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, though, without the plant ending up looking like St. Sebastian strapped awkwardly to a stake, and the string and bamboo look is not generally desirable.2. Take your courage and your secateurs and cut the thing right back to a couple of inches above ground

, making box balls is a great way to start. Box is the ideal topiary plant, and a simple sphere will allow you to try out the basic techniques and see the results quickly. Simply buy a tray of rooted cuttings and follow our instructions. It will take around

How to make a lavender bath bagFollow Monty Don's guide to creating a lavender gardenTaking lavender cuttings

on growing summer displaysSowing sunflower seeds, demonstrated by Monty DonSarah Raven gives advice on taking dahlia cuttingsPlants for late-summer colourCreating a daisy window box

thing, it has continued growing strongly to dominate this display. Yes it's tender, but I could take cuttings now to keep young plants through winter on a warm, bright windowsill. The contrast in colour between the cream-and-pink-veined upper surface

clusters of healthy leaves. Lift out of their pots and look for healthy roots.Dig a planting hole that is just deep enough to take the rootball. Choose a sunny site with a well-drained soil. You can improve drainage in your soil by digging in plenty of grit

regularly used to rescue the unsold pot plants that 'went over', before being consigned to landfill. I'd take them home, dust them down and (usually) give them a new lease of life.Once I took home a moth orchid, Phalaenopsis, whose flower spike had died

'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

's still advisable to take cuttings as a back-up, which you can then overwinter.PenstemonIce plants are very reliable in hot, dry positions. Varieties of Sedum spectabile and S. telephium are particularly lovely. The green, domed heads of buds

Flowers are not the only attraction in winter gardens. Biennial honesty (Lunaria annua) is a good example of a plant that keeps delivering after its flowers have passed. Once the petals have fallen, enchanting disc-shaped seed-pods are formed