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Follow Monty and Joe's simple step-by-step video advice to planting up the tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica.springMore advice on growing treesPlanting a bare-root treePlanting a fig treeTraining a nectarine tree against a fencePlanting a small tree

A birch tree makes an ideal focal point and can be grown in a large container. Its silver-white bark and delicate foliage combine with the handsome, soft shield fern and evergreen heuchera leaves for a wonderful woodland combination

Protect tender plants for winterThe trend for growing exotic looking plants in our gardens means that some of them may need protection from the worst of the winter cold and wet. Wrap half hardy bananas, palms and tree ferns with fleece, straw

could be environmental, such as the weather, or a pest attack that causes physical damage to the plant. Some fasciated plants are actually quite attractive and have led to varieties known as cristates. These include forms of ferns, cacti and succulents

and other crops to keep them growing stronglyStop cutting asparagus by the end of June to allow the ferns to formThin out heavy gooseberry crops by removing the smallest fruits, and use these for cookingMake successional sowings of salad leaves and radishes

. Plant trees to act as roosts, and berry-producing plants, such as holly, to entice thrushes into the garden. Create a pond to provide a habitat for frogs, newts and toads, all of which consume unfeasibly high numbers of slugs each night.More on molluscs

that the only way to tackle a shady patch is to turn it into a foliage garden filled with box, ivies and ferns. But too many dark greens can make a shady area look gloomy. Instead, use them for background structure and texture, then bring the area alive