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…
Garden borders are at the heart of the garden. It’s probably the first thing any visitor to your garden sees. It’s the major splash of colour in most gardens. And it’s also likely to be the element that you enjoy the most yourself. So I went to the famous West…
If you want to transform your garden on a budget, then Jo and Simon Rutherford have some brilliant tips and ideas to copy. When they moved into their home a few years ago, the garden was a patch of bare lawn running up to the fence line. There was a…
If you choose the most useful garden tools, you won’t waste money on tools you rarely use. And storing your tools will be easier. Space is tight in today’s homes, and many people don’t have room for a whole garden shed just devoted to tools. So I asked Dan Cooper…
We all want beautiful but tough perennials in our gardens this year. Temperate climates (those with spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons) are notoriously changeable. At Antique Perennials, Kinglake, Australia’s top perennial nursery, they know all about unexpected weather extremes. At first glance, the weather at Antique Perennials seems similar…
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