Category: Gardening know how

The perfect lawn is now a surprisingly controversial issue in gardening. Some people want a smart, green surface with no flaws. Others say that such a lawn is an ‘ecological disaster.’ Sometimes we are urged to put our mowers away, either for the whole summer or just to mow less. Or we’re urged to do ‘No Mow…

Here is an early summer gardening checklist, followed by suggestions on how you can make this as easy as possible. Weed paths and borders There is no doubt that more weeding early in the year means less weeding later on. Weeding is at the heart of your early summer gardening. However, all gardens and all…

Here are answers to the 5 most common spring gardening questions. I prefer not to specify a month, because the trouble with ‘Gardening tips for April (or whatever month)’ is that your April and my April may be very different, even if we are both in the UK.  I live quite near to the North…

When I was asked to name 5 top perennials by Rachel of the YouTube channel Gardening at Douenza, I decided they must be long-flowering and easy to grow. I decided to include one show stopper and at least one modest but useful plant – one you might have overlooked. Because a garden can’t be full of…

The first  question anyone asks about pruning hydrangeas is ‘when should I prune?’ The Royal Horticultural Society says that you should prune hydrangeas in late winter or early spring. That’s February or March in most of the UK. Others will say you shouldn’t prune until March. The dried hydrangea flower heads give the buds below some protection…