Ashbury Gardening

09/06/2026

This is the back hedge in my own garden. It is not just a boundary or a green backdrop: it is home to blackbirds, robins, wrens, dunnocks, t**s, and a pair of goldfinches.

Spring and summer are not only the gardener’s season. They are also the nesting season.

A hedge in June left untrimmed, containing nests of blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, wrens, t**s, and a pair of goldfinches

02/05/2026

https://ashburygardening.co.uk/about-the-franklin-nights/

The thousand year fear of dangerous frosts damaging the cider apple harvest in the west country

Franklin Nights belong to the West country, and are normally between the 19th to the 21st May.

26/04/2026

New on the Ashbury Gardening blog: practical advice on growing a lemon tree in Britain — choosing the right pot, compost, feeding, watering, and above all getting it through winter.

How to grow a lemon tree at home.

30/03/2026

A new post on the Ashbury Gardening site:
When a garden quietly becomes too much.

There comes a point — sometimes suddenly, more often gradually — when a garden begins to ask more than it gives.

26/03/2026

https://ashburygardening.co.uk/designing-and-living-with-clematis/?v=2

21/03/2026

From the archive: Second post on garden design

When faced with a new garden space — or an old one that has been neglected — there is a natural temptation to want a finished plan straight away. This is

20/03/2026

From the archive: approaching the garden design process.

A garden design does not start with drawings. It begins with understanding the owner and the site. Thoughts on the real design process from Ashbury Gardening.

20/03/2026

New on the site: Spring rising out of the wet.

In mid February, while I am writing this, we’ve left behind that period after Christmas during which the days seem barely to lengthen; the evenings are

20/03/2026

New on the site: Clematis without confusion — growing and pruning made simpler.

Clematis are often thought difficult because of their pruning rules. In reality the three pruning groups are very simple once the plants are understood.

20/03/2026

A new post on colour, planting, and the role of red in the garden.

Gardeners spend half their lives managing colour schemes… and the other half being cheerfully misled by plant names.