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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

Living on a hillside, I’m fortunately not in danger of being flooded, but it doesn’t mean I’m not feeling the effects of the recent heavy rains. It’s difficult to walk around my sloping garden without slipping over, and the grassed areas have turned

Nothing beats the warmth of the sun after a long spell of cold weather. Until recently, rain or snow has kept me indoors, thinking despondently of all the garden jobs waiting to be done.Now that temperatures are rising, so are my spirits. When I

be dark and droopy and rapidly on its way to becoming complete mush. There is no chance of any more flowers until next summer. So cut down your plants and dig up the conglomeration of dangling tubers you will find underground. Clean off as much of the wet

in half by wind and rain. In the end I had to tie each plant individually to a short cane.I'll use the same contingency plans during 2013, raising plants under cover in line with my Seed Sowing Masterplan. Do you have one? If not prepare it now, including

. Sarcococca hookeriana: I drove to Devon last week with nine of these in the back of my car. The scent was amazing and, even though the plants are now happily planted in a client’s garden, the smell is still there. Plant them close to pathways6. Chitting

Happy new year – may 2013 be better for veg growers than its predecessor. I can’t say 2012 was my favourite year, and it was undoubtedly the worst I’ve known on my veg plot.I’m starting January with my customary clear out. I always clean

by flooding. It’s hard to imagine anything worse happening to your home.Putting up with a wet garden could appear rather trivial in the context of major weather events, but the past few years have highlighted how variable and extreme our weather has become

stride and fill my lungs with fresh air.One of the great things about visiting arboreta is seeing plants that would never fit into an average domestic garden. Winkworth has a magnificent collection of more than 1,000 mature trees and shrubs, including

New Year’s Eve. A defining moment, the joys and traumas of Christmas behind us and the blank page of 2013 stretching ahead like a freshly hoovered carpet. The question is whether, for us gardeners, that carpet will be lush shag pile or meagrely