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Sally Nex

@sallynex.bsky.social
358 followers 67 following 447 posts

Gardener, food grower, author and dog lover in Somerset, south-west UK. Peat-free advocate for the Peat-free Partnership hosted by @plantlife also professional gardener, online tutor with Learning with Experts, lecturer. All views my own

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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
If visitors find my garden "messy", if they're surprised a professional gardener can have a garden "like that", if they see nettles brambles & hogweed and think "weeds", their problem. My garden, my choices, my decision to invite nature in. I *love* my garden & I need to remember that. #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
No more. I *love* my garden. It's where I have my most peaceful, most spiritual moments, watching a tree creeper or following small blue butterflies bumbling in the hedges. I'm excited to see the pyramidal orchids again next month, and I love that most of my flowers planted themselves. 3/4
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I rail all the time to anyone who will listen about how damaging for nature traditional gardens can be: the bowling green lawns, clipped sterile shrubs and stand-to-attention colour-matched perennials. Yet here I am making excuses for why my own garden doesn't match that model. 2/4
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I caught myself apologising for my garden again yesterday. Then I thought: what are you doing? You have a garden sparkling with flowers: buttercups, cow parsley, campion and dandelions. It's jam packed with butterflies, birds, and bees: it would have none of these without the nettles & brambles. 1/4
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Peak crabapple blossom and Clematis montana going 9n in my front garden right now 💚💚💚 best display for years #gardening 🌱 #flowers #bloomscrolling
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Go for a second hand galvanised tank instead 😊 i have an old cattle trough in my veg garden and it looks gorgeous. Also a former central heating tank by the house. Both blend in so much better than plastic (and hold more water) 💚
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
There is no politician - and I mean none - who is better-placed than Ed Miliband to get us through this fossil fuel-driven energy crisis. No-one in politics understands the energy system better. That’s why the billionaire fossil press hate him www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Ed Miliband to double down on net zero with measures to combat Iran energy shock
As fossil fuel prices soar ‘the era of clean energy security must come of age’, energy secretary will say
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
When rhubarb flowers it's pretty - but also a sign of stress. The trick is to work out why... usually it's overcrowding (lift & divide clumps every 5 years then replant in a new spot to keep healthy). But this one just hasn't thrived so I dug it up - turns out the roots were rotting 🥺 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
I planted this tree as a tiny whippy thing late one winter with my youngest daughter, then a teenager; we chose it together because she wanted a blossom tree. Now it fills the hillside with clouds of flowers. My daughter is now 24; every time I see it I think of her & smile 💚 #gardening #memories 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Spotted out in the wild 😊 this was a fun book to write for the RHS, packed with tips & ideas for more sustainable ways to grow your own food 💚 www.waterstones.com/book/rhs-can... #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Oops 😁 💚
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
If you have baby figs on your tree congratulations - you'll have a crop of ripe fruit this year (as long as there's no late frost) 💚 figs in the UK rely on embryonic fruits formed late the previous year to overwinter, so don't remove them if you're pruning #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
I know right? I'd have thought deer but only the lowest leaves are eaten... also interesting that they've left the veins, they usually eat the lot 🤔
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Something's been eating the rhubarb 😳 well this is a first. I thought the leaves were packed with oxalic acid and v poisonous so something out there has a sore tummy today! I think it might be rabbits as there are a lot in this garden but they've never chewed the rhubarb before #mystery #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
There is much attention given to cherry blossom at this time of year... and for good reason, as it is very lovely. But for my money plum blossom is every bit as beautiful 😍 💚 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
True blue, baby, I love you... 💙💙💙 the wonderful colony of wild English #bluebells in my rewilded orchard are in full glorious flower right now #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Mowing the lawn; or as it's referred to around here, "collecting mulch" 💚 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
The #houseplant propagation adventures continue! Discovered these weird nodules on my String of Hearts (Ceropegia) - turns out they're tubers 😍 I've now snipped some away with a short stem attached. Buried to half their depth in compost and... we'll see what happens 💚 #gardening 🌱 #plantsforfree
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Salads on the way! I have a 3 pot veg system for babyleaf salads - sow half a tray of mixed salads each month (Feb-Oct), then transplant into a big 14" (35cm) clay pot. Once you have 3 pots sown you can just clear & resow pots immediately after last harvest to keep fresh leaves coming 💚 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
You could try.. but it's risky from seed, might be too rich (and too water retentive). I'd try making a hollow in the manure, filling with potting compost & sowing into that - once they have a head start & are big enough to cope with high levels of nutrients they should love such rich soil 😊
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Time to sow all the big stuff 😁 big, jungly pumpkins, winter squash & courgettes are among my favourite veg to grow 💚 seeds are big enough to cope with multipurpose compost (smaller seeds need finer seed compost) - sow on their edge or not, I've never found it makes a difference 😉 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Great thank you, will do! 💚
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Thank you 😂 that was what I'd come up with too 💚
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Uh oh 😂 there are peach and apricot trees trained against a trellis across the end of this polytunnel in a garden I look after... I thought they were doing pretty well (loads of peaches last year #nomnomnom).. and then I went and looked round the back 😱 any idea how to fix this?! #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Aww thanks Jack 🥰
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Such a privilege to be asked to give evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on the importance of leaving peat in the ground where it belongs 💚 #endpeatsales #peatfree #gardening 🌱 #horticulture @peatfree.bsky.social
