Graham Paskett formed Paskett Public Relations in 1976 after a career in newspaper journalism and pr/marketing in the oil industry.
His personal love of gardening and the environment has helped position the firm as one of the UK’s largest specialists in this field.
Graham himself is a specialist gardening PR practitioner and a keen gardener, a self-confessed grumpy one at that.
So to share his wealth of knowledge, to pass on his green-fingered tips and titbits and to essentially show you all what he gets up to in his garden, he’ll be writing a series of blogs under the moniker, The Grumpy Gardener.
Read his blogs below in date order, starting with the most recent.
You can contact Graham direct by emailing grahampaskett@paskett.co.uk
May 21, 2020: Pots and panics
There is very little pleasure in washing up very dirty plastic flower pots. Although as tedious and boring as this task is, it really is very necessary.
Also, I’m a worried gardener this month. I have become an avid watcher of the weather on my iPhone to check lowest overnight temperatures. I’m still fearful of frosts!
April 23, 2020: A Coronavirus free zone – but still plenty to grumble about
It is quite ridiculous to have moved from flood to virtual drought in a matter of three weeks.
And be aware of slugs and other minibeasts.
Also, the daffodils are absolutely lovely in the garden but, already, we are dead heading the early blooms.
February 7, 2020: Winter hasn’t done with us just yet
At the risk of sounding even more grumpy than usual, I have to say that this ridiculously warm weather is really not good news for the garden.
But, personally, I don’t think winter has done with us just yet.
February 3, 2020: Hydrangeas and the Grumpy Gardeners
My wife and I both love hydrangeas but disagree about their winter pruning. In 2018 she won the argument and, last year, we had the worst display ever.
The reason? In an effort to make the borders look neat and tidy she insisted that I prune them hard, cutting off all the brown flowering heads, right down at the base.
January 23, 2020: Starting the new year by mowing the lawn
I read somewhere that Staffordshire is reckoned to be England’s overall coldest county so, on that basis, you’d think it would have a slow start to the grass growing season.
I found it surprising, therefore, that whilst many people would be nursing hangovers on the morning of January 1, 2020, I was out mowing the lawns.