Author Archives: midlifegardener

About midlifegardener

A new house and a new garden. Having spent the past 5 years mainting my father's garden I am now taking on my own gardening project down the road in a new single store dwelling. The Old Man has passed on but he remains in my thoughts as I develop the new patch

Hestercombe: a proper Designer Garden

Posted on September 19, 2018 by midlifegardener

On Sunday I removed more of the front lawn to widen the border and plant the final Sweet Williams. It is a small development I have been planning for a while as there is little room elsewhere for the Mrs … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged bergenia, canna, canna lilies, edwin lutyens, getrude jekyll, great plat, hestercombe | 2 Comments

Autumn Approaches

Posted on September 13, 2018 by midlifegardener

Autumn came knocking this morning. There was a sharpness in the air and a mist across the fields which reminded us of October breaks in a Monmouth farmhouse when we were younger. The greenhouse retains the fecund smells of summer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | 4 Comments

Fresh Fruit (for Rotting Vegetables?)

Posted on September 6, 2018 by midlifegardener

Last week I was at the Old Place to check it was in good order for potential buyers wanting to view the property. Setting aside my feelings on the impending sale of the family home (a home for me in … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged apples, damson, pear, plum, victoria plum, worcester pearmain | Leave a comment

Veronica or Veronicastrum Virginicum?*

Posted on August 24, 2018 by midlifegardener

I read a good article by James Wong in the Grauniad this weekend in which he gave his four top tips for beginners in the garden. I never feel like I have a great well of knowledge about gardening, although … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged ammi, chard, crown prince, elvis costello songs, fuck em, Germination, greenhouse, Guardian, James Wong, Latin, peas, potting on, slugs, snails, sparrows, squahs, squashes, streptocarpus, tomato, tomatoes, zinnia | Leave a comment

Mid-Term Reports

Posted on August 8, 2018 by midlifegardener

Deadline for reports was about three days ago but as I no longer have someone to swear at me if I am perceived to be late or include too many ‘gramatical errors’ (sic), I have stuck to my usual report … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged basil, beetroot, Blue kuri kabochi squash, broad beans, carrots, chard, courgettes, crown prince squash, Duke of York, french beans, jersey devil, kavolo nero, King Edward, Little Gem, lollo Rosso, peas, potatoes, runner beans, Salad, sarpo mira, squash, sweet million, Swift, tomatoes | Leave a comment

The Birds, The Birds

Posted on July 27, 2018 by midlifegardener

One of my former flatmates had a phobia about birds flapping anywhere near her. I thought of her recently when we found a jackdaw in the shed when we were clearing out the Old Man’s place the other day. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged blackbird, peas, sparrow, sparrows, The Birds, Tippi Hedren, tomato, tomatoes | Leave a comment

The Dry

Posted on July 24, 2018 by midlifegardener

Two weeks ago I started this post. I don’t know what got in the way of me completing it. Perhaps it was the end of term which passed in a whir of school trips, successive cover lessons involving repeat showings … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged beans, blueberries, blueberry, carrots, cavolo nero, courgettes, french beans, greenhouse, hose pipe, hosepipe, kale, lettuce, mangetout, runner beans, Salad, sunflower, tomato, tomatoes | Leave a comment

The First Lift

Posted on June 13, 2018 by midlifegardener

These are the days of miracle and wonder, as Paul Simon once sang. The garden is starting to produce, and all the fastidious work sowing seeds, potting on, planting out, weeding, hoeing and slaughtering snails, begins to pay off. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged Alyce Fowler, Belle de Fontenay, kale, new potatoes, pennard plants, potatoes, slugs, Swift | Leave a comment

Going Soft or hard?

Posted on June 5, 2018 by midlifegardener

A long dry May was rudely interrupted at the end by wet weather which was very welcome in the garden. The veg beds seemed to visibly relax in the damp atmosphere and the plants all shot up as a result … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | Tagged f1, peas, rain, trainers, weeding, wellies | Leave a comment

Hundreds Feared Lost

Posted on May 18, 2018 by midlifegardener

Tens – possibly hundreds – of seedlings were feared lost in a tragic mudslide caused by the collapse of a stand holding a number of seed trays. The flower seedlings had previously suffered slug damage, and in an effort to … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening Times | 1 Comment