A healthy and productive garden can’t help but be beautiful!
I try to recycle and re-use as much as I can in the garden – to be as self-sufficient as possible and I don’t use any harmful sprays or chemical fertilizers. This is the basis of organic gardening – Nature’s way. I hope that by sharing my experience and knowledge you too will become a better gardener.
If you want to find information about any of the topics listed below just click on it but I suggest you start here; My Top Ten Tips for Starting a Food Garden.
UNDERSTANDING PLANT FAMILIES
ALL ABOUT SOILS
- Earthworms (In Praise of the Humble Earthworm)
- Fertilizers (Soil Nutrition)
- Green Manures
- Grow Your own Mulch
- Marigolds – do they prevent soil pests? (Soil: Nematodes and pH problems)
- Nematodes (unwelcome soil organisms)
- Nitrogen Fixers
- pH: Why understanding pH will make you a better gardener
- The Power of Lightning – all about the atmospheric nitrogen cycle
Soil: Nematodes and pH Problems - Soil Nutrition: When, How, What to Feed the Soil
- Soils: Tropical soils and fertility
- Understanding Soils
PESTS AND PEST CONTROL
- Anthracnose and Black Spot of Papaya
- Cabbage White Butterfly (Pest Control and Companion Planting)
- Fruit Fly Baits: Home Pest Control
- Oil Spray-for controlling sap sucking insects
- Organic Gardening: Why Pesticides are Harmful
- Papaya: What is Wrong with my Papaya? (Anthracnose and Black Spot)
- Pest Control and Companion Planting
- Powdery Mildew – Control with Milk
- Sooty Mould
TOP FOOD PLANTS FOR THE SUBTROPICS
- Amaranth.
- Bananas: Care and Maintenance
- Betel Leaf.
- Butter Beans/Madagascar Bean
- Finger Lime
- Lemon Grass.
- Parsley.
- Purslane.
- Rhubarb
- Snake Beans.
- Tamarillo
- Tomatoes – my top tips for success
- Turmeric.
- Yacon
- Seasonal Planting Guide for subtropical ANNUAL and PERENNIAL food plants.
CITRUS
- Australian Finger Lime
- Citrus: HOW and WHEN to Prune them
- Citrus: Planting, Feeding, Mulching
- Citrus: Pests and Diseases (aphids, scale, mealy bug, sooty mould)
- Citrus: Pest and Diseases (caterpillars and crickets)
COMPOSTING AND FERTILIZERS
- Backyard Composting
- Comfrey: The Gardeners Friend
- Compost Activators (see Compost and Comfrey)
- Compost Tea: Put a Bit of Magic in you Garden!
- Hot Composting
GARDEN DESIGN
- April in the Garden: Autumn Planting Guide
- August garden – what to pick and what to plant in the winter garden
- Be a rebel – start a Food Garden!
- Climbing Plants for the sub-tropics
- Companion Planting and Crop Rotation
- Edible Hedges
- Green Walls
- Herbs: How to Grow them in old Containers
- Meadows – Why everyone should have one
- No-Dig Garden Beds
- Top Ten Tips for Starting a Food Garden
- Topiary: Taking it to another level
- Trees: Troubleshooting, Care and Maintenance
- White Flowers: The Fragrant Garden
PROPAGATION
BEAUTIFUL PLANTS
- Bat Flower Tacca integrifolia
- Bridal Veil Clerodendrum walichii
- Camellia japonica ‘Prince Frederick William’
- Desert Rose Adenium obesum
- Eucharis Lily
- Gardenias – Which one to chose and how to care for them
- Golden Penda
- Hippeastrum
- Snail Vine
- Tibouchinas – which one to chose and how to care for them
- White Flowers
GREAT GARDENS
- Blickling Hall, Norfolk, UK
- Chelsea Flower Show, UK
- Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, UK
- Great Dixter, East Sussex UK
- Lullingstone Castle ‘World Garden’, Kent, UK
- Singapore Botanic Gardens
- Sissinghurst, Kent UK
BIRDS and the BEES
