Summer may be coming to a close, but you don’t have to head indoors and hibernate. Clever use of autumn planting, lighting, outdoor heating, garden buildings – even cosy blankets – can help you enjoy your outdoor room throughout the autumn During lockdown, lots of us got busy making our outdoor space a lovely place […]
Attract more wildlife to your garden by making it a haven for them Main image: Peacock butterfly © RHS Katy Prentice If you’ve got a garden then you’re definitely one of the lucky ones – having an outside space to call our own is a godsend, and never more so than over the last few […]
Give your lawn a new lease of life If you want to get your lawn looking as good as it possibly can in time for the summer, it needs some attention now. We asked lawn expert Matthew Rice from Greensleeves in Tring for advice on what to do now – and for the rest of […]
Give your garden a new lease of life with some simple and colourful winter planting Once summer is over, most of us stop thinking about our gardens until spring. But get the planting right and you can enjoy gorgeous colours all year round. Shrubs and Evergreens Evergreen shrubs are the basis for some spectacular winter […]
Our native hedgehogs are on the decline. Here’s what you can do to help According to the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), the number of hedgehogs in the UK has declined by a third since the millennium alone. So why is it happening and how can we stop the decline? We spoke to Fay […]
Forget luxury holidays – you can bring the glamour to your own garden for a fraction of the price. Here’s how to enjoy your garden all year round. If this summer proves to be anything like the summer of 2018, we’ll all be glad of the little oases we call our back gardens. But if you’re planning […]
It can be fun to grow your own fruit and veg – whatever outside space you have Whether it’s to have fun with the kids, to save money, or just for the hell of it, a new survey by Appliances Direct reveals that more than half of us Brits have grown our own fruit and […]
Make your garden bee-friendly this autumn Autumn is a tricky time if you’re a bee. All summer long there are plenty of sources of nectar and pollen around, with all the flowering plants to choose from. But come autumn, many of these sources have disappeared, ready for the cold winter. Bees are still around at this time of year […]
Each year, the National Gardens Scheme sees a host of privately owned gardens open to the public to raise money for charity. And it’s not restricted to large, landscaped affairs – cottage gardens and unpretentious plots participate too. There’s nothing more inspiring, for anyone with an interest in gardening, than taking a walk around other […]
Spring planting is one of the most enjoyable jobs of the gardening year. Flowerbeds in particular are tapestries that evolve over the years and many of the changes you’ll make to the pattern will be prepared in spring. There are many obvious places to buy plants in bulk, and we wouldn’t for a moment discourage […]