People, Plants + Places

Mulching.  We’re at it again! It was only just before Christmas that we were talking about spreading compost on the flower borders.  It’s something we’re passionate about.  A decade of...

When we first moved into the cottage at Genus HQ it had a functional but extremely ugly concrete garage.  It’s the first thing we see on our return home and...

Gardeners are an optimistic bunch, never put off by failures, always trying again, and always looking to the future.  Small but barely noticeable signs at Genus HQ have made us...

As you read this, galanthomania is sweeping the country and keen snowdrop fans, or galanthophiles, are dropping to their knees to inspect the delicate petals of some of the rarer...

Every six months we renovate our mulched tree circles in the orchard at Genus HQ.  Weeds are removed, the edges clipped with our trusty French Bahco shears, and a top...

Winter gardens concentrate the mind.  It’s the detail that counts.  Whether peering at the delicate formation of a snowdrops perianth, the frosted hairs on brittle seed heads, or the last...

Stepping out the back door of Genus HQ last week we were slapped in the face by wind and cold driving rain.  As devotees of performance gardenwear we weren’t going to let...

A day in the fruit cage beckoned this week.  The blackcurrants  have responded well to a complete cut back and renovation that we gave them in late 2019.  A wealth...

It’s that time of year again and the search for Christmas gifts at full throttle.  Gardeners past enjoyed a now familiar set of innovative products bought as special gifts.  During...

With the Genus borders planted up with tulips and wallflowers we were finally able to get on with mulching. This has been an annual operation  since we moved here over ten years...

We had our first real frost last week.  Not a surprise for late November but still a bit of a shock.  It turned out to be a day of bits...

The first thing you learn when using ‘black’ plants in the garden is that they’re rarely black; dark reds, purples, and sometimes dark blues are usually the norm.  Despite this,...

‘Hands up who likes blackfly’?  No, we don’t either.  They often appear suddenly in the garden and can cause several problems that need to be dealt with.The bean aphid Aphis...

We love Aeonium ‘Zwartcop’.  It’s a tender branching succulent that can grow up to 1.2 metres high and is a perfect specimen to have as an architectural centrepiece in pots...

Good weather last week enabled us to get several hundred tulips planted in the borders at Genus HQ.  This week we overplanted the tulips with the wallflowers that were sown...

We’re planting several hundred tulips this week.  Hooray!! They arrived several weeks ago but we’ve been trying to make space in the beds to plant them.  We’ve gone for some...

Ornamental grasses are extremely popular with gardeners in the UK.  With their height, movement, and colour they easily earn their place in any garden.  Last week could well have been...

Some days at Genus HQ have to be more about the infrastructure than the plants, so this week we put aside a day to complete a few practical tasks that...

It’s getting colder, the leaves are falling fast and it’s time to tidy up dead and tatty growth and prepare for winter. Protect slightly tender herbaceous plants like penstemon or Verbena bonariensis...

Ordering  spring bulbs is an exciting job.  An evening in with the fire lit, a cat on your lap, and bulb catalogues spread all around.  Perfect!!  But it’s not until...

It’s at this time of year that we realise the garden here at Genus HQ, whilst still retaining colour in the flower borders, is lacking colour elsewhere, particularly in the...