Forums Newsletter
Gardening Articles 2007
I've nearly reached the tenth anniversary of garden writing, and still seem to have far too much to say. Gardening can get very repetitive - I hope this doesn't happen to my 2007 gardening articles!
Speaking of repetition, I am allowed to write my yearly 'Have I Got Too Many Roses?' article - though one simple word would answer this question! And gardeners who write about their gardening year are also allowed to buy new garden seats, and shredders, and heaps of new plants. Hee hee. What a great excuse! Enjoy!
Gardens of Plockton...Thu 5th Jul 2007
Plockton, on the west coast of Scotland, is the perfect base for an older-lady garden-tourist visiting the Hghlands. Only intrepid grey-haired adventurers stay here - the road is not suitable (too narrow) for buses and coaches.
Late Roses...Tue 29th May 2007
Three weeks to go until the mid-winter solstice - that's the shortest Moosey day, if not the coldest. My glass-house is already full, sheltering half-hardy perennials and succulents. My roses, however, are still in brilliant bloom.
Rude Gardening Words...Sun 27th May 2007
There are many rude gardening words, though you won't find any youngsters looking them up in a dictionary and sniggering. There are rude nouns, rude adjectives, and truckloads of rude verbs. Read on, if you dare...
One Day in Autumn...Sat 5th May 2007
It's important that the last day of April should be a serious gardening day. One day in the life of the autumn garden, and lady gardener - a perfect excuse to load the page with autumn leaf pictures.
Seeing Red...Fri 27th Apr 2007
I never wear red, apart from a groovy pair of red plastic shoes - a Christmas present, perfect gardening footwear for weeding the water race. Here's a toast to all the other, non-plastic red things in the Moosey Garden.
Cactus Collections...Tue 24th Apr 2007
I don't do cacti. I was dragged out to be a cactus advisor once, when Web-Master son bought his little London cuties. But I didn't have a clue. What makes a cactus memorable? Does the flower colour matter? Or the spikes?
What Counts in Your Garden?...Sat 24th Mar 2007
Descriptions of gardens are often full of impressive arithmetic. This garden has over three hundred roses, that garden has an avenue of thirty one maples and over eighty different fuchsias... So what counts in your garden?
A Self Seeding Puzzle...Sun 11th Mar 2007
It's late summer, and I'm doing the rounds, chopping and trimming back yet another variety of self seeding plant. And I'm quietly wondering why I only take proper notice of such plants when they're past their use-by-date - I'm always missing out!
Moosey Living...Tue 6th Feb 2007
Who says a humble home grown garden with cherished cats, a dodgy dog, puffy-chested poultry and a garrulous gardener can't compete in the global lifestyle market? Even without a TV show, Moosey Living is quietly making its mark!
2007 New Year's Honours List...Thu 1st Feb 2007
The Moosey New Year's Honours List for 2007 is finally out. There are some new faces in this year's line up, while a couple of old garden friends climb the ladder towards their knighthoods.
Moosey Garden Calendar...Fri 19th Jan 2007
What do gardeners make for their friends and relations at Christmas time, when the idea is to make meaningful gifts, created out of love, costing only time? Ha! Colour calendars of scenes from their gardens! A brilliant idea!
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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Gardening
Forums Newsletter Gardening Articles 2006
Some things change, some things stay the same, and this gardener just can't seem to stop writing about her garden! Less time spent writing and more time spent designing, weeding, and planting would, in one of life's ultimate paradoxes, give more quality garden topics to write about. Writing which would then take time away from the garden...
You've guessed. I'm back for another year of gardening articles!
Reviewing my Old Roses...
Wed 20th Dec 2006
I've always associated old fashioned roses with survival. I imagine such plants buried underneath the brambles, neglected in the old cemetery, yet still growing, and still flowering, living through decades of neglect.
Raindrops on Roses...
Tue 14th Nov 2006
Whiskers on kittens - and raindrops on roses - these are definitely some of my favourite things. That is, as long as the raindrops are warm and gently vertical, and the rose petals aren't getting drenched.
Akaroa Garden Tour 1...
Tue 7th Nov 2006
I am back from a two-day Garden Club trip to Akaroa. What an experience! Weather-wise I've experienced four seasons in one day, and garden-wise six gardens in two days. It's been a trip of total contrasts.
Akaroa Garden Tour 2...
Tue 7th Nov 2006
The second day of our Akaroa Garden Tour started off in the rain. We would be meeting famous lady gardeners, all of whom make their living by meeting people like us. And then a very private old couple with an amazing rhododendron garden. Eek!
Think Pink...
Mon 16th Oct 2006
The rhododendrons really started this year's big love affair with pink. The Moosey gardens had a forced winter clean out, so the rhododendrons woke up to clear, light, fresh spring air. Whoosh! Yippee! Bloom, bloom, bloom...
Gardens of Savaii...
Sat 26th Aug 2006
Gardeners - the tropical islands of Samoa are much more than coconut palms and golden beaches. Nearly every house has a beautifully tended tropical ornamental garden. Samoa is a garden visitor's paradise!
The Shrub Age...
Mon 7th Aug 2006
A lady gardener in shrub phase has nearly reached the end of the gardening line. She is following the seven ages of the temperate gardener: annual flowers, perennial flowers, roses, foliage plants, grasses, general shrubs, and finally trees.
Spam for Gardeners...
Sat 29th Jul 2006
Spam. Aargh! The invasive cosmic weeds and nasty ethereal bugs which invade and annoy a gardener's e-mail. An annoyance guaranteed to bring us 'down to earth'...
Goodbye, Yellow Wave......
Sun 23rd Jul 2006
A little gardening sentiment should soften the blow when the (normally gentle) Head Gardener is 'farewelling' some landmark New Zealand Phormiums. But flax rhymes with axe... Warning - this page contains low level garden violence...
