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Customer Trial Member Profile – Steve Woodward

You may already be familiar with Steve Woodward’s previous posts on our blog. He is also a member of our customer trial panel, here is his profile…Collecting some produce for a warming stewHi, I am Steve and I live in the East Midlands Derbyshire town of Ilkeston, roughly equal in…

Growing with kids: Mr Men and Little Miss seeds

Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow with childrenImage source: dogwooddays Children love watching plants grow - from that miraculous moment when a tiny seed's first leaves emerge from the ground - to enjoying the flowers and fruits that appear later in the season. Professional garden…

Edible Flowers – useful in any garden

Edible flowers can make a useful and delightful addition to any garden – whether big, small and practical or pretty – they can help boost any garden in question. Edible flowers can be used in a variety of ways and grow easily and quickly for a fast harvest.I decided to use an old tin…

How to store vegetables

Which vegetables will store and how long will they keep? This is an annual dilemma faced by many gardeners. Often the need for storage is caused by gardeners being too generous in their sowings and planting and creating their own ‘gluts’ and ‘surpluses’. Why plant 200 onion…

Plants for a small garden – by our customer Amanda

We moved to our house in September 2003 and decided to dig up our front garden to allow parking for three cars.  It’s made it very low maintenance because although I love lawns they do tend to look parched in hot weather, and being on a water meter I didn’t want to use excessive amounts…

From Rake To Bake - Curried Cauliflower Crunch

Welcome to Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. March is perfect for making Curried Cauliflower Crunch. Cauliflower doesn't have to be boring, there are many different varieties to sow, grow,…

An Amazing May

Hi Everyone, What an amazing May, so hot and dry! Hope this isn't our summer. I have a confession to make - I've not done half as much in the greenhouses as I would usually do. Don't get me wrong, I love being in them, or in my garden, but with limited energy, mobility and dexterity I have not been…

Was buying a house called ‘Brambles’ an omen? (Part three)

Was buying a house called “Brambles” an omen? (Part three)“Every snow drift has a silver lining?” or “Is it true that gardeners are the world’s greatest optimists?”If you are inclined to classify yourself as British on those forms we all have to complete…

From Rake To Bake - Cheats Curry for One

Welcome to Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. June is perfect for making Cheats Curry for One With crops sown in late winter now bursting in the allotment, greenhouse or garden, this month, I…

Customer trial panel member profile – Corinne Brown

Corinne BrownI’m Corinne Brown, a 61year old retired geography teacher. I have been fortunate to have had a garden to play in all my childhood and a garden to tend all my married life (ruby wedding this summer). My husband is the grass cutter, hedge trimmer and maintenance man whilst I am the…

Top tips for family gardens

Get your kids digging in the dirtImage: Oksana Kuzmina Kids have a natural love of nature, but they're easily lured back indoors by screen time. If you'd like to get your children out in the garden for fresh air, learning and fun, we've compiled some great tips courtesy of our favourite family and…

Gardening memories of 2012

Gardening memories of 20122012 was full of gardening memories, not least because of the almost never-ending rain and lack of sunshine. A while ago we asked our Twitter followers and Facebook fans to tweet and post their most memorable moments and got some great comments. We thought we’d turn…

Plants on trial – a sneaky peak

I have always been a fan of over the top, in your face bedding displays and every year I plant out hundreds of plants in beds, pots and baskets. Over the last few years, due to work commitments, I have been finding the up keep a bit difficult.Alstroemeria ‘Planet Mix’Last year I planted…

....And It Was All Going Snow Well!

So I wasn't far out about snowfall on Feb 20th, wasn't I? I had a bad feeling.... . BUT NOT THIS BAD! Would you believe it, yesterday I was on the allotment pruning the blackberry hedge in my shirt sleeves and today I'm back in my thermals! I'm not sure my nerves can stand it! During the first…

Magnificent Magnolias

Get out into gardens now and enjoy the spring performance of magnolias in full bloom Image: magicflute002/Canva Cossetted within their velveteen coats, the buds of magnolia trees are just beginning to unfurl their voluptuous, vase-like blooms and wow crowds with a spectacular spring performance. If…

Best plants for low hedges

Low box hedging surrounding parterre beds at National Trust Wimpole Estate. Image: Canva There are many situations that call for a low hedge. It could be a formal edging to a border or path, a way to divide up a small garden into separate areas without cramping the space, a structural backdrop to…

SowStrong® – A Natural Way to Growing Success

SowStrong® – A Natural Way to Growing SuccessThe coloured coating allows a precise sowingNew and exclusive to Thompson & Morgan in 2013 is the new SowStrong® range. Featured in the 12th January issue of Amateur Gardening, these vegetable seeds have been coated with 100% natural and…

What grew in the garden

Looking for something new to try in your garden next year?Image: Shelli Jensen This spring, we asked five of our favourite garden bloggers if they were planning anything new and exciting over the summer. Their responses varied from experiments with onions to enticing a hedgehog into their garden,…

Blogs to inspire you to grow your own

Beginner or experienced veg grower? Sharing tips helps produce bumper cropsImage: Shutterstock Food you grow yourself is fresh, healthy, and nutritious, but if you're new to gardening, it's not always easy to know where to start. If you're wondering whether you have the space or the knowhow to grow…

Best flowering hedges

Guelder Rose hedging has beautiful flowers in the spring, and vibrant red berries in the autumn Image: Guelder Rose (Hedging) from Thompson & Morgan Hedges are generally viewed as practical but dull garden workhorses, marking boundaries and screening ugly vistas or providing a plain backdrop to…

Are you feeling the Love yet?

