What's new, what's growing, what we're learning. Updates, guides and stories for people who take their garden seriously.
Lots of blossom, hardly any fruit: we walk through the most common causes one by one, from a missing pollination partner to late frost, nitrogen and biennial bearing, so you can find the right one for your tree.
Wormy plums are almost always the work of the plum moth. Once you understand its two generations and flight periods, you can cut the damage sharply with a pheromone trap, a trunk band and autumn hygiene, entirely without chemicals.
The golden cape gooseberry is a perennial that we usually grow as an annual. Here is how to sow it right, ripen the fruit, and overwinter the rootstock for an earlier harvest in the second year.
Two exotic nut trees, two very different stories: the pecan needs wine-country heat, the heartnut shrugs off brutal winters. An honest take on who should bother waiting.
The almond is the first fruit tree to flower each year, often as early as February. How to protect it from late frost, which variety suits your garden, and why sweet versus bitter decides between pleasure and danger.
Three rare native wild fruit trees from the Sorbus genus: service tree, wild service tree and rowan. Why they demand patience, how to plant them and what to make from their tart fruit.
Two exotic gourds that shrug off mildew better than the garden cucumber: the grape-sized cucamelon and the stuffable achocha. An eye-catcher along the fence, started indoors from CW 16 and planted out from mid-May.
The nashi looks like an apple, tastes like a pear and stays crisp instead of going soft. Here is how to plant the Asian pear, why you need two varieties and when the best harvest day arrives.
Okra is a heat-loving vegetable from Africa that only crops here with a head start and a heat trap. Here is how to start it indoors from March, build the right spot, and harvest the pods young and tender.