The Seed Catalogue...
Sat 8th Jul 2006
Words for winter dreams! Sweet anticipation in front of the log-burner, colourful lists scribbled with deep personal promises - a winter festival of mind-gardening. The big seed catalogue has arrived in the post!
Weeding...
Mon 26th Jun 2006
This year, to date (June 2006), I have personally destroyed nearly one thousand weedy gorse seedlings. I spend on average twelve hours per week weeding and at least two hours writing about it! Do I have time to seriously tackle this serious topic?
London Cordylines...
Sat 10th Jun 2006
The gardening world has been turned upside down. Here in New Zealand stylish gardeners have installed rows of slim Italianate cypresses and little English box hedges. Over there, London gardeners have gone potty over spiky cordylines!
Fungi...
Mon 24th Apr 2006
My April garden is filled with colour - golds and reds on tree leaves, beautiful blue asters, pink late blooming roses. This year I fancied something different - so I went in search of the most colourful fungi I could find.
Poem...
Mon 24th Apr 2006
To help fellow gardeners answer the awful question - 'What shall I do first?' - I decided to write a small poem. The writing of it kept me busy and chuckling for hours, time which I should have been spending starting my morning's gardening.
Easter Plant Sale...
Sun 23rd Apr 2006
Hee hee. It's the day of the Nursery Big Easter Plant Sale. This yearly event is the perfect chance for the Head Gardener to perform. It's not quite the waltz of the flowers - more like a courtly suite!
Burning...
Sun 9th Apr 2006
This is the second in a series of serious articles on important gardening subjects. One could argue that, having done 'pruning', the next logical step in a country garden is to start the burning...
Birthday Rose Garden...
Sun 26th Mar 2006
The Birthday Rose Garden, dug in March 2005 as a birthday present for the Daughter of Moosey, is definitely the gift that goes on giving! Now, one year on, it's the Moosey Daughter's birthday - again. My goodness, how the years flash by!
Red Dahlias...
Sat 25th Mar 2006
The colour status of my March Garden is difficult to classify. There isn't much blue, or yellow. It's easy to see the greens - and then there are the browns...
The Garden Club...
Thu 16th Mar 2006
Eek! My first post-retirement outing with the local Garden Club. I am waiting in the Community Hall car park, bag packed, water bottle and gumboots ready. The plan - we are to visit some gardens near Little River, on Banks Peninsula, Canterbury.
A Good Gardening Read...
Mon 27th Feb 2006
Is it possible that gardening books are becoming as repetitive as the gardening topics they describe? Is there anything new under the sun? Or in the glass-house? Or on the well-stocked garden shelves in the Public Library?
Retirement Resolutions...
Mon 27th Feb 2006
Ha! After years of bleating, and cheating, and sneaking off to work part time, I am finally, properly, honestly, and terribly officially retired! I am finally a full-time gardener!
Pruning...
Sun 26th Feb 2006
This garden site is full of flowery froth and bushy bubbles. There are lots of moans and groans about weeding, and trimming, and garden tools - but serious horticultural information is a bit thin on the ground...
The Manly Garden Help...
Tue 31st Jan 2006
Friends in the forum had been talking about the perfect Christmas gift for a gardener. It all started with the following innocent question: 'What do you get a gardening mad Mum for Christmas?'
New Year Garden Honours...
Tue 3rd Jan 2006
In New Zealand we have our very own indigenous New Year Honours List. Rugby players, pop singers and scientists all get awards... In lieu of ever being able to style myself Dame Moosey, I've decided at least to have my own Garden Honours List.
Some things change, some things stay the same, and this gardener just can't seem to stop writing about her garden! Less time spent writing and more time spent designing, weeding, and planting would, in one of life's ultimate paradoxes, give more quality garden topics to write about. Writing which would then take time away from the garden...
You've guessed. I'm back for another year of gardening articles!
Reviewing my Old Roses...
Wed 20th Dec 2006
I've always associated old fashioned roses with survival. I imagine such plants buried underneath the brambles, neglected in the old cemetery, yet still growing, and still flowering, living through decades of neglect.
Raindrops on Roses...
Tue 14th Nov 2006
Whiskers on kittens - and raindrops on roses - these are definitely some of my favourite things. That is, as long as the raindrops are warm and gently vertical, and the rose petals aren't getting drenched.
Akaroa Garden Tour 1...
Tue 7th Nov 2006
I am back from a two-day Garden Club trip to Akaroa. What an experience! Weather-wise I've experienced four seasons in one day, and garden-wise six gardens in two days. It's been a trip of total contrasts.
Akaroa Garden Tour 2...
Tue 7th Nov 2006
The second day of our Akaroa Garden Tour started off in the rain. We would be meeting famous lady gardeners, all of whom make their living by meeting people like us. And then a very private old couple with an amazing rhododendron garden. Eek!
Think Pink...
Mon 16th Oct 2006
The rhododendrons really started this year's big love affair with pink. The Moosey gardens had a forced winter clean out, so the rhododendrons woke up to clear, light, fresh spring air. Whoosh! Yippee! Bloom, bloom, bloom...
Gardens of Savaii...
Sat 26th Aug 2006
Gardeners - the tropical islands of Samoa are much more than coconut palms and golden beaches. Nearly every house has a beautifully tended tropical ornamental garden. Samoa is a garden visitor's paradise!
The Shrub Age...
Mon 7th Aug 2006
A lady gardener in shrub phase has nearly reached the end of the gardening line. She is following the seven ages of the temperate gardener: annual flowers, perennial flowers, roses, foliage plants, grasses, general shrubs, and finally trees.
Spam for Gardeners...