I'm just not feeling the love! Apart from sloping off to the greenhouse every few days to check on the cuttings (progress not great. ) I've done nothing NOTHING, I TELL YOU! Oh the guilt! I've come up with every excuse: it's too wet, too cold, too early, too late. Apart from one manic flurry of…

Zany Zinnias!

Zinnia varieties come in deliciously fruity shades Image: Canva I'm an unabashed lover of zinnias. There is something about the luminosity of their colours and their unique shape - a ruff of stiff petals surrounding a central cone which is crowned with star-shaped golden florets - which I find…

A Tyranny of Pots

® Thompson & Morgan - Seed SowingLately I've been thinking about this Plastics recycling issue; it's really starting to bother me. Everywhere I look I see plastic pots, black ones, terracotta ones, grey ones, yellow, green, blue ones. The collective noun for pots is a stack of pots or a row of…

10 Best Plants for Curb Appeal

Some of the best plants for curb appeal are both attractive and low-maintenance, making them ideal for part-time gardeners who are also full-time plant lovers. Use this fact to your advantage, whatever your reason for sprucing up your curb. Your front yard will return the investment manifold in the…

Hedges for Wildlife

Go native and plant the ultimate wildlife hotel! Winter is the perfect time for hedge planting, and if you seriously want to put conservation into action, planting a native hedge is an easy and effective way to help some of our most threatened UK species. For most of us, large trees and woodland…

Veg growing tips from the experts

Keep your veg plot brimming over with delicious produce with these handy tips!Image: Steffi Pereira From one man who likes his veg Tudor style to another who loves to grow Tomatillos, and on to other green fingered folk with handy hints to share, here we bring you awesome veg growing tips from…

Garden Jobs for June

There are always things to do in your gardens throughout the year, big or small; you can always be tending to your garden. One of the pleasures of gardening is that it isn’t just a seasonal hobby and it can be enjoyed all year whether sun or rain. We have put together a guide for you…

New flower and vegetable seed range available online

Our new 2013 seed range is now available and we’ve added more than 140 new seed varieties!Sweet Pea PromiseSweet Pea ‘Promise’With its unique red and white bicolour blooms, this fragrant beauty is perfect not only in exhibitions, but also as a cut flower. It was bred by Roger…

How to create beautiful displays with annual flowers

Nigella damascena provides a beautiful display all summer longImage source: Shutterstock Once March arrives, Nic Wilson's potting shed is launched into action as her annual flower seeds come out. Here, the experienced gardener behind dogwooddays talks to us about the many roles that annual flowers…

12 more gardening YouTubers

Get your gardening questions answered by some of the best green-fingered YouTubersImage: Elnur Are you always on the lookout for inspiring and informative gardening YouTube channels? Last time we featured some of the best gardeners of the vlogosphere, we were overwhelmed by your response. Here…

Pass Me My WW1 Trenching Tool

Oh but wasn't I right - as the nights draw in we wistfully reminisce about the long hot summer of 2018. Get over it! Time to move on! And move on we have; half the garden is enjoying the extrovert opulence of autumn and half, well, the other half has been dug up! The prospect of a year out of…

Customer trial panel member profile – Joy Gough

Joy Gough has just joined our blogging team of customer trial members and talks about her gardening experiences.Joy GoughMy name is Joy, I am totally new to this blogging, so please bear with me, just like gardening it is a process of learning as you go.Our garden started with 2 bought tomato…

Beat the slugs

Protect your garden from these troublesome gastropods Image: Dmitri_ESTONIA_TALLINN/shutterstock Slugs are officially the gardener's No 1 enemy. Turn your back for a gardening moment, and these tough-skinned terrestrial molluscs will completely shred new shoots and tender lettuces. Given that they…

From Rake To Bake - Leek Muffins

Welcome to February's Baking Blog. Each month will feature an in-season fruit or vegetable dish to make with a little bit of grow-your-own information on the side. February is perfect for making Leek Muffins. Have you ever wondered why Welsh fans carry inflatable leeks to Rugby or Football matches?…

The Suffolk Show 2014

The Suffolk Show 2014 will be taking place on May 28th and 29th at Trinity Park, Ipswich. The Suffolk Show has become the county’s largest 2 day pop-up family event and the organisers, Suffolk Agricultural Association, like to ensure that it is one of the best family events in the UK.For the…

Living Green: Growing Your Own Vegetables

We all know how tasty fresh vegetables are in meals and salads. However, no matter how well you seem to time your visits to the grocery store, finding the freshest of produce is mostly by sheer luck. Growing your own vegetables gives you a break from grocery store trips while ensuring that you…

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