JM Coetze and his garden…

I would love to have the opportunity to work on JM Coetze’s garden in South Africa and where he currently lives in Australia. I’m sure he has magnificent gardens and would be delighted to have an Irish man who is an unknown gardener to be his gardener. From the research I’ve done on JM Coetze he seems to spurn publicity and prefers to lead a quiet life writing his highly interesting novels and lecturing at university. One of his most famous books is called Life & and Times of Michael K. Look up his work this author is definitely worth a read. Thank

you Louis for first mentioning JM Coetze all those months ago as an excellent writer that one should definitely read.

14 winter-preparation tips for your lawn and garden

14 winter-preparation tips for your lawn and garden

A little attention to your garden in the autumn and early winter can make it look great the rest of the year. Now is the time to get mulching.

1. Feed that lawn

2. Repair summer’s damage

3. Don’t put away the hose

4. Go easy on the pruning

5. Don’t give up on the vegetable garden yet

6. Cover that plot

7. Transplant away

8. Mulch, part I

9. Making the (flower) beds

10. Mulch, part II

11. Clean the pond

12. Put your fish on a diet

13. Check pond equipment

14. Think spring

Another tip: Now is a good time to go shopping for plants. I suggest buying perennials that are in bloom now, so you know what they’ll look like later. That could mean hearty perennials like yarrow and asters. Check the RHS’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map to see what will thrive in your part of the country.Finally, It’s also a good time to take stock of what plants did well and what plants didn’t. Forewarned is forearmed and this applies to gardeners and indeed anyone doing anything of value.

Geoff Hamilton’s Barnsdale Collection

Recently a friend of mine at work gave me a loan of a video tape which contains Geoff Hamilton’s Barnsdale Collection. This video collection features extracts from the BBC Gardeners’ World TV series in which Geoff Hamilton demonstrates season by season all the essential gardening techniques – from pruning to propagation, from laying paving to tending lawns; essential practical information for new gardeners and those with more experience.

Geoff also shows how to make your own stream, how to build two different herb gardens – one traditional, the other modern. He then shows how to create a rockless rock garden.

All the profits from the sale of this video go to Geoff Hamilton’s New Gardeners Foundation to fund scholarships for young people who want to make a career in gardening.

The following video, hints and tips on creating and planting a secluded garden. This is the final series from the much-loved gardener, author and presenter, who died in 1996.

New Gardening Blog

Yes this is my new gardening blog. I will be updating it several times during the week. I am a gardener & landscape designer based in Dublin, Ireland. I also have another gardening blog: http://gardentales.blogspot.com.

The web is full of fascinating gardening blogs. Please take time to explore what other gardeners are writing about. Gardening & landscape design are not just about people with green fingers and strong backs. Although it does help to have a little bit of both characteristics!
Thanks for dropping by.