Delight is foremost in my mind, when I consider what it is for me to be a gardener. The gardener’s delight is a wondrous thing. What it is to notice with a swoop of joy the swallow darting overhead; to glance across to the busy bees thrumming, jostling, gorging on the nectar that has been planted for them; when I notice the cheeky cocked head of my robin friend and I cock mine back in response. I delight in these moments, these noticings. When I notice the butterfly dancing in the open sun,...

Growing vegetables in a heatwave is certainly a challenge. On extremely hot days, young plants are often sweating out more moisture than they can draw up through their newly planted roots. How can we help them get established?

It’s been a tough year. It feels a little like our gardens form a metaphor this year for the world outside, for the political upheaval, for the stories of flash floods and forest fires. Outside of the human world and the wider environment, in the microcosm of the garden, communities of plants are also in turmoil. Some are thriving despite another hot and dry summer season. Others, just like many human communities right now, or like many of us as individuals, are facing their own quiet...