of flower. The idea of the planting was to have them close to the kitchen and be handy when required for cooking, so much nicer than dried oregano. This has worked well but there is yet another advantage of growing marjoram. As part of my cleaning up the borders exercise I have been weeding around the marjoram plants and cutting off all the old flower stalks and the smell of marjoram that has surrounded me has made the job such a pleasure.

The garden birds strangely are eating more seed now than when the weather was really bad. I will have to buy a new sack of seed sooner than expected! It is not very often I spot the Blackcap but this pretty little bird has been visiting the fatball that I hang in the Magnolia close to the conservatory. He is quite nervous and as yet I have not managed to take a picture. However, one bird I have been able to picture is the Sparrowhawk. I heard a bang on the conservatory window and also heard our cockatiel going berserk. She must have thought her days were numbered and he that here was a colourful and easy meal. Anyway he sat very conveniently on a bowl not far from the window so although taken through glass I am quite pleased with the results. We humans are taught by our parents what is danger and what is safe. Our cockatiel will have been separated from its mother at a very tender age and yet she instinctively knows danger. We don’t have to look out of the window to know that a Sparrowhawk is flying by or a neighbourhood cat is passing through. Amazing when you think about it.

• My Garden is My Space - Hints, tips and how to articles for gardeners. Reviews and offers of garden tools, gardening equipment and many other garden related items
• Garden Diary - Stories, hints and tips by a gardener
• Gardening News - Online garden newspaper with garden and gardening news from around the world
• Gardening and Wildlife - Gardening and wildlife stories, hints and tips...
• How to Vegetable Garden - How to vegetable garden each month of the year with hints and tips on a variety of vegetables
• How to Vegetable Garden in January - Seasonal hints and tips on how to vegetable garden in January
• How to Vegetable Garden in February - Seasonal hints and tips on how to vegetable garden in February

        

Do my garden birds know more than me and the weather forecasters? Sometimes it makes me wonder. This is the most severe winter we have had for years. Snow, freezing temperatures that have not even reached as high as the norm for this time of the year and yet as soon as the snow and ice have cleared the birds are singing like spring is just around the corner. Not only are the garden birds singing to claim their territories but the Jackdaws are trying to build a nest in my chimney. With the winds coming from the ... << MORE >>

There is a new pecking order in the back garden. Most of the year it is the blackbirds who boss this part of the garden, chasing off the thrushes that are brave enough to attempt a quick meal. But temporarily this has changed with a thrush relative, the Fieldfare, now in charge. The Fieldfare is a long-tailed thrush with contrasting plumage pattern and defends its territory with great authority. With the ground so hard and the ... << MORE >>

When you have rain, rain and more rain with the first good frost of the winter, what can you do in the garden in weather such as this? Not a lot outside is the answer.

The ground is waterlogged, there is no point in walking on it and causing compaction and the soil is just too wet to work. I have lifted the dahlias and they are under cover now and drying odd ready to start off in early spring so that I can take more cuttings. This year’s cuttings have been a ... << MORE >>