I’m always being asked for ideas for breaking up the space in a shallow wide garden. Many people also want to know how to make it look longer. Many houses today are being built on small, individual plots. Gardens are getting smaller and they’re often shallow or odd wedge-shapes. So I asked acclaimed garden designer …
Gardening for biodiversity means gardening with nature rather than trying to control it. And it’s caused a revolution in our gardening rules. Firstly, it means less work for you. A few years ago, you would have been advised to scatter slug pellets, take your leaves to the local tip and mow your lawns into smart …
Kathy and Stuart Pickering created their rustic cottage garden in a stretch of field. And you can use the same techniques to turn an empty lawn into a haven of colour and scent, filled with butterflies and birdsong. Their space is equivalent to a long, narrow town garden, measuring around 30ft x 100ft, but the …
Leave the leaves is the new gardening mantra. It appeals to me more than getting out a leaf blower or a rake,then bagging up leaves and finding somewhere to store them. They will break down into valuable leaf mould but they take their time – sometimes it is several years before you will get the …
We all have ‘difficult garden areas‘ or spaces we want to revamp without re-designing the whole garden. It may be a corner where nothing wants to grow. Or a space which just seems to attract clutter. You could term it a ‘garden dead zone.’ If a shed has rotted or a tree has died, or …
I’m often asked for advice on visiting gardens in the UK.The National Garden Scheme opens gardens around England and Wales to raise money for a range of charities. While grander gardens often open for a special NGS day, the main strength of the scheme is that it encourages beautiful small and middle-sized gardens to open. …
You can grow wildflowers in a border, a pot and a window box as well as in a meadow. A good wildflower seed mix can keep colour going with changing flowers for months at a time. And the cost of a few packets of seeds makes this a cheap way of filling a border. It’s …
Did you know that the average homeowner spends nearly 50 hours a year just on lawn and garden care? That’s a shocking amount of time, especially when you factor in tools that constantly fail, run out of juice, or just don’t cut it. I used to be one of those people, constantly battling underpowered equipment, …
Verdict: stake tall perennials before the wind arrives, but do it low, loose, and early enough for the stems to move naturally. A rigid stake tied tightly near the flower head often creates more damage than the storm. The best support matches the plant’s mature height, clump width, and exposure. For most garden borders, a …
Your border looked full in May. By the first week of July, the soil is cracked, the flowers have flopped, and every plant seems to be asking for another drink. The answer is not filling every gap with thirsty annuals. A convincing low-water border needs layers, repeated shapes, enough soil space, and plants that can …