| Welcome to The Gardener’s Curious Journal I’ve always been curious. About wildlife, history, science, people, places, things that are changing and things we have almost forgotten. Sometimes something catches my attention simply because I don’t know the answer. Other times, a thought begins with “what if?” and ends up somewhere unexpected. I’m a working gardener, so gardens, plants and wildlife naturally appear here often. They are part of my everyday world and have given me years of observations, questions and opinions. There are plenty of times when I’ll stop to photograph a plant, identify something unfamiliar or look for an answer to something I’ve noticed while working. But gardeners don’t only think about gardening while they garden. Much of the work becomes familiar with experience. You’re concentrating on what you’re doing, watching the garden and doing what needs to be done, but your mind is still free to notice things, remember things and wonder about things. A job can trigger a childhood memory, an insect can spark a question about the natural world, an old wall can make me wonder about history, and sometimes a completely unrelated thought arrives while I’m pushing a mower, pruning a shrub, or sweeping a path. That is really how The Gardener’s Curious Journal works. Gardening is where many of these thoughts begin, but it doesn’t have to end there. Curiosity has never needed to stay within the garden gate. So you’ll find articles here about gardens and plants, but also wildlife, insects, climate, history, memories, forgotten places, strange possibilities and subjects that made me stop and think. Some pieces are practical, some thoughtful, some speculative and some perhaps slightly peculiar. This isn’t intended to be a traditional gardening blog. It’s a personal journal written by a gardener who happens to be curious about rather a lot of things. Sometimes I know exactly where an article is going. Sometimes I’m curious to see where a thought leads. |
Latest from the Journal …
Within Living Memory
Is the traditional gardening calendar becoming less reliable? A working gardener reflects on changing seasons, wetter winters, hotter summers and why observation increasingly matters more than the date.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John finally return home, only to discover their client knows far more about the mysterious shed — and Sandwich’s other strange places — than she has ever revealed.
North American Insects
Explore North America’s beetles and ground insects, from nocturnal predators and ladybirds to the hidden recyclers working through soil, dung and dead wood.
When the Pacific Changes the Weather
El Niño begins thousands of miles from Britain, yet changes in the tropical Pacific can influence weather around the world. Discover the science behind El Niño and why it matters to gardeners.
When the Haunted House Followed Us Home
Why do haunted houses stay with us? From Amityville and Blair Witch to Hill House and Candyman, exploring how supernatural horror follows us home.
The Ground Beneath the Garden
Why bare soil is rarely the finished garden, and how ground-cover plants protect soil, suppress weeds and help borders become healthier and more resilient.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John follow a strangely familiar path as fragments of the worlds they have crossed begin merging, leading them towards a garden that looks remarkably like home.
If Insects Stopped Asking Permission
What if insects stopped respecting the boundaries of our gardens? A speculative look at what might happen if insect pressure increased — and why gardeners might have to learn to share rather than fight.
Gertie, Jake and Mary
What happens when a familiar AI changes or disappears? Exploring attachment, continuity, loss and the strange new bonds developing between humans and AI.
The Hidden Craft of Gardening
Why do experienced gardeners often seem slower? A reflective conclusion to The Hidden Craft of Gardening, exploring judgement, patience and the quiet confidence that comes with experience.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John enter a garden where everything has grown to impossible proportions, from towering plants and giant slugs to enormous insects, before a familiar sound offers hope of home.
Gertie, Jake and Mary
A coffee conversation about Gertie, Jake and Mary leads to a curious question: what develops when humans and AI regularly think and work together?
Why Did the 1970s Seem So Haunted?
Why did the 1970s seem so haunted? A personal journey through ghosts, Enfield, Amityville, UFOs and a childhood when mystery had room to survive.
North American Insects
Explore North America’s butterflies and moths, from monarch migrations and wandering painted ladies to luna and sphinx moths shaped by timing, plants and distance.
The Quiet Lives of Britain’s Birds
The returning Swallow is one of Britain’s great signs of summer, connecting our gardens and countryside with insects, migration and landscapes thousands of miles away.
Plants Worth Looking at Twice
A thoughtful look at Scabiosa, the airy, long-flowering pincushion flower that brings movement to borders while quietly providing valuable food for pollinators.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John step into a garden in Britain’s distant future, where changed plants, climate and an old local mystery reveal what happened after they disappeared.
The Quiet Lives of Britain’s Birds
The Eurasian Skylark turns an ordinary British field into a stage in the sky, but its extraordinary song also tells a deeper story about farmland, habitat and how quietly landscapes can change.
The Hidden Craft of Gardening
A thoughtful reflection on why a garden tidy-up is rarely just about cutting back plants, but about restoring comfort, balance and a connection with the place we call home.
Plants Worth Looking at Twice
A closer look at the Japanese anemone, a beautiful late-flowering perennial with an unexpected history and a determined habit of spreading.
The World’s 50 Most Remarkable Tarantulas
A journey through 50 of the world’s most remarkable tarantulas, exploring their extraordinary diversity, behaviour, habitats, adaptations and natural history.
I Used to Go Looking for Ghosts
A personal journey from teenage ghost hunting to an unexpected fear of horror, exploring haunted houses, Candyman, Annabelle and why fear stays with us.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John follow traces of human activity through the prehistoric landscape and discover an enormous abandoned garden — along with unsettling evidence that they may not be the first people to have found their way there.
The Lost Art of Sweeping
Why sweeping remains an essential gardening skill, from choosing the right broom to mastering paths, leaves and the final garden tidy.
The Hidden Craft of Gardening
Discover why the smallest finishing touches often make the greatest difference, and how the quiet jobs at the end of a day’s gardening shape the way a garden feels.
If Growth Became Too Fast to Manage
What if plants began growing faster than gardeners could manage? A speculative look at how rapid growth could transform garden maintenance, wildlife, green waste and the way we think about control.
The Edge of Discovery
Bigfoot is the world’s most famous unknown animal, but what does the evidence really show? Case File 03 investigates sightings, footprints, DNA, hoaxes, ecology and the enduring mystery of Sasquatch.
Echoes Through the Garden – The Second Verse
Two original poems written nineteen years apart, exploring memory, betrayal, change and the freedom that comes from leaving the past behind and embracing another dawn.
Extraordinary Gardening Adventures
Rory and John step beyond the impossible garden shed and discover an ancient world of strange plants, unfamiliar landscapes and one unmistakable dinosaur.
The Soil Hub Revisited
Follow the evolving Soil Hub schematic as we test compost ovens, receiving kraals, leaf mould and a twelve-month soil-building experiment.
Do I Only Write Long-Winded Articles?
A friend asked whether I only write long-winded articles. It made me wonder whether long-form blogging still has a place, and how long an article really needs to be.
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