if your garden is bigger than a courtyard, but smaller than an acre

Top tips for trees – what you really need to know before you prune your trees

Top tips for trees – what you really need to know before you prune your trees

November 25th, 2023 Posted In: Gardening know how


You may not intend to prune your trees yourself. But even if you employ a tree surgeon, there are key facts you need to know about tree maintenance. This will…

Recent Stories

Leave the leaves!

Leave the leaves – the new, easy way to deal with autumn gardens

Leave the leaves is the new gardening mantra. It immediately appeals to me more than getting out a leaf blower or rake, bagging up leaves and finding somewhere to store…

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November 19th, 2023

Posted In: Wildlife & eco


Great Dixter - a garden that looks good and supports wildlife.

7 lessons from Great Dixter, a garden that supports wildlife and looks gorgeous

Do you want to support wildlife in your garden – but you don’t want a ‘wild’ looking garden? You’d like beautiful borders and gorgeous pots? Even, perhaps, a short neat…

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October 28th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


Essential border maintenance for spring and autumn

Brilliant border maintenance – what to do now for next summer’s success

Garden border maintenance in both autumn and spring is mainly about the plants. Summer and early autumn is for dead-heading. Weeding goes on all year round if you have a…

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October 14th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


Asters are top autumn flowering perennials

10 top autumn garden tips and plants

Six leading plant growers share their top autumn garden tips and recommend the best plants for flowering now

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September 30th, 2023

Posted In: Gardening know how


Small garden folly ideas

Garden ruins and follies add more to your garden than you think!

Garden ruins and follies are ornamental – but they can also be focal points, divide up space, create a micro-climate for plants and more

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September 10th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


Cottage garden plants - scabious, echinacea, sanguisorba and hollyhocks.

Rustic cottage garden ideas – 7 tips for creating a stunning garden on a shoestring budget

How to create a rustic cottage garden haven in an empty strip of lawn or field, with budget tips and recycling cottagecore inspiration

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August 19th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


Dahlias won't flower in a shady spot - they need full sun.

6 Common Reasons Why Your Garden Plants Aren’t Flowering (and how to fix it!)

Are you looking at plants in your garden and wondering why they aren’t flowering? I am. And I’ve discovered a surprising reason why my cosmos plants don’t even have any…

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July 22nd, 2023

Posted In: Gardening know how


Shallow wide garden design

How to turn a wide shallow backyard into the perfect garden

I’m always being asked for ideas for breaking up the space in a shallow wide garden, and also how to make it look longer. Many houses today are being built…

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July 15th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


The Wildlife Trust's Renters Retreat designed by Zoe Claymore.

6 trending ideas for your garden from RHS Hampton Court 2023

RHS Hampton Court 2023 is short for The RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. But that sounds far too grand. ‘Hampton Court’ is the Chelsea Flower Show’s much loved younger…

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July 3rd, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


How to puppy-proof your garden

Puppy-proof your garden – 7 practical tips that really work – and 3 to avoid!

If you’re going to puppy-proof your garden, there’s lots of advice out there. Not all of it works. As a journalist, I start every project with the assumption that I…

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July 1st, 2023

Posted In: Gardening know how


The Sub Aqua garden by Joshua Fenton

The 10 best ideas for your garden from BBC Gardeners World Live 2023

Here’s the pick of the best ideas for your garden from BBC Gardeners World Live 2023. Of course, we can never reproduce show garden perfection in our own gardens, but…

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June 16th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design


Container pond in an agricultural water trough

How to create a beautiful container pond to attract wildlife

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…

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June 10th, 2023

Posted In: Garden trends & design