Sat 29th Jul 2006
Spam. Aargh! The invasive cosmic weeds and nasty ethereal bugs which invade and annoy a gardener's e-mail. An annoyance guaranteed to bring us 'down to earth'...
Goodbye, Yellow Wave......
Sun 23rd Jul 2006
A little gardening sentiment should soften the blow when the (normally gentle) Head Gardener is 'farewelling' some landmark New Zealand Phormiums. But flax rhymes with axe... Warning - this page contains low level garden violence...
The Seed Catalogue...
Sat 8th Jul 2006
Words for winter dreams! Sweet anticipation in front of the log-burner, colourful lists scribbled with deep personal promises - a winter festival of mind-gardening. The big seed catalogue has arrived in the post!
Weeding...
Mon 26th Jun 2006
This year, to date (June 2006), I have personally destroyed nearly one thousand weedy gorse seedlings. I spend on average twelve hours per week weeding and at least two hours writing about it! Do I have time to seriously tackle this serious topic?
London Cordylines...
Sat 10th Jun 2006
The gardening world has been turned upside down. Here in New Zealand stylish gardeners have installed rows of slim Italianate cypresses and little English box hedges. Over there, London gardeners have gone potty over spiky cordylines!
Fungi...
Mon 24th Apr 2006
My April garden is filled with colour - golds and reds on tree leaves, beautiful blue asters, pink late blooming roses. This year I fancied something different - so I went in search of the most colourful fungi I could find.
Poem...
Mon 24th Apr 2006
To help fellow gardeners answer the awful question - 'What shall I do first?' - I decided to write a small poem. The writing of it kept me busy and chuckling for hours, time which I should have been spending starting my morning's gardening.
Easter Plant Sale...
Sun 23rd Apr 2006
Hee hee. It's the day of the Nursery Big Easter Plant Sale. This yearly event is the perfect chance for the Head Gardener to perform. It's not quite the waltz of the flowers - more like a courtly suite!
Burning...
Sun 9th Apr 2006
This is the second in a series of serious articles on important gardening subjects. One could argue that, having done 'pruning', the next logical step in a country garden is to start the burning...
Birthday Rose Garden...
Sun 26th Mar 2006
The Birthday Rose Garden, dug in March 2005 as a birthday present for the Daughter of Moosey, is definitely the gift that goes on giving! Now, one year on, it's the Moosey Daughter's birthday - again. My goodness, how the years flash by!
Red Dahlias...
Sat 25th Mar 2006
The colour status of my March Garden is difficult to classify. There isn't much blue, or yellow. It's easy to see the greens - and then there are the browns...
The Garden Club...
Thu 16th Mar 2006
Eek! My first post-retirement outing with the local Garden Club. I am waiting in the Community Hall car park, bag packed, water bottle and gumboots ready. The plan - we are to visit some gardens near Little River, on Banks Peninsula, Canterbury.
A Good Gardening Read...
Mon 27th Feb 2006
Is it possible that gardening books are becoming as repetitive as the gardening topics they describe? Is there anything new under the sun? Or in the glass-house? Or on the well-stocked garden shelves in the Public Library?
Retirement Resolutions...
Mon 27th Feb 2006
Ha! After years of bleating, and cheating, and sneaking off to work part time, I am finally, properly, honestly, and terribly officially retired! I am finally a full-time gardener!
Pruning...
Sun 26th Feb 2006
This garden site is full of flowery froth and bushy bubbles. There are lots of moans and groans about weeding, and trimming, and garden tools - but serious horticultural information is a bit thin on the ground...
The Manly Garden Help...
Tue 31st Jan 2006
Friends in the forum had been talking about the perfect Christmas gift for a gardener. It all started with the following innocent question: 'What do you get a gardening mad Mum for Christmas?'
New Year Garden Honours...
Tue 3rd Jan 2006
In New Zealand we have our very own indigenous New Year Honours List. Rugby players, pop singers and scientists all get awards... In lieu of ever being able to style myself Dame Moosey, I've decided at least to have my own Garden Honours List.
Gardening
Forums Newsletter Gardening Articles 2005
In 2005 I start to seriously wonder if I have said everything there is to say about my garden. But there are always new flights of gardening fancy, new gardening dreams and schemes...
I guess that I will stop writing when I stop gardening. And when will that be? Never!
Like the tasks a responsible gardener must do every week, garden stories can easily become repetitive. I haven't written many articles yet this year - but don't be fooled - like the weeds in the garden there will always be more stories germinating...
Still Too Many Roses?...
Sat 26th Nov 2005
Roses, roses, roses... It's early summer, and all the Moosey roses are blooming. Again the vexed question pops up, and needs answering - can a garden have too many roses? Too much of a good thing? Too many of these beautiful shrubs?
Rhododendrons...
Mon 31st Oct 2005
My new rhododendrons are flowering! They came to Mooseys as an anonymous gang of reject shrubs, given away by the local rhododendron nursery.
Garden Visitors...
Fri 7th Oct 2005
Garden visitors should have a positive effect on a head-gardener who is used to contemplating sweeping vistas and grand views with four cats and a dog for company. Great excitement! The Moosey Garden is to be officially visited by a group of ladies.
Beautiful Blossom...
Tue 20th Sep 2005
The blossom in the Moosey Spring garden is, yet again, absolutely beautiful. There's been no wind yet to shake the flowers off the big flowering cherry tree. Smaller pink blossom trees, though smothered with Clematis, are blooming bravely.
A Host of Golden Daffodils...
Mon 5th Sep 2005
It's September, the month of the Moosey daffodils. Many colour combinations of yellow, cream, orange, brick red, salmon, peach, lemon, off-white can be found lurking in the grass, or peeping out of the winter-mulched garden borders.
Stars of Spring 2005...
