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Softwood Cuttings; Late Summer Propagation  Late summer and early autumn is the perfect time to propagate your favourite plants by rooting cuttings! You may want to do this to have more of garden [...]

Skimmia shrubs will not stop you in your tracks with showy bright blooms. They’re not the most eye catching shrub in a planting scheme – that is until winter arrives! Skimmias are [...]

Feeding garden birds has never been more important! Even birds that were once common are under threat with numbers in decline. This is clearly shown in various surveys but perhaps most clearly in [...]

Fruit tree pruning seems to flummox most people! Frightened of doing something wrong and in fear of ruining the tree they take the easy option and do nothing! But fruit tree pruning needn’t fill [...]

It’s spring and I want to share a few of my tips on sowing seeds. I know that some of you will have already sown some and there’s a huge temptation to get growing. But don’t get carried [...]

Box tree clipping around Derby Day is commonly regarded as the right time to prune box trees and bushes. Why now? The timing of box tree clipping and box hedge trimming comes from way back when [...]

Best bulbs to naturalise Bulb planting is in full swing but there’s still time to plant more! So I offer my considered thoughts on the best bulbs to naturalise! If you get it right these bulbs [...]

Plant Colourful Cornus? Colourful Cornus should be planted now! November is a month of fireworks, getting used to the clocks going back, autumn mists and some late autumn leaf colour! But it is [...]

Trees for Autumn Colour As trees are changing colour all round us now this blog is focused on Trees for Autumn Colour. I’m going to recommend the best trees for autumn colour to plant in [...]

The three sisters growing technique is uncommon in the UK. It puzzles me that so few gardeners adopt this companion planting vegetable growing method. Sweet corn – not maize I pass fields [...]