Busy Lizzie Gardening

Busy Lizzie Gardening Friendly, professional gardener based in the South Petherton area of beautiful Somerset. Happy to help with all your general gardening needs.

Please contact me with any questions you may have.

This morning was spent in my client’s greenhouse to avoid the drizzle. Thankfully there’s lots to do in there. I checked...
16/03/2026

This morning was spent in my client’s greenhouse to avoid the drizzle. Thankfully there’s lots to do in there. I checked through the dahlia tubers that we stored over then winter and then tidied them up. A huge mass of Dahlia Verrone’s Obsidian was split into six smaller clumps. I then potted them up with free draining compost, watered, and placed in the greenhouse ready for the shoots to emerge. I am loving how full the greenhouse is with seedlings and new growth. Such an inspiring time of year.

My little propagation station at home. I’ve decided to fill my raised beds with cut flowers this year rather than my usu...
08/03/2026

My little propagation station at home. I’ve decided to fill my raised beds with cut flowers this year rather than my usual veg. I have been making use of one of my client’s greenhouses to get things started but this weekend I dug out my heated propagator. I’ve set up a grow light above and hopefully this will mean I can get even more seeds started. These will be split between my own garden, friends and clients. I’m getting more excited about spring every day….!

Monday morning was a battle against the rabbits. This garden adjoins open fields and the rabbits love coming in and eati...
26/02/2026

Monday morning was a battle against the rabbits. This garden adjoins open fields and the rabbits love coming in and eating the tender new shoots. We’ve tried all sorts of deterrents but these wire cages are the only things that work. They’ll stay there until the plants have enough growth that they can cope with a bit of nibbling. Not the prettiest but it’s worth it in the long run.

I had a mixed morning in the garden today. I finished pruning the formal rose garden then started on tidying up the mixe...
16/02/2026

I had a mixed morning in the garden today. I finished pruning the formal rose garden then started on tidying up the mixed border. The ground is so wet that I decided to take a break and do some tool maintenance. I use a mix of my own equipment and the owners here so I thought it would be nice to give their tools some attention. Today I worked on the edging shears. I started by using Niwaki Clean Mate to clean off last year’s dirt and rust. I then sharpened them up with a sharpening stone and finished with a good wipe over with camellia oil. I forgot to take a picture of the finished result but they are nice and clean and sharp now ready for a new season of edging!

Some of my garden highlights of 2025. What a year! This year in my office job has been beyond tough, at times almost unb...
31/12/2025

Some of my garden highlights of 2025. What a year! This year in my office job has been beyond tough, at times almost unbearable. I experienced some of the most toxic and unpleasant behaviour by a bully and a narcissist who claimed to be a wonderful manager. But out of that experience, and with the support of some wonderful people (IYKYK), I managed to ‘remember my worth’, call out their behaviour, and ultimately find a much happier place to be. But throughout all of this I always had my garden and those of my wonderful gardening clients. I describe gardening as my happy place, but this year it has also been my therapy and a gentle space to try to process the emotions of what was going on elsewhere. I am so grateful for this and for having to opportunity to do this as my job, albeit part time. Thank you to my amazing gardening clients and to all those who helped me this year. I actually cannot wait to start afresh in 2026. Happy New Year!! 🌸 ###

I love pruning climbing roses. There is something so unbelievably satisfying in unpicking a year’s growth and finding th...
10/12/2025

I love pruning climbing roses. There is something so unbelievably satisfying in unpicking a year’s growth and finding the basic framework hidden away. It really is one of my favourite jobs of the year. I think I post a variation of this ‘before and after’ every year so I do apologise, but I just find it so satisfying! This is the first of many to do with the bulk of the rose pruning being done in February before the start of spring.

I’m a bit behind where I would normally like to be at this time of year. The recent rain means I’ve not been able to get...
08/12/2025

I’m a bit behind where I would normally like to be at this time of year. The recent rain means I’ve not been able to get as much done in November and December as I usually would. Today I braved the showers to dig up the last of the dahlias. As the soil in this garden is heavy clay we prefer to lift, clean, and store the tubers as the chance of them rotting in the ground is too high. Once dry we store them in the greenhouse tucked away in boxes filled with shredded paper. This is what we’ve done for the last few years and the dahlias have responded so well, filling the raised beds with beautiful colour right up to the first hard frost.

Yesterday morning was spent clearing the dahlia and asparagus beds ready for winter. We’ve been waiting for the asparagu...
03/12/2025

Yesterday morning was spent clearing the dahlia and asparagus beds ready for winter. We’ve been waiting for the asparagus to die back before cutting it down and giving the bed a good w**d. I removed some of the leaves but left a lot as it’s a good over winter mulch. They protect the soil from erosion, provide a good habitat for insects, and help to improve the soils structure. All of this hopefully means more asparagus and dahlias next year!

Dalia Café au Lait. My dahlias have been slow to get going this year but they are finally in full bloom now. Café au Lai...
28/09/2025

Dalia Café au Lait. My dahlias have been slow to get going this year but they are finally in full bloom now. Café au Lait never fail make me smile. It’s so ridiculously big and blousy. Not my usual taste at all but somehow it wins me over each year. It’s particularly beautiful as a cut flower with is pale peachy tones really popping again the dark purple walls of my living room. The vase is actually a traditional Dutch tulip vase but it’s pretty good at showing off dahlias too!

A new project in today’s garden. This long, walled border has clearly been a lovely garden at some point but has been ne...
19/08/2025

A new project in today’s garden. This long, walled border has clearly been a lovely garden at some point but has been neglected for some time. It was overrun with bindw**d and ground elder with only a few plants left from its former glory. We are going to dig it over to remove as many of the w**ds as possible, fill it with lots of new plants, and mulch thickly with bark. In front of this is a much smaller bed with a beautiful white hibiscus, camellia, and peony. I’ve cleared the w**ds to give the plants space. Once we have some rain I will edge the bed properly which will always helps to smarten things up. It’s a big project but it’s exciting to get going.

A morning spent apple pruning today. Summer fruit pruning is usually more applicable to restricted forms such as espalie...
18/08/2025

A morning spent apple pruning today. Summer fruit pruning is usually more applicable to restricted forms such as espalier or cordons, however this standard apple tree needed some work. After some neglect and previous poor pruning technique it was hard pruned in the winter. This resulted in lots of new growth, water shoots, and not many apples. I’ve cut out any unwanted new shoots and cleared the centre to help form the classic ‘goblet’ shape. The remaining new shoots were cut back to a couple of leaves to promote fruiting spurs for next year. Whilst winter pruning promotes growth, summer pruning inhibits it but allows shaping and the formation of next year’s flower buds. Fingers crossed we will have more than the four apples that were on the tree this year!

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South Petherton

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 12:30pm

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