Thu 1st Sep 2005
Spring is here! The head-gardener races out twice daily to check if the spiky red Camellia has started flowering. It's a teasing, catch-me-if-you-can time - I leave the garden home-alone for a couple of days and suddenly a host of new plants are flowering.
The Moosey House Guest Writes......
Mon 15th Aug 2005
The Australian Moosey House Guest has allowed himself to be mentioned, often rudely, in odd pages of the journal. He cooks, he lifts heavy things, he takes puppy for runs, and he takes photographs. Here is his debut as a Moosey guest writer.
The Colours of Winter...
Tue 9th Aug 2005
Winter weeks in the garden at Mooseys are spent weeding in the gloom and wistfully imagining the shining colours of summer. It's a bland time of the year for gardening eyes and camera, and I long for bright blues, rich purples, fire engine reds...
Winter Roses...
Sun 19th Jun 2005
It's the perfect time to think and write about winter roses. But this is not an article about humble Hellebores. It's about new summer rose catalogues, read in the wintry June gloom in front of the log-burner.
New Zealand Flaxes...
Sun 12th Jun 2005
New Zealand flaxes come in all shapes and sizes, with subtle coloured striped leaves. The Moosey garden is full to overflowing with different hybrids - and some of the large species as well. This is a flax festival garden!
Getting Organised...
Sat 28th May 2005
'Organise' vt. - to give definite structure, arrange, put into working order... Humph. The word I use the most in my garden journals is the verb 'organise'. I am always needing to organise either myself, or the garden, or both.
Autumn Trees...
Tue 26th Apr 2005
As the autumn of 2005 slowly shows itself I've been reminiscing about the new deciduous trees I planted in the garden some years ago. Choosing them was so stressful...
Autumn Flower Colour...
Thu 21st Apr 2005
Mention autumn colour and people immediately think of autumn leaves - the deep golds and fiery reds of leaves ready to fall. Autumn in the Moosey garden can be very leafy, but this year I'm taking special notice of the autumn flower colours.
The Family Portrait...
Sat 16th Apr 2005
'I'd like to take some photographs of you - in your garden' said the Moosey House Guest the other day. My heart fluttered - my old lady-gardener face, lines and wrinkles like the leaf textures of my favourite plants, was required for a portrait.
Dahlias in Fashion...
Tue 5th Apr 2005
'Dahlias are back in fashion' the weekend newspaper gardening article twitters at me. I am red in the face from the first great autumn rubbish burn-up, and have retired inside, despondent, for a cup of tea.
My Garden Gnome...
Tue 22nd Feb 2005
It was a mistake sending my web-site manager a photograph of my one surviving garden gnome. Ever since I did she's been sending me gnome articles - the latest about an underwater gnome village in the Lake District. I think it might be a hint!
Private Garden Visiting...
Wed 12th Jan 2005
I've been thinking about doing some private garden visiting - specifically, writing wee stories about visits to other people's (possibly friends') private gardens. It should be fun.
New Zealand Native Plants...
Mon 10th Jan 2005
After a serious flirtation with rhododendrons and camellias I am back on track. 2005 is going to be the Year of the New Zealand Native. No more pulling out Pittosporum seedlings or ignoring sale-price Hebes...
In 2005 I start to seriously wonder if I have said everything there is to say about my garden. But there are always new flights of gardening fancy, new gardening dreams and schemes...
I guess that I will stop writing when I stop gardening. And when will that be? Never!
Like the tasks a responsible gardener must do every week, garden stories can easily become repetitive. I haven't written many articles yet this year - but don't be fooled - like the weeds in the garden there will always be more stories germinating...
Still Too Many Roses?...
Sat 26th Nov 2005
Roses, roses, roses... It's early summer, and all the Moosey roses are blooming. Again the vexed question pops up, and needs answering - can a garden have too many roses? Too much of a good thing? Too many of these beautiful shrubs?
Rhododendrons...
Mon 31st Oct 2005
My new rhododendrons are flowering! They came to Mooseys as an anonymous gang of reject shrubs, given away by the local rhododendron nursery.
Garden Visitors...
Fri 7th Oct 2005
Garden visitors should have a positive effect on a head-gardener who is used to contemplating sweeping vistas and grand views with four cats and a dog for company. Great excitement! The Moosey Garden is to be officially visited by a group of ladies.
Beautiful Blossom...
Tue 20th Sep 2005
The blossom in the Moosey Spring garden is, yet again, absolutely beautiful. There's been no wind yet to shake the flowers off the big flowering cherry tree. Smaller pink blossom trees, though smothered with Clematis, are blooming bravely.
A Host of Golden Daffodils...
Mon 5th Sep 2005
It's September, the month of the Moosey daffodils. Many colour combinations of yellow, cream, orange, brick red, salmon, peach, lemon, off-white can be found lurking in the grass, or peeping out of the winter-mulched garden borders.
Stars of Spring 2005...
Thu 1st Sep 2005
Spring is here! The head-gardener races out twice daily to check if the spiky red Camellia has started flowering. It's a teasing, catch-me-if-you-can time - I leave the garden home-alone for a couple of days and suddenly a host of new plants are flowering.
The Moosey House Guest Writes......
Mon 15th Aug 2005
The Australian Moosey House Guest has allowed himself to be mentioned, often rudely, in odd pages of the journal. He cooks, he lifts heavy things, he takes puppy for runs, and he takes photographs. Here is his debut as a Moosey guest writer.
The Colours of Winter...
Tue 9th Aug 2005
Winter weeks in the garden at Mooseys are spent weeding in the gloom and wistfully imagining the shining colours of summer. It's a bland time of the year for gardening eyes and camera, and I long for bright blues, rich purples, fire engine reds...
Winter Roses...
Sun 19th Jun 2005
It's the perfect time to think and write about winter roses. But this is not an article about humble Hellebores. It's about new summer rose catalogues, read in the wintry June gloom in front of the log-burner.
