A stumpery is an area of the garden with tree stumps and logs arranged as decoration. If you’ve got a mature tree with big roots and you can’t plant anything near it, then a stumpery is an interesting and attractive option. It’s sometimes described as ‘a rock garden created with…
Salvias are the stars of the late season garden. Many flower from summer right through to the first frosts. William Dyson is the UK’s top expert on salvias. He’s the curator of Great Comp Garden in Kent, where he also runs the award-winning Dyson’s Nurseries. I asked him to tell…
Midsummer is a good time to tweak your flower colour. The extra steps you take now will keep your border looking good throughout the summer and into autumn. You put in some hard work, planning and planting last autumn and spring. Or maybe many of your favourite plants have been…
One of the odd things about early summer is that I always have to start thinking about what I should take out of my garden rather than what I need to plant. Weeds, of course, are growing as fast as they ever will. Now is definitely the time to wage…
Perennials are the main flowering element of a successful mixed border. So I went to one of the UK’s premier perennial plant nurseries, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, to talk to Rosy Hardy about how to choose and grow perennials. What are perennials? Rosy says that a perennial plant is one…
I’ve been finding out about the ultimate low maintenance plants for an instant – yet long-lasting garden. And holiday homes really need easy-care gardens, because there’s so little time when a gardener can go in to maintain the garden. So Garden designer Posy Gentles has just designed two low-maintenance, high…
These are the top trends at RHS Hampton Court 2024. They are the ideas that I think translate best to real gardens. Many show gardens are created to stimulate debate or make a point. They are gorgeous. And stimulating debate and making a point are both worthwhile. But sometimes it…
Edible flowers have been one of the surprise successes of the last few years. Many of us are suspicious of the idea of eating flowers, but they do look so pretty on Instagram. So the search term ‘edible flowers’ rocketed during lockdown, with people mainly wanting to know where they…
Today’s top garden ideas at this year’s BBC Gardeners World Live were logs, corten steel, ponds, coloured garden furniture and more mixing of veg and flowers. They can all be used in traditional, naturalistic or contemporary contexts. BBC Gardeners’ World Live has three garden shows a year, featuring experts from…
If you buy your garden border plants from the people who grow them, you’ll benefit from their expert advice and knowledge. That’s why going to a plant fair can be such a rewarding way to buy plants. The Plant Fairs Roadshow is a collective of independent plant nurseries, who organise…
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