File This One Under ‘Run. Don’t Walk.’
I first watched Life In A Cottage Garden when it first aired a few years ago. It’s a 6-part series (each part is 30 minutes long) featuring a year in the life of Carol Klein’s massive and gorgeous garden near Devon, England.
I’m mentioning this series today because it’s available free on YouTube right now and these things can disappear as quickly as they appear.
February is a tricky month for us cold climate gardeners. There’s so much sunshine yet we have months to go before we can dig the dirt again. Shows like this one provide that wonderful combination of taunting and inspiration.
Books By Carol Klein
I also own and recommend several of Carol’s books. I bought them through Amazon.UK
Grow Your Own Garden: How to propagate all your own plants
by Carol Klein
If there is one key piece missing from gardening information in Canada (and perhaps the United States?), it’s propogation. Yes, people, we do not propogate enough. Or in some cases, at all. Here the tendency is to buy new plants at the nursery and leave propogration to the pros.
You can grow so many plants from existing plants. This book provides photos and instructions for a variety of methods (depending on the type of plant). It’s much easier than we’ve been taught to believe. Stop buying so many plants and make your own multiply instead.
Life in a Cottage Garden
by Carol Klein
This book is a companion to the video series. I bought it because I was punch drunk in love with the series. The book is a combination of garden journal, love affair with the whole process, and how to’s. If I could only choose one, I’d buy the book on propogation just because that information is hard to come by.
More Books By Carol Klein:
Sign Up For The Free Monthly(ish) Empress of Dirt Newsletter
Now On Sale
Empress of Dirt on YouTube
As of May 14
I only had a chance to watch the first one last night after receiving the newsletter but I loved what I saw so far. Thanks for sharing this
Hi Marcel, I know it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but her love of the garden definitely matches my own.
Thanks for sharing this. I watched all six episodes over the weekend and really enjoyed it!
Glad to hear you enjoyed them!
So glad you shared this! We may be moving very soon and I will have to begin again in the garden. Thankfully, there are some established garden plots. Well mulched, but neglected for a time. I look forward to bringing them back to life and order again! Thank you for this timely information!
Sounds like you have a fun project ahead of you – great to have established plants but ones in need of your guidance. Enjoy!