tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25711004172422382112024-03-08T20:16:35.174+00:00Roger Brook - the no dig gardenerRoger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.comBlogger477125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-73403748749207790232020-06-28T10:18:00.001+01:002020-06-28T10:18:41.957+01:00Problems with SpamWe have been getting increased amount of spam in the comments over the last few months so have now changed the settings. If you do wish to leave a genuine comment, you will be able to do so if you join the Blog as a follower. We know this is a bit of a faff and a pain the neck, so thank you to those interested readers who take the time to join.
Cathi (moderator)Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-89822986047427000692020-04-02T15:35:00.000+01:002020-04-02T17:40:34.482+01:00The remarkable role of viruses in a new look at Evolution
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Grey squirrels live in close harmony with a virus that is deadly to its rival, the red squirrel
Evolution is much more complicated than we once thought. Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-86533947709454355132020-02-29T05:52:00.000+00:002020-02-29T05:52:49.564+00:00Companion planting, is it just tosh or is there something in it?
By all means mix plants together and avoid monoculture but read on...
It is all very complexCompanion planting is usually associated with pest control that arises from planting two or more different plant subjects together. The concept can be extended to the idea of plants being mutually beneficial to each other in other ways such as combined yield increase or giving each other a protected Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-54001462523522035602020-02-11T09:09:00.000+00:002020-02-18T08:11:36.624+00:00Stress from the floods
Roger and Cathi's garden. It got much worse than this
Drain Strain
September 2019
As I write this we have no idea how it will end. A huge lake has invaded our garden. It might be only 30 cm deep but it covers more than a hectare. It covers half of Cathi’s garden and continues on over her fields. Its total volume must be more than a million litres.
Each time in rains yet again the lake’s level Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-39173902585996709782020-01-29T08:39:00.001+00:002020-02-18T08:16:43.905+00:00 Plants that become weeds
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Who wants a twenty acre wood of cardiocrinum?
Garden plants that take over
Horse radish is very difficult to eliminate
The press reported when Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-33561763336972952172020-01-12T09:33:00.000+00:002020-01-12T09:33:03.961+00:00What makes a gardener?
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What greater pleasure than to breed a new plant
I don’t mean what makes a successful gardener, I mean what makes many people just want to grow plants. SomeRoger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-31633275736813040522020-01-01T08:59:00.002+00:002020-01-02T08:50:27.581+00:00My throw and grow colour kaleidoscope - Year TwoThe problems of continuity
An early splurge of orange - other colours followed
Last year I posted about my new hardy annual feature and if you missed it, it is best to read it now. (You will be able to click back)It was naughty of me to call it a meadow. It is really just a hardy annual border but one managed on naturalistic lines. I did mix in a little fescue Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-70415150102623593722019-12-19T08:49:00.001+00:002019-12-19T08:49:12.912+00:00Airborne weeds: creeping thistle
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Mainly about thistles
Fluffy fiend
It has been my wont to quote ‘One years seeding - seven years weeding’ in my effort to encourage gardeners into a Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-62187239924564485102019-12-07T14:14:00.000+00:002019-12-07T16:47:27.480+00:00Passing three millionNot so dizzy heights
Cathi, blogmeister and young Crumb who parrots the prose
I check my blog statistics from blogger every day. Sad really. Initial pride has dissolved into habit and indeed my figures have been static for several years now. It is useful to see what my readers are reading and I can try and write what might be popular but other than that my numbers do no more than satisfy my Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-28380463729903063612019-11-22T15:25:00.000+00:002019-11-22T15:41:38.309+00:00 Getting your minerals
Eat healthy
Spoiler alert, if you eat plenty of fruit, nuts and vegetables as part of a healthy diet there is (usually) no need for supplementation.
Once again I am indebted to James Wong for an interesting article in his column in the New Scientist that suggests to me a blog topic. He has written an excellent piece about the nutritional value of trendy ‘ancient wheats’ compared to modern Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-2274742403705740492019-11-08T07:48:00.000+00:002019-11-08T08:05:24.433+00:00Pictures of a church and a garden
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Churchyard always open, church open all day
When David Beckham scored the goal, John Giles got the picture. As a professional sports photographer the poor Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-78314908344012530382019-10-28T08:31:00.003+00:002019-10-28T09:13:28.316+00:00 Hybridisation is more important in evolution than we have been led to believe
How things began (for me)
I remember how I avidly devoured a series of school programmes called ‘How things began’. I want to say pre-school but on reflection it might have been in the school holidays. (On further reflection school programmes did not go out in the holidays - the timing is not a false memory).I started a lifetime of intense interest in evolution - although actually it Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-77109031500033981592019-10-14T12:38:00.001+01:002019-10-14T12:47:22.277+01:00Getting rid of Japanese knotweed quickly and cheaply(?)
