Log (12) Log 1 - 4th Jan 2008

[Martin Baxendale]

Those must be some of the neatest and tidiest glasshouses I've ever seen outside Wisley or a botanic garden! You must both have far too much spare time on your hands! Maybe I should post a pic of my grotty plastic-roofed lean-too - it's almost as untidy and messy as my office (and that's saying something).

Smokey the cat is lovely, but the others look a bit evil-intentioned, like they're just looking for some nice soft earth to scratch and pooh in.

And do you realise how many bulbs you could fit into the space being monopolised by that prostrate conifer!?! Get it out!

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Martin,
Thanks for the kind comment, but spare time - what's that? It's precisely because we don't have enough time that the greenhouses are so neat with all that space between pots. If we crammed plants in with pots touching like most people do (and we always have in the past!) there would be twice as many plants to care for and we simply do not have the time to do that. My collections had actually become unmanageable in the time available, so this year I have been asking myself what do I really want to grow - and what can I live without? So the collections have been getting smaller as I remove the less essential plants. This leaves space to grow the remainder as you see them. My motto - both at Wisley and at home - has become "grow fewer but grow them better".

I have to confess Smokey the cat is my favorite. She is a lovely colour and a nice temperament. And don't woory about that conifer; when we start developing the garden proper that is top of the list of things to go! meanwhile, until we have time for that, it makes a great weed suppressant!

[David Nicholson]

Nice set up Paul,  and because I'm restricted to one 8 x 6 I'm envious of the space. It looks nice and flat tooand I speak as one who gardens on a steep slope.