Your guide to Perfect Plants

  Want to create an amazing hanging basket display this year? It's not difficult, provided you follow simple advice: The sight of a tumbling cascade of summer colour, dangling in the air, is a joy to behold. The best thing about hanging baskets is the fact that you can achieve...

How many people break their New Year's Resolutions? Are we setting ourselves up for failure when we make those New Year’s Resolutions? It seems that around 88% of people fail to achieve their goals, and by the end of February a high proportion can’t even remember what they resolved to...

Christmas is about to take centre stage and it's good for the soul to rejoice in positive sights, sounds and celebrations. So let's not forget those that are taking place all around, unaided by LEDs. Nature has its own #festivedisplay which doesn't need to cycle through various flashy patterns in...

In autumn, many things in the garden can be tidied away, cut back and neatened. Or can they - does thismean it's all over for the year? Do we need to see bare soil and pruned back stems? A few decades ago, this was the aspiration but now it's just...

We know the phrase and we always hope that the autumn season will bring one. But what on earth is an Indian summer and why do people crave to get one? Firstly, there's all that beautiful light that results from autumn sunshine. It creatures wonderful colours as well as warmth. ‍But...

Anyone with a kitchen garden or allotment should be enjoying a harvest glut in September. Apples are ripe for plucking, courgettes are still coming, onions are ready for drying