You don’t have to do all the late winter gardening jobs on the gardening ‘to do’ lists. Some may not be relevant to your particular garden or gardening style. I believe that successful, happy gardening is ultimately about working out the best approach for you. Whether you choose to do…
A cottage garden mashup means taking the elements of English cottage garden style and mixing it with your own local plants to create a garden that’s unique to you. I first heard the term from Bill Bampton of the Diggers Club, who used it to describe their Heronswood garden He…
I first really saw prunella as a herbaceous border plant in my sister-in-law’s garden in Australia. It isn’t a show stopper. But I consider it amongst the top perennials because it is charming and easy. It flowers for months at a time, either in sun or quite shady spots. It’s…
I killed my first hydrangea by pruning it in fall. Thought I was helping. Cut every stem back to six inches. Next summer? Zero flowers. Just leaves. That was ten years ago, and I’ve since learned the hard way that the single most important rule of pruning hydrangeas is knowing…
It’s time for the potting shed tidy up. While I’m sorting the tools and accessories, I’ll picking out which ones I want to replace or repair and which I’ll throw away . The best quick shed tidy tip I hate tidying, so I have to force myself. One trick I’ve…
Over 150,000 people visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2026. They saw show gardens built with budgets over £300,000 each. Most left wondering: how do I do any of this in my 6x4m patch? You can. The best Chelsea trends are not about money. They are about thinking differently.…
You dug the hole, dropped the tree in, and backfilled. Now the leaves are yellowing, or it’s leaning, or it just looks sad. Did you plant it wrong? Probably. Most people do. Here’s what actually matters when planting a tree – and how to undo the damage if you already…
I’ve killed my share of fussy houseplants. After a few years of trial and error, I started raiding the garden center instead of the indoor plant aisle. Turns out, plenty of outdoor perennials and annuals adapt perfectly to life inside — they just need the right treatment. Here are nine…
You spent $80 on six-packs of flowering annuals, dug holes, watered faithfully, and watched them turn yellow and die by mid-July. You blamed the weather. You blamed the nursery. You blamed yourself. I did the same thing for two years. Then a neighbor who grows tomatoes the size of softballs…
There are three factors that influence autumn colours in your garden. The first is quite obvious. Choose the plants that are well known for good autumn colour. I’ll list some later in this post. The second is often forgotten. You need to plant them in the right place. I’ll explain…
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