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Happy April! 💚 This month's #moon phases: 🌜1: waxing: flowers & salads 🌜2: full: rest 🌜3-10: waning: roots 🌜11-16: waning: rest 🌜17: new moon: rest 🌜18-24: waxing: leafy veg 🌜25-30: waxing: above ground annuals #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Such a feeling of anticipation right now 😂 I have a Clematis montana 'hedge' in the front garden along the lane, about 30ft long and a little unruly, and right now it is jam packed with fat little buds just flushed pink and getting ready to burst 🌸 #gardening is so exciting isn't it 😁 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I find blackfly rarely get so out of hand they destroy the plants... but then I do have a very wild garden so lots of predators 😊 it helps if you sow them early (so they flower before blackfly arrive) or late (when the worst of the blackfly are over) - full grown plants in July are worst affected 💚
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Oh no that's awful - I would miss them terribly 😢 well that's one positive about moving to a cooler climate 😊
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Is there any seedling quite so pretty as a nasturtium? I grow lots - they're not only pretty, they're completely edible and both leaves and flowers make deliciously peppery salad ingredients (even the immature seed heads can be pickled and turned into ersatz capers 😋) #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
I love #ferns and this time of year lose my heart to them all over again 💚 I have several varieties from harts tongue fern (naturalised here and self seeding everywhere) to big handsome shield ferns - these little dinosaur tails are unfurling all over the garden at the moment #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
That's the kind of thing I'm after 😊 so good to see it can be done
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Exactly... and from a political point of view the optics are terrible. Just about to move house & among top priorities for new place is ability to go off grid so I can disengage from this ridiculous system 🙄
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
This drives me crazy with frustration. I don't know how the govt thinks it will ever get the credit for all the alternative energy it's putting in unless it breaks this link with gas prices- we should be paying a fraction of what we are paying for our energy 🙄
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
First batch hardening off ready for planting outdoors 😊 now there's a greater temp difference between greenhouse and outside so I take 2 weeks moving them outside more & more each day: you can reduce that to a week or so by June 💚 but don't skip as otherwise seedlings get cold shock #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
It's important to write the date sown on labels when you're sowing #seeds, especially parsley as it takes forever to germinate & even then it's erratic so it's easy to forget how long they've been in. I leave it at least two months before giving up on any that haven't emerged by then 😊 #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If it looks like nothing's going on up top... pick it up and take a look underneath. These are the shallot sets I started a few weeks ago, now ready to go out in the garden: it's all about the roots, baby 💚 #gardening 🌱
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Peat-free Partnership @peatfree.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Spring is waking up the peatlands! 🌱 Did you know peatlands are home to a wide variety of plants? From fluffy Cottongrass to insect‑catching Butterwort, there’s plenty to spot at this time of year. Swipe through to meet the species that make peatlands so uniquely alive. ✨
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Chris Packham @chrisgpackham.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I'm backing @peatfree.bsky.social's campaign for a peat free future . Last October the UK Govt committed to ending the sale of peat– but we need action . Sign the petition calling for legislation in 2026 to bring peat sales to an end at long last . actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
When #houseplants are mainly grown in #peat & more expensive by the year you can still feed your habit #sustainably & cheaply: learn to propagate 😊 it's really easy 💚 I've just snipped a small branch from this Crassula - I'll now be leaving it to callous for 2-3 days before planting #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
They inhibit growth rather than stopping it altogether i think - i found out when i tried to plant tomatoes among the garlic one year. The tomato plants were half the size of the ones growing on the other side of the greenhouse with no garlic. Amazing what plants can do!
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Signs of progress! 😍 the garlic is coming up nicely (in the greenhouse as protection against rust) 💚 After harvest in late June/July I'll follow on straight away with cucumbers, grown in 2ltr pots till the space comes free. Garlic is allelopathic so can't plant in amongst them sadly #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Who needs to bother forcing #rhubarb when you have a stand of Timperley Early 💜 the clue's in the name - this huge clump has been pickable for a month already & will supply as many stems as I can cook into crumble (or stew & enjoy with creme fraiche 😋) till June #selfsufficiency #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
That's a great idea 💚
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Chard has naturalised in my garden 😂 every spring a clump pops up without me doing a thing - I just make sure I leave at least one plant to set seed. The flower spikes can be really tall so need staking to stop them flopping onto other plants; but that's it 💚 #freefood #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Love a scented leaf pellie! This one is Pelargonium tomentosum and it's my absolute favourite, big soft velvety leaves that fill the air with the scent of chocolatey peppermint 💚 flowers are delicate palest pink. It's overwintered well in my greenhouse & I'll be taking cuttings soon #gardening 🌱
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Agree...but problem is you can't buy a plant without a side order of plastic pot (unless you source from one of the rare mail order nurseries who will send with pot removed). So gardeners continually acquire new plastic pots, driving more to be manufactured too - est 500m a year in the UK in fact 😥
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
They were talking about non-black pots but in my experience it doesn't matter what colour the pot is, councils never want to take them anyway 🙄
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Sally Nex @sallynex.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Now there's a surprise 🙄 trade mag Hort Week has found 40% of councils won't recycle #plastic plant pots - despite new govt regs that they must from 31 March. Recycling isn't the answer as plastic downcycles, so ends up in landfill anyway. The only solution is gardening without plastic #gardening 🌱
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