New Zealand Flaxes...
Sun 12th Jun 2005
New Zealand flaxes come in all shapes and sizes, with subtle coloured striped leaves. The Moosey garden is full to overflowing with different hybrids - and some of the large species as well. This is a flax festival garden!
Getting Organised...
Sat 28th May 2005
'Organise' vt. - to give definite structure, arrange, put into working order... Humph. The word I use the most in my garden journals is the verb 'organise'. I am always needing to organise either myself, or the garden, or both.
Autumn Trees...
Tue 26th Apr 2005
As the autumn of 2005 slowly shows itself I've been reminiscing about the new deciduous trees I planted in the garden some years ago. Choosing them was so stressful...
Autumn Flower Colour...
Thu 21st Apr 2005
Mention autumn colour and people immediately think of autumn leaves - the deep golds and fiery reds of leaves ready to fall. Autumn in the Moosey garden can be very leafy, but this year I'm taking special notice of the autumn flower colours.
The Family Portrait...
Sat 16th Apr 2005
'I'd like to take some photographs of you - in your garden' said the Moosey House Guest the other day. My heart fluttered - my old lady-gardener face, lines and wrinkles like the leaf textures of my favourite plants, was required for a portrait.
Dahlias in Fashion...
Tue 5th Apr 2005
'Dahlias are back in fashion' the weekend newspaper gardening article twitters at me. I am red in the face from the first great autumn rubbish burn-up, and have retired inside, despondent, for a cup of tea.
My Garden Gnome...
Tue 22nd Feb 2005
It was a mistake sending my web-site manager a photograph of my one surviving garden gnome. Ever since I did she's been sending me gnome articles - the latest about an underwater gnome village in the Lake District. I think it might be a hint!
Private Garden Visiting...
Wed 12th Jan 2005
I've been thinking about doing some private garden visiting - specifically, writing wee stories about visits to other people's (possibly friends') private gardens. It should be fun.
New Zealand Native Plants...
Mon 10th Jan 2005
After a serious flirtation with rhododendrons and camellias I am back on track. 2005 is going to be the Year of the New Zealand Native. No more pulling out Pittosporum seedlings or ignoring sale-price Hebes...
Gardening
Forums Newsletter Gardening Articles 2004
In 2004 I become a semi-retired gardener, and a garden writer in full glorious flight. Not content with faithfully reporting every gardening moment in my journals, I launch into writing articles nearly every week. There is so much to say...
Obviously inspired by my productivity, the Moosey London team starts writing articles too - their topics will soon include famous English gardens and English gardening events.
Rugosa Roses...
Mon 23rd May 2005
Moosey the Hopeless has been hunting through rose books, searching on the internet, and scouring all the old hand-written journals. The names of the many rugosa roses in the garden - what are they?
Garden Size...
Mon 20th Dec 2004
Is the Moosey Garden too big? Or too small? How does an obsessive gardener know if her garden is really too big? How does a Goldilocks (aka Greylocks) Gardener know when it's 'just right'?
Big Bearded Irises...
Mon 29th Nov 2004
This November the big bearded irises could rightly be subtitled ’The Bold and the Beautiful’. And I, knowing nothing about irises, could equally be considered bold for attempting to write about them.
The New Rhdodendron Garden...
Mon 25th Oct 2004
For many years I have bought bargain bin rhododendrons (without labels) and planted them in the wrong places. Last year all were shifted into a new, sensible garden. What colours would they be? All is about to be revealed this spring...
Pink in the Garden...
Sun 24th Oct 2004
The yellows of the spring daffodil displays in my garden are warm and beautiful (even if the spring weather isn’t). But in mid-spring a new colour transforms the garden borders. The colour pink has arrived!
Water Race Gardens - Ten Years On...
Sun 10th Oct 2004
How the Moosey Garden has grown! Ten years ago (when we arrived) there were just some smaller tired-looking garden beds around the house. We were fresh and green - the garden definitely wasn't!
Garden's Tenth Anniversary...
Sat 9th Oct 2004
It's the Tenth Anniversary of the Moosey Garden - we moved into our house in the country on October 1st, 1994. Tough country-style shrubs like Photinia, Forsythia, and Viburnum Tinus were planted in the grass, and roses covered one fence...
Spring Blossom...
Thu 30th Sep 2004
I've read about the cherry blossom in Japan - the parties underneath the trees, and the wave of blossom breaking slowly up the country from south to north. Until this spring I've never really appreciated the blossom trees in my own garden.
Stars of Spring...
Mon 20th Sep 2004
Spring 2004 has finally spring into action! In other words, the Moosey Two Thousand Daffodils and Two Blue Hyacinths Flower Festival is underway. It's a shining time of my gardening year, where the borders glitter with the Stars of Spring.
The Moosey Plant Nursery...
Tue 7th Sep 2004
The Moosey Garden is at the horticultural crossroads. My nursery systems are seriously flawed, and far too random. I am fast turning into a re-active rather than a pro-active glass-house potterer. It's time to wake up - and smell the roses?
But Is It Garden Art?...
Tue 31st Aug 2004
This isn't really an article about Garden Art - you see, the Moosey garden doesn't really have any. Statuary? - Zero. Large, groovy, stylish empty pots? - No way. Plinths? - None. Gargoyles? - Sorry, not one.
Arabesque in Gumboots...
Sun 22nd Aug 2004
I'm an older lady gardener - not quite as well-balanced of leg and flexible of hip as I used to be. I can't lunge into the garden undergrowth anymore (like my younger horticultural colleagues).
Garden Cameras...
Sun 22nd Aug 2004
We get a lot of questions about the thousands of photos on the site. What cameras have we used over the years? While the film, aperture and shutter speeds are forgotten, the cameras that took the photos aren't.