The most expensive plant in your garden
Everything is relative. A year would be ‘quickly’. As to ‘cheaply’ I mean compared to a second mortgage to pay a contractor to eliminate JKW (I will call it) before you can sell your house.
It is in the news again relative to invaded railway properties and creeping into adjacent gardens.
Of course it is over-hyped. Worse plant dangers can threaten your Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-23982765065215928382019-10-03T15:38:00.000+01:002019-10-03T15:40:47.401+01:00Batty about battery electric (in the garden)
My Black and Decker battery electric hedge trimmer
Remember the days of the drama when you cut the cable on your electric hedge trimmer? Remember all those connections as you strove to reach the end of a long hedge or the frustration when the cut out cut in?
Julie has moved on from hand shears
I am afraid I even remember when I cut my hedge with hand shears. (Still used by some expert&Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-30650205025678388352019-09-23T08:23:00.000+01:002019-09-23T08:23:42.132+01:00The curse of compactionSoil compaction is widely misunderstood
Do not walk on this!
When in the garden particles of sand, silt or clay are squashed together by mechanical forces the consequences are dire. Free movement of water, air, roots and worms are severely restricted and often completely impeded.When healthy soil stocked with vegetation settles naturally without being squashed or cultivated when wet with heavyRoger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-68482558496007832372019-09-12T08:21:00.000+01:002020-02-18T08:15:28.100+00:00Faults of Garden Centres
Faint praise for garden centres
My garden visitors often book their lunch at Langlands
Over my life there have been three big changes to how we buy plants
1. Plants are sold in containers which can be bought and - with appropriate caveats - planted all the year round. Not always pot grown, sometimes with such as trees they might be grown in the ground and subsequently containerised . Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-84562227622847297202019-09-01T07:53:00.001+01:002019-09-03T07:39:50.131+01:00A few angles on fertilisers
Remember when considering fertiliser that some gardens do not need any at all
After blogging for seven years I think I have told you all I know about fertilisers. Some of you might have missed old posts and at the end of this post I provide links to those I hope most useful to gardeners.
Useful balanced analysis
Some of my stories might have been lost in the undergrowth and for Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-33888422157164339122019-08-21T07:38:00.000+01:002019-08-21T07:38:11.342+01:00Hand weeding
Pete has lovely Julie's help to remove his weeds (and to design and plant his borders)
I think it a mortal sin to let weeds grow large, shed seed and be yanked out together with good soil and placed in the bin. One way traffic out of the garden. I despise the penance paid when such people (I will not call them gardeners) seek to replace such denudation by buying dubious stuff at Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-23658902042747576832019-08-10T05:31:00.003+01:002019-08-10T05:31:40.936+01:00Planting density - how close should my plants be put together
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I sometimes plant in bold clumps (or unrestricted they become so)
I am indebted to Noel Kingsbury who has written a very fine post entitled ‘Mind the GapRoger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-48929837089663529872019-07-27T12:43:00.003+01:002019-07-27T12:56:41.396+01:00The magic of silicon
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The nutrient that isn’t - but (for the sake of the planet) ought to be
There is more silicon Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-56447176255998343412019-07-17T08:47:00.000+01:002019-07-17T08:47:07.404+01:00Leaving Dahlias in the ground overwinter
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These dahlias have remained in the ground for five years now and.....
... were all raised from seed
The normal way to overwinter dahlias is to Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-86611844197444543412019-07-06T15:31:00.003+01:002019-07-07T08:01:39.094+01:00Not quite gardening without insecticides and fungicides
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In Bolton Percy churchyard for forty years I never used fertiliser, fungicide or slug killer but Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-49995957773513909232019-06-25T08:56:00.001+01:002019-06-25T08:56:26.156+01:00More about lawns
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Mainly about Peter's lawn
Not even half of it
In this my second post in an intermittent series Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-31229709514319078622019-06-14T16:40:00.000+01:002019-06-15T16:25:14.656+01:00Do agricultural chemicals damage the soil?
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Of course Peter Williams' soil is more fertile and contains more organic matter than the farmers'Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571100417242238211.post-57971311824510822192019-06-05T07:39:00.001+01:002019-06-11T07:02:21.635+01:00Myth buster Robert Pavlis is back
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When is the best time to plant snowdrops?
For readers of his Canadian /US myth busting blog he Roger Brook - No Dig Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16210160273591839142noreply@blogger.com4