Search - Articles

Hosepipe bans and water restrictions are always a challenge for gardeners. But if you get into the habit of saving water in your garden, you'll be able to take the restrictions in your stride. Storing rainwater will mean you can keep your plants

Monty Don talks through the process of choosing a good pair of secateurs for pruning, looking at a variety of styles, to help you select a pair to suit your needs. all year roundMore practical garden projectsHow to prune your plantsMaintaining a

Whether you're barbecuing, roasting, casseroling or cooking poultry in a crock, herbs can greatly enhance the flavour. They can be chopped and mixed with salt and rubbed into or under the skin. Handfuls can also be put into the cavity of the bird. Alternatively, chop and add them...

Herbs make the perfect partners to vegetables, whether they're eaten raw, roasted, boiled, mashed or fried. Mint is delicious cooked or raw, with root vegetables, in salads or dressings and marinades. Chives, with their mild onion flavour, are very versatile and can be chopped an...

Surround your roses with strongly scented companion plants, such as lavender, thyme, rue and garlic chives, to help keep aphids at bay. While gardeners are attracted by their beauty, rose pests are deterred by the herbs' strong scents. March - April

that shade ripening tomatoes. Pick parsley leaves when young for the best flavour.More inspiration for edible container featuresLearn how to grow your own display of edible herbs.Start growing fruit with a strawberry hanging basket.Plant a lavender garden

Thanks to our warmer climate, most of us can now enjoy traditionally tropical plants in our summer gardens. Canna 'Tropicanna' is surprisingly tough for such a lush-looking plant, and can survive outdoors all year round (with a little protection

coverage of the support and they're extremely fragrant.The cottage garden-style display is enhanced with trailing Sutera cordata 'Snowflake' and the variegated leaves of Felicia amelloides 'Variegata'.sow sweet peas in February, pot on in April, plant out

-release granular feed to nourish them.The young pine seedling acts as a focal point in this box, and it can be planted out into the garden afterwards. More spring container inspirationCreating a spring pot display of primulasPotting up a display of spring woodland

. Insects you'll attract to your garden include buff-tailed and common carder bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies, comma, painted lady, small tortoishell, speckled wood butterflies and the angel shades, dart and brimstone moths. Some will still be found