Winter Colour...
Sun 15th Aug 2004
What word best describes the winter colour in the Moosey garden? Wonderful? Subtle? Or just plain drab? Over the past winter weeks I've swung wildly - one minute I'm seeing rich warmth and colour everywhere...
Mid-Winter Gardening...
Mon 21st Jun 2004
It's mid-winter's day at Mooseys Southern Hemisphere Country Garden - the winter gardening solstice - the shortest day of the Moosey gardening year. Obviously in the depths of winter there can't be much to take pictures of, can there?
Gardening Verbs...
Thu 10th Jun 2004
I've been writing a gardening journal for nearly eight years now. I'm always doing things in the garden - the same garden, the same things, the same month... My gardening journals are action packed with wheel-barrowfuls of the same garden rubbish!
Maths in the Garden...
Tue 4th May 2004
Mathematics, Music and Gardening - these are my three great passions. There's a well known link between the first two disciplines, but what about Mathematics and Gardening? Where's the connection?
Praising Pittosporums...
Mon 3rd May 2004
I'm sorry, Pittosporums, for continually being so rude to you in the Moosey garden. For the last five years at least I've been ruthlessly using you to fill up my garden.
Autumn Leaf Photos...
Fri 30th Apr 2004
There must be a limit to the number of Autumn-Leaf photographs that one gardener can take - in her own garden - with less than twenty Autumn-Leaf producing trees - mustn't there?
Compost...
Mon 19th Apr 2004
My web-master has asked me to write an article about compost. Safe in his drizzley London suburb he assumes that I, Moosey, have trailer-loads of gardening experience and barrowfuls of gardening wisdom.
Gardening Energy...
Tue 13th Apr 2004
Gardening energy is so annoyingly finite - at least it is for me. My gardening plans stretch on for ever and ever. I start a gardening day with plans for full scale developments, and nearly always end up getting nowhere.
Last of the Golden Hop...
Wed 7th Apr 2004
I'm about to do serious battle with the Golden Hop. For over five years I have indulged this marauding teenager, allowing him (yes, the Golden Hop is male) free licence to roam and cover things in Middle Border.
In 2004 I become a semi-retired gardener, and a garden writer in full glorious flight. Not content with faithfully reporting every gardening moment in my journals, I launch into writing articles nearly every week. There is so much to say...
Obviously inspired by my productivity, the Moosey London team starts writing articles too - their topics will soon include famous English gardens and English gardening events.
Rugosa Roses...
Mon 23rd May 2005
Moosey the Hopeless has been hunting through rose books, searching on the internet, and scouring all the old hand-written journals. The names of the many rugosa roses in the garden - what are they?
Garden Size...
Mon 20th Dec 2004
Is the Moosey Garden too big? Or too small? How does an obsessive gardener know if her garden is really too big? How does a Goldilocks (aka Greylocks) Gardener know when it's 'just right'?
Big Bearded Irises...
Mon 29th Nov 2004
This November the big bearded irises could rightly be subtitled ’The Bold and the Beautiful’. And I, knowing nothing about irises, could equally be considered bold for attempting to write about them.
The New Rhdodendron Garden...
Mon 25th Oct 2004
For many years I have bought bargain bin rhododendrons (without labels) and planted them in the wrong places. Last year all were shifted into a new, sensible garden. What colours would they be? All is about to be revealed this spring...
Pink in the Garden...
Sun 24th Oct 2004
The yellows of the spring daffodil displays in my garden are warm and beautiful (even if the spring weather isn’t). But in mid-spring a new colour transforms the garden borders. The colour pink has arrived!
Water Race Gardens - Ten Years On...
Sun 10th Oct 2004
How the Moosey Garden has grown! Ten years ago (when we arrived) there were just some smaller tired-looking garden beds around the house. We were fresh and green - the garden definitely wasn't!
Garden's Tenth Anniversary...
Sat 9th Oct 2004
It's the Tenth Anniversary of the Moosey Garden - we moved into our house in the country on October 1st, 1994. Tough country-style shrubs like Photinia, Forsythia, and Viburnum Tinus were planted in the grass, and roses covered one fence...
Spring Blossom...
Thu 30th Sep 2004
I've read about the cherry blossom in Japan - the parties underneath the trees, and the wave of blossom breaking slowly up the country from south to north. Until this spring I've never really appreciated the blossom trees in my own garden.
Stars of Spring...
Mon 20th Sep 2004
Spring 2004 has finally spring into action! In other words, the Moosey Two Thousand Daffodils and Two Blue Hyacinths Flower Festival is underway. It's a shining time of my gardening year, where the borders glitter with the Stars of Spring.
The Moosey Plant Nursery...
Tue 7th Sep 2004
The Moosey Garden is at the horticultural crossroads. My nursery systems are seriously flawed, and far too random. I am fast turning into a re-active rather than a pro-active glass-house potterer. It's time to wake up - and smell the roses?
But Is It Garden Art?...
Tue 31st Aug 2004
This isn't really an article about Garden Art - you see, the Moosey garden doesn't really have any. Statuary? - Zero. Large, groovy, stylish empty pots? - No way. Plinths? - None. Gargoyles? - Sorry, not one.
Arabesque in Gumboots...
Sun 22nd Aug 2004
I'm an older lady gardener - not quite as well-balanced of leg and flexible of hip as I used to be. I can't lunge into the garden undergrowth anymore (like my younger horticultural colleagues).
Garden Cameras...
Sun 22nd Aug 2004
We get a lot of questions about the thousands of photos on the site. What cameras have we used over the years? While the film, aperture and shutter speeds are forgotten, the cameras that took the photos aren't.
Winter Colour...
