
Are primroses the perfect spring flower? They love the damp and are good to eat too
- Gardens
- March 2, 2019, 00:00
I spotted the first flush of wild primroses flowering in nearby woods a few weeks ago. Speckled along the edges of a steep, damp bank that sits beneat(...)

End of season in the kitchen garden: tidy up and get ready for next year
- Gardens
- October 6, 2018, 00:00
If you’re a keen kitchen gardener, you’ll know it has been an exceptionally challenging year for people who like to grow a little of their own food, f(...)

A Kildare hospice garden that soothes the soul
- Gardens
- August 25, 2018, 00:00
As so many of us already have already discovered to our benefit, the therapeutic benefits of gardens are beyond doubt. They are spaces that allow us (...)

How to plant a perfect window box – and then keep it alive
- Gardens
- June 23, 2018, 06:00
I recently made the mistake of smugly pointing out to an old, non-gardening friend of mine that her summer window box could, with just a little TLC, b(...)

The guilt-free way to fill your vases? Grow a flower patch
- Gardens
- April 7, 2018, 06:00
If you love gardening, then you probably also love growing flowers. But as for picking them? Let’s just say that I have countless gardening frie(...)

Our cool, rainy climate is heaven for sexed-up slugs
- Gardens
- March 3, 2018, 06:00
We need to talk about slugs. Worse still, we need to talk about the sex life of slugs. Yes, yes, I know, as subject matters go, it’s about as alluring(...)

Christmas Star, Carmen, Snow Queen: an amaryllis for everyone
- Gardens
- October 7, 2017, 08:00
It’s a funny old business, gardening. So much of it involves planning for the future that it sometimes feels as if we gardeners live our lives in two (...)