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: there seems little point in weeding much (the nights are too cold for most annual weeds to bother with seeding themselves), why bother to tie back a sprawling plant when you are going to cut them all down anyway soon? Even the grass stops growing quite

nigra, with black stems, and P. aureosulcata f. aureocaulis. I have used them as screens, specimens in pots and in innumerable planting schemes. However, they are mere minnows compared to some of the Asian varieties that grow to 20m high with stems (or

Being a caring fellow, I will ease you gently into a new year of gardening by telling you the story of my pyracantha.Pyracantha - or firethorn - is a much undervalued plant. It's a big spiny shrub, originally from China, and is most usually seen

I think it is time for another deeply prejudiced personal rant about my least favourite plants. Spring is, if not exactly just around the corner, then definitely packed, dressed and on its way. With the spring comes the return to our gardens

too much - or at all. Otherwise you end up trying to drag collapsed plants upright, which never works. We've all seen things tied to canes, looking very uncomfortable and more like tethered voodoo effigies than plants.

I have never been good with tangles. Snaggled kite strings drive me dotty. Gordian knots of fishing line result in much swearing. Bricklaying lines that, if left alone for a couple of minutes, mysteriously tie themselves into intricate clove hitches

that are still viable. (iv) Plant the seeds that my very efficient wife has ordered. (v) Divide grasses and some herbaceous plants. (vi) Prune and tie back climbing roses. (vii) Cut back willows and dogwoods - although this can wait a bit. (viii) Plant bare