Sun 15th Aug 2004
What word best describes the winter colour in the Moosey garden? Wonderful? Subtle? Or just plain drab? Over the past winter weeks I've swung wildly - one minute I'm seeing rich warmth and colour everywhere...
Mid-Winter Gardening...
Mon 21st Jun 2004
It's mid-winter's day at Mooseys Southern Hemisphere Country Garden - the winter gardening solstice - the shortest day of the Moosey gardening year. Obviously in the depths of winter there can't be much to take pictures of, can there?
Gardening Verbs...
Thu 10th Jun 2004
I've been writing a gardening journal for nearly eight years now. I'm always doing things in the garden - the same garden, the same things, the same month... My gardening journals are action packed with wheel-barrowfuls of the same garden rubbish!
Maths in the Garden...
Tue 4th May 2004
Mathematics, Music and Gardening - these are my three great passions. There's a well known link between the first two disciplines, but what about Mathematics and Gardening? Where's the connection?
Praising Pittosporums...
Mon 3rd May 2004
I'm sorry, Pittosporums, for continually being so rude to you in the Moosey garden. For the last five years at least I've been ruthlessly using you to fill up my garden.
Autumn Leaf Photos...
Fri 30th Apr 2004
There must be a limit to the number of Autumn-Leaf photographs that one gardener can take - in her own garden - with less than twenty Autumn-Leaf producing trees - mustn't there?
Compost...
Mon 19th Apr 2004
My web-master has asked me to write an article about compost. Safe in his drizzley London suburb he assumes that I, Moosey, have trailer-loads of gardening experience and barrowfuls of gardening wisdom.
Gardening Energy...
Tue 13th Apr 2004
Gardening energy is so annoyingly finite - at least it is for me. My gardening plans stretch on for ever and ever. I start a gardening day with plans for full scale developments, and nearly always end up getting nowhere.
Last of the Golden Hop...
Wed 7th Apr 2004
I'm about to do serious battle with the Golden Hop. For over five years I have indulged this marauding teenager, allowing him (yes, the Golden Hop is male) free licence to roam and cover things in Middle Border.
Garden
Forums Newsletter Garden Articles 2003
Garden articles from 2003 are a little thin on the ground, but 2003 was a pretty peculiar year. The Moosey Garden was on hold - my garden writing represents the lull before the storm. Perhaps I thought I'd said it all before?
Taming Teenage Shrubs...
Mon 14th Jul 2003
I'm not very good with shrubs. There's no excuse, either - I've got lots of good books about them. I know all the rules - prune them immediately after flowering, mulch them, don't be seduced into planting them just for their flowers...
Pink Roses...
Fri 28th Feb 2003
There are so many different shades of pink. I wonder if pink-haters actually know this, for I suspect they over-simplify things.
Orange...
Thu 9th Jan 2003
Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines - all these sweet citrus fruits whose colours have the extraordinary effects on gardeners. Some hate the colour orange in the garden, and won't use it. They'll carefully cut off offending orange Canna blooms.
Water under the Bridge...
Sun 5th Jan 2003
I've just spent an hour sloshing up and down the water race, picking up stones from the bottom. It's midsummer, I'm on holiday, and I'm very happy...
Colonial Gardening...
Thu 2nd Jan 2003
The other week one of my British gardening friends (Vic in Sussex) asked me to write a small piece about gardening in New Zealand. Seems an easy enough thing to do, but there's a small matter of the colonial inferiority complex.
Garden articles from 2003 are a little thin on the ground, but 2003 was a pretty peculiar year. The Moosey Garden was on hold - my garden writing represents the lull before the storm. Perhaps I thought I'd said it all before?
Taming Teenage Shrubs...
Mon 14th Jul 2003
I'm not very good with shrubs. There's no excuse, either - I've got lots of good books about them. I know all the rules - prune them immediately after flowering, mulch them, don't be seduced into planting them just for their flowers...
Pink Roses...
Fri 28th Feb 2003
There are so many different shades of pink. I wonder if pink-haters actually know this, for I suspect they over-simplify things.
Orange...
Thu 9th Jan 2003
Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines - all these sweet citrus fruits whose colours have the extraordinary effects on gardeners. Some hate the colour orange in the garden, and won't use it. They'll carefully cut off offending orange Canna blooms.
Water under the Bridge...
Sun 5th Jan 2003
I've just spent an hour sloshing up and down the water race, picking up stones from the bottom. It's midsummer, I'm on holiday, and I'm very happy...
Colonial Gardening...
Thu 2nd Jan 2003
The other week one of my British gardening friends (Vic in Sussex) asked me to write a small piece about gardening in New Zealand. Seems an easy enough thing to do, but there's a small matter of the colonial inferiority complex.
Garden
Forums Newsletter Garden Articles 2002
Here are my garden articles from 2002. I am now a fully-feathered writer, ready to leave the nest and tackle any cutting-edge gardening topic. I've learnt that there's more to garden writing than repetitive flowery descriptions - but there's still so much I want to say...
A Good Year For Roses...
Mon 2nd Dec 2002
I've never seen your roses looking so good says Stephen, having completed a rigorous circuit of Mooseys on the ride-on lawnmower. He's right - my roses are boisterous and colourful...
Variegation...
Sat 23rd Nov 2002
I have a theory that variegation sneaks up on a gardener, usually when we are in our gardening prime. It commonly starts with the subtlety of gentle cream and sage green foliage. Having believed for years that gold and green is better displayed on a rugby jersey...
Away from Home and Garden...
Wed 20th Mar 2002
I don't like being away from home. Being away from home means being away from people, cats and the garden that I love.
Self Seeding Plants...
Mon 11th Mar 2002
The scruffiness of my garden in March has nothing to do with the season, and everything to do with my carelessly orchestrated self-seeding programme.
Too Many Roses...
