Gardening articles - Home & Garden

Gardening features

A gardener's holiday checklist

So you're away for two weeks in the summer holidays, when your crops are at their peak, your bedding plants need deadheading regularly and everything, especially hanging baskets and containers, needs watering.

Reaching new hedge heights

I love the uniformity of hedges, the way a neatly trimmed hedge tidies up the whole garden, as does a well-kept lawn.

How to weather global warming in the garden

The north-south divide will become even more evident in UK gardens as climate change takes hold, scientists and horticulturalists are warning.

Make hazards bite the dust

The recent report that a gardener died after contracting a rare lung infection from compost has made me wonder if other garden materials could affect our health.

Roses grow on you

I have the most glorious David Austin rose, 'Golden Celebration', recommended to me several years ago by the man himself when I inquired whether it was possible to grow fragrant old English roses in large containers.

It's a bug's life

I'm already tackling aphids on my roses and picking red lily beetles off the petals of emerging blooms but not all insects are bad.

Berry good show

It's just a couple of weeks until the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, which fills me with thoughts of strawberries and cream.

In the night garden

Our gardens may look vibrant in the daytime, but at night they take on a different air as the fading light changes the colours, tones and fragrance of our outdoor space and certain plants come into their own.

Living walls take shape

I came away from RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week with an idea for a new project which an increasing number of designers are using in their schemes - a living wall.

Kit out the kids for summer

If your children have already planted some seeds and look set to become budding gardeners, it's time to kit them out with some clothing and equipment to keep them going through the seasons.