After several hours collecting fallen leaves we found time to get onto the borders and start cutting back the withered annuals and perennials. Plant supports we hadn’t seen for six...
With guests imminent this week we spent some time putting together a vase for the Genus dining table. Despite being so late in the season and with frosts not far...
There was a change in the air this week with cold starts and artful spider webs adorned with pearls of dew. The low morning sun often above the trees in...
The two greenhouses at Genus HQ received a bit of much needed attention this week. Due to their location next to a small copse, several sycamore branches overhang them and...
Our raised vegetable beds have served us well this year and with a number of them now empty we took the opportunity to carry out repairs. Nearly ten years old,...
About five years ago we planted a hornbeam hedge on the front boundary that faces the lane and our neighbours opposite. Regular mulching and irrigation in the early years meant...
With the imminent arrival of autumn we thought we’d better construct a new bin for the abundance of fallen leaves that we get here at Genus HQ. The upright wooden posts...
At busy times of the year it’s easy for us to forget to enjoy our gardens and spend time simply sitting and looking. Having done just that, we're happy to...
We spent some time in the vegetable garden this week. Comprising more than twenty small raised beds, it’s taken a bit of a back seat in recent weeks and needed some...
As we mentioned last week, some time in the borders tidying, dead heading, and tieing-in would be the order of the day. Many of the dahlias had broken loose from...
We’ve paid the price again for having a few days away from the garden. The lawns are now meadows, the weeds are appearing everywhere, and the perennials in the flower...
Do your gardening clothes look like this? We're fascinated by what people wear when they're gardening. Email us your images and tell us what you like/hate about your clothes. Send...
This picture of leaves may seem unremarkable but it shows encouraging signs for those of us with who enjoy the glorious sight of a horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) in flower...
Fans of alliteration will enjoy recent posts from the Genus garden. Last time The Chelsea Chop. This week The Hampton Hack!! Quite where that name originated we don’t know but it...
We’ve written before about the range of climbing plants that envelop the walls here at Genus HQ. One such plant that we rarely see in other gardens is Schizophragma hydrangeoides...
Just like everyone else we’ve been experiencing extremes of heat in the Genus garden over the last week or two. Heavy rains before it all started have meant that soil...
We spent some time in the Genus greenhouse this week. Early mornings are always best for this operation before the sun creeps over the trees and makes temperatures under glass...
Another lovely week in the Genus garden and once again we're talking staking. Dahlias in particular have reached a point where they could quickly become a mess if high winds...
We’ve been having suspicions for a few weeks. Bark stripped off a pair of Magnolia stellata, a ground cover rose relieved of all its buds, little scuffs dug out around...
Some time was spent in the flower garden this week dealing with plants knocked by the previous week's rain and wind. Tidied up and staked where necessary, we managed to...
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The Genus Garden - Musings From Joff, Our Head Gardener
