There are only a few good alternatives to box (English boxwood or Buxus sempervirens) for topiary. And I have just visited a delightful private garden in Kent which shows off both box and the best box substitutes absolutely beautifully. Box has two problems. One is box blight and the other…
You can make a container pond out of anything that will hold water. But some materials are better than others. That includes stone, metal, some ceramics and fibreglass. Many people also make container ponds out of plastic bowls or buckets. However, plastic gets brittle over time when it’s outside, so…
As I was photographing Diane and Robbie Perry’s garden in Kent, I admired the way they use garden planters to add punctuation and colour. They’ve used garden pots in five ways: Fill a gap in your border with a garden planter At the end of the summer, Diane says that…
Alstroemerias are very easy to grow. They flower from May to November in a UK garden and even longer in some other countries. ‘They’ll flower all year round if you keep them in pots in a greenhouse,’ says Ben Cross of Crosslands Flower Nursery, alstroemeria growers in Sussex. Also known…
Paul Bangay is a top international garden designer, and has designed gardens all over the world. And he has described his own garden, Stonefields, as being the sum of all his ‘travels and inspirations’. He’s now set out those inspirations in his latest book ‘Paul Bangay – A Life in…
A rose garden used to mean a garden planted only with roses. It was superbly romantic, but the wow factor only lasted a few weeks. Today’s rose gardens combine roses with other plants. They have all the show-stopping colour and scent of a rose garden, but they weave in perennials,…
Ground cover plants are low-growing plants that spread easily to cover areas where nothing much wants to grow. For example, do you have bare patches under trees? Are you tired of weeding them and trying to keep them clear? Ground cover plants will help prevent weed seeds germinating in the…
Whether you have a steep, sloping garden or just a small bank, there are some key facts you need to know about gardening on a slope. However, once you understand the principles, you’re not restricted to any particular ‘plants that are suitable for sloping gardens’. You can plant the plants…
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…
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