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Making your own pots from paper will save you money, and reduce the amount of plastic you use in your garden and greenhouse. Newspaper pots are completely biodegradable, so when plants are growing strongly and ready to go outside, the whole pot can

Anemones make a beautiful indoor display, particularly at Christmas time. If you want to create a festive display of anemones, you'll need to 'force' the corms approximately 20 weeks ahead of the big occasion.In nature, spring bulbs and corms spend the winter underground in the c...

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, making box balls is a great wa...

One of the most efficient ways of recycling kitchen waste is to use a worm bin. These purpose-built containers house a colony of brandling worms, which consume fruit and vegetable waste, producing a nutritious worm compost.As well as producing a rich compost, worm bins also gener...

did find a busy bee completely defoliating a passion flower in my greenhouse a few summer's ago, and creating its leafy cocoons in the compost of the same pot. Nice to know my garden is appreciated by local wildlife as much as my family.

, and provided the drainage is sharp so that they don't get waterlogged, they do not appear to mind the cold.I prefer growing mine in pots, moving them around every few weeks to create a fresh display. Come autumn these will be carried into my unheated greenhouse

until May. At least they did get planted - better late than never - and now I'm really enjoying their display.I first grew the Glory Lily about 25 years ago when I was editor of Greenhouse magazine (this was actually my first editorship after entering

, but nothing germinated. This year I grew three seedlings from seed sown in the greenhouse in April. Slow at first , they soon developed into strong climbers, so tall split canes were pushed into the pots for support. By early June they were about a meter high

, although she is quite partial to tomatoes if they drop onto the greenhouse floor. We can't put bread out for the birds any more, as Magic sees this as her food. Now all she can do is wait for birds to carry the odd piece of bread from next door and drop

are out there gardening (or those looking for an excuse to be out of the house - sometimes rain dripping down your neck can seem a much more attractive option than ironing).You could pass some time tidying the shed or pootling around in the greenhouse