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You can't beat a real Christmas tree, but fallen needles and bare branches don't look particularly festive. Find out how to avoid Christmas tree needle drop, below.Christmas treeChristmas tree clampBucketSawSecateursDecemberWhen buying the tree, check that its needles are firmly ...

.Bulbs need enough time in the cold and dark for the root system to develop and support flowering. Use a thermometer to ascertain that your shed or garden is cold enough (it should be around 10°C). Once inside, place the bulbs or corms in a cool, north

Carrots need space to develop fully so, once germinated, go over your rows of carrots and pick out the weakest-looking vegetable seedlings to leave a 2cm - 4cm space around remaining seedlings. If you're very careful in extracting the seedling from the row, you could try transpla...

Like tomatoes, aubergines are members of the solanum, or potato family. Aubergines must be sown early (February to March) and kept in a warm, sheltered spot to ensure a good crop. Although they can be grown outside in milder areas of the country, the best results come from growin...

'Medium-flowered cactus dahlia, with sunny yellow flowers. Height 120cm.Dahlia 'Yellow Galator'Small-flowered semi-cactus type, with white-tipped pinky red petals. Height 60cm.Dahlia 'Pianella'More about using garden weedsTake dahlia cuttings Plant dahlia tubers

-flowering clematis. Given their willingness to grow in sun or shade and to scramble up any kind of support, there's no garden that can't accommodate at least one or two.Clematis produce their display on the current season's growth. That's why it's common to see

For a short but glorious time in June oriental poppies come into their own, providing flamboyant displays to enliven borders, says Carol Klein.Most gardeners yearn for a splash of glamour, and the most flamboyant of all June's flowers has

There's such a huge range of daffodils available in bulbs catalogues it's often hard to know which varieties to choose. Browse our pick of 10 beautiful cultivars for inspiration.Daffodils are some of the most reliable spring bulbs, coping well with wet ground and competition from...

New plants at Chelsea 2008The plant marquee is packed with new, and often awe-inspiring cultivars. Here are some of our favourites from this year's show.Jarava ichu, or Peruvian feather grass, forms mounds of bright green foliage with showy, silver flowerheads in summer. It will ...

unique features. Plants can be pollinated in pots in coldframes or unheated greenhouses, or outside in the open garden. It is warmer work when done in the greenhouse, but pollinated flowers are more prone to rotting when indoors. Hellebore plants