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, and therefore a must for every garden.Designing your wildlife gardenWhen planting a nectar border or any selection of flowers to attract insects, think first of what's best for them and second, of what you want to look at. The two are not remotely exclusive

Flowers are not the only attraction in winter gardens. Biennial honesty (Lunaria annua) is a good example of a plant that keeps delivering after its flowers have passed. Once the petals have fallen, enchanting disc-shaped seed-pods are formed

at this time of year, literally covering itself with bloom.Simply mentioning their name can provoke a rather snooty look of disdain. Chrysanths are very popular,  but often considered brash and 'common'. They remain one of the most popular cut flowers, coming a

unstaked. All it takes is one downpour and strong wind when plants are coming into flower and the whole lot can be flattened.But this May has caught me out. Some of my plant supports are in place, but not all of them. In the past two-three weeks my

Shaping topiary is a fun and inexpensive way to create year-round interest in the garden. These plant sculptures contrast dramatically with flowers in summer, and bring structure, style and form to winter gardens.If you haven't tried topiary before

, and carry several leaves, pinch out the tip. This encourage two or three side shoots to develop lower down the stems, and each of these can be trained up to carry flowers.However, if it's really large stems of sweet peas for cut flowers that you're after

on growing summer displaysSowing sunflower seeds, demonstrated by Monty DonSarah Raven gives advice on taking dahlia cuttingsPlants for late-summer colourCreating a daisy window box

as cut flowers). I saw them at the base of street trees, gleefully mixed in with bright chrysanthemums and lipstick-pink cyclamen. Not  a very conventional mixture but certainly striking.There are variations: this one has a good solid evergreen box edge

, or whenever the plant becomes pot bound. Carefully lift the plant out of its pot and clean off the old compost. You may need to cut the pot open if it is pot bound.Examine the root ball closely and trim off any dead or damaged roots using secateurs or snips

planting, simply chop down and dig in your green manure, leaving it to break down into the soil. As the plants decompose, they return nutrients to the earth, providing it with the perfect food for your crops. For best results, you should cut down the crop