Garden

A galvanised trough by the back door: winter herbs, drainage and frost-tested survival

We placed a galvanised trough by the back door and cropped it through winter. Here is what survived, what failed, and the drainage decisions…

A self-watering herb trough on a south rail that survived our forgetful summer.

Our south-facing balcony cooks herbs by noon. A rail trough with a built-in water reservoir kept basil, parsley and chives alive through a h…

Turning a bright windowsill into a cutting nursery

Two ceramic propagation vases on a sunlit sill turn a simple kitchen into a cutting nursery. We document the setup, care, and early rooting …

Lavender in pots through a wet Lisbon winter — what worked.

Three lavender plants, two of which made it through their first winter. We changed two things on the third — and now all three come back eve…

Three balcony herb planters that survived a Lisbon summer of forgetting.

We tried six herbs in three pots. Three died, three lived through a forty-degree week and our forgetting. Here is what stayed and what we le…

A tiny Lisbon balcony, four planters, and twelve months of lessons

The balcony is 1.2 metres wide, edged with ancient iron railings and a tile floor that had once been dropped on. It faces north-east and cat…

Indoor herbs that survive forgetful waterers.

A short list, in order of how hard they are to kill.