Tue 15th Jan 2002
I think I might have too many roses in the garden. I didn't think this in September, when the leaves and buds were forming. The balance of flowers and foliage in the September garden was perfect...
Here are my garden articles from 2002. I am now a fully-feathered writer, ready to leave the nest and tackle any cutting-edge gardening topic. I've learnt that there's more to garden writing than repetitive flowery descriptions - but there's still so much I want to say...
A Good Year For Roses...
Mon 2nd Dec 2002
I've never seen your roses looking so good says Stephen, having completed a rigorous circuit of Mooseys on the ride-on lawnmower. He's right - my roses are boisterous and colourful...
Variegation...
Sat 23rd Nov 2002
I have a theory that variegation sneaks up on a gardener, usually when we are in our gardening prime. It commonly starts with the subtlety of gentle cream and sage green foliage. Having believed for years that gold and green is better displayed on a rugby jersey...
Away from Home and Garden...
Wed 20th Mar 2002
I don't like being away from home. Being away from home means being away from people, cats and the garden that I love.
Self Seeding Plants...
Mon 11th Mar 2002
The scruffiness of my garden in March has nothing to do with the season, and everything to do with my carelessly orchestrated self-seeding programme.
Too Many Roses...
Tue 15th Jan 2002
I think I might have too many roses in the garden. I didn't think this in September, when the leaves and buds were forming. The balance of flowers and foliage in the September garden was perfect...
Garden
Forums Newsletter Garden Articles 2001
In 2001 the topics I'm writing articles about are more floriferous. I'm no longer worried about what the gardening books might suggest - I am almost a fully independent gardener! I still have rather too much I want to say, though...
Digital Garden Camera...
Sat 15th Dec 2001
The first weekend I had my new digital camera was a gardening write-off. I clicked and zoomed, composed and cropped, as the weeds grew. I discovered hidden treasures sprouting in unlikely places, colours I'd never seen before, and many new plants.
Stripes and Spots...
Sat 15th Dec 2001
Yesterday, cleaning up a hybrid flax which had reappeared after the autumn cut-back, I discovered the true symbolism of stripes.
Lawn Mowing...
Sun 2nd Dec 2001
Moosey loves green grass - it is easy on the eyes. The problem with grass is that to keep it green it needs to be watered and when you water grass it grows.
Garden Sales...
Tue 2nd Oct 2001
Whether we gardeners use common sense or calculator formulas, we all know the basic facts about garden centre sales. We can forget what we learnt about cost price and selling price in mathematics lessons.
Garden Colours...
Mon 1st Oct 2001
Colour in the garden is much harder to talk about than it should be, but I want to try...
Gardening Guilt...
Thu 27th Sep 2001
I remember the morning I went to move the Cistus. I was fully armed - sharp shovel, nippers, gumboots gleaming. My intentions were already documented in the early morning diary entry.
Daffodils...
Sat 8th Sep 2001
There were small pockets of daffodils already on the property when we first came to live at Mooseys. I've deliberately kept my relationship with daffodils as simple as possible.
Ordering Seeds...
Wed 20th Jun 2001
Winter is supposed to be a good time for sitting inside, warm in front of the log burner, eating hot bread and reading seed catalogues. Winter gardeners' imaginations are as fertile as the seeds they drool over...
Dahlias...
Sun 1st Apr 2001
From mid-summer on the dahlias in the garden start flowering. I don't have many varieties, certainly no exotic multicolored ones. My favourites are the large plants with simple flowers.
Repetition...
Thu 22nd Feb 2001
I was reading back over my diary the other day, nodding and clucking as I relived all those lost but faintly repetitive weekends...
In 2001 the topics I'm writing articles about are more floriferous. I'm no longer worried about what the gardening books might suggest - I am almost a fully independent gardener! I still have rather too much I want to say, though...
Digital Garden Camera...
Sat 15th Dec 2001
The first weekend I had my new digital camera was a gardening write-off. I clicked and zoomed, composed and cropped, as the weeds grew. I discovered hidden treasures sprouting in unlikely places, colours I'd never seen before, and many new plants.
Stripes and Spots...
Sat 15th Dec 2001
Yesterday, cleaning up a hybrid flax which had reappeared after the autumn cut-back, I discovered the true symbolism of stripes.
Lawn Mowing...
Sun 2nd Dec 2001
Moosey loves green grass - it is easy on the eyes. The problem with grass is that to keep it green it needs to be watered and when you water grass it grows.
Garden Sales...
Tue 2nd Oct 2001
Whether we gardeners use common sense or calculator formulas, we all know the basic facts about garden centre sales. We can forget what we learnt about cost price and selling price in mathematics lessons.
Garden Colours...
Mon 1st Oct 2001
Colour in the garden is much harder to talk about than it should be, but I want to try...
Gardening Guilt...
Thu 27th Sep 2001
I remember the morning I went to move the Cistus. I was fully armed - sharp shovel, nippers, gumboots gleaming. My intentions were already documented in the early morning diary entry.
Daffodils...
Sat 8th Sep 2001
There were small pockets of daffodils already on the property when we first came to live at Mooseys. I've deliberately kept my relationship with daffodils as simple as possible.
Ordering Seeds...
Wed 20th Jun 2001
Winter is supposed to be a good time for sitting inside, warm in front of the log burner, eating hot bread and reading seed catalogues. Winter gardeners' imaginations are as fertile as the seeds they drool over...
Dahlias...
Sun 1st Apr 2001
From mid-summer on the dahlias in the garden start flowering. I don't have many varieties, certainly no exotic multicolored ones. My favourites are the large plants with simple flowers.
Repetition...
Thu 22nd Feb 2001
I was reading back over my diary the other day, nodding and clucking as I relived all those lost but faintly repetitive weekends...
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