Gardens and Allotments

About James Alexander-Sinclair

jamesalexandersinclair

I am a professional gardener and have been for about half my life. I spend much of my time mooching around the country designing gardens for some charming people, writing about my experiences for some fine publications and talking about gardening to some lively audiences (both in person and, occasionally, on television). Sounds like a pretty blissful life and, most of the time, it is: this blog is to serve as a repository of a collection of musings. Some about plants, some about gardens, some about weather, some about Shows and some about the completely random stuff that affects us all. I have another blog at http://web.me.com/blackpittsgarden

Recent posts by ‘James Alexander-Sinclair’

Farewell Summer

In the orchard we are about to be overcome by a glut of apples even though we only have three trees. The first to fruit is usually Spartan which has quite small red apples which shine up as glossiul... Read more

Olives.

What Olives need more than anything is sharp drainage, they will die very quickly if they have to sit in wet clay all winter. In the wild they grow on stony hillsides so the rain whisks past them at... Read more

Growing plums

I’m sure lots of you have plum trees: probably Victoria plums - a sensible choice as they are easy to grow and exceedingly generous to boot... Read more

Apps for Gardeners

Many of us have smartphones of one shape or another and even more have computers (at least anybody who is even faintly likely to read this must have one) and there is garden based technology out ther... Read more

Cuttings

Okay. I admit it, it’s a fair cop, guv. I am not an avid propagator. If I need new plants I tend to go out and buy them from local nurseries rather than growing them from seed or cuttings. The... Read more

Dividing Iris

I am sure that many of you grow bearded Iris - if you do not then you should be ashamed of yourselves. They are amongst the very best flowers for May and June. If you have a hot dry border then they a... Read more

Wasps? What Are They Good For….?

This year, because of the heatwave, there are lots of Wasps about and, up until now, they have been minding their own business.... Read more

Gardens and Beaches

I have spent the last week on a small (about eight miles long) island called Colonsay off the West coast of Scotland. Basically you go to Oban, get on a ferry and sail out into the Atlantic for two an... Read more

Let The Train…

I enjoy trains. The whole idea of the world whizzing by as you sit in a , slightly scratchy, seat gazing meaningfully out of the window. At this time of the year the embankments are green and the tree... Read more

A Fuzziness Of Apricots

An Apricot tree sounds terribly exotic and more suited to the South of France than the Midlands but they are hardier than you think. They are also remarkably attractive trees with gorgeous flowers and... Read more