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Could garden plants reduce your winter heating bills? Some interesting research has been conducted at the University of Sheffield and by other organisations around the world that highlights the value of trees and plants surrounding buildings

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

that are being groomed - already -  for displays at next year's RHS Flower Shows.Herbs are one of the few things that can be used the whole way through the winter. A pot of rosemary, some mint (Egyptian mint is, apparently, the most evergreen) and a bay tree

, chairs and the climbing frame… Even the compost and the foliage of some evergreens are covered.Algae is harmless, but it’s beginning to depress me. Its seemingly unstoppable spread is caused by the super-soggy weather we’ve had over the last few months

When the first hard frost struck in my garden at the end of October, it was the kiss of death for so much of the long-lasting summer colour. Busy Lizzies crumpled instantly, summer bedding packed up shop, and leaves started falling from the trees

In the 19th century the gardens at Leighton Hall, Powys were planted with newly discovered tree varieties, gleaned by fearless plant hunters from every corner of the Empire. Included in the arboretum were the Monterey cypress, from California

Autumn leaves are mainly broken down by the slow action of fungi rather than by bacteria that decompose other compost bin ingredients quickly, so it's best to compost them separately in a simple cage.The leaves of all deciduous trees make good leaf

? Or eating our shoes like Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush?My highlights of the snowy weather:Bleakness: I love an undisturbed field.Beech trees: because they have such smooth bark the snow tends to slip off leaving them as lizard green contrast to the rest

and perfect. The frost, however, tends to accentuate every line; the branches of trees and shrubs are sprinkled with shards of ice that glint like tiny blades; things you never noticed before suddenly stand out.Wandering through the garden as the sun rises

Buying a camellia in flower lets you choose exactly the colour you want for your patio show-stopper. This single plant will give you delightful spring colour and its glossy, deep green foliage looks impressive all year round, even when its not in flower. Place it in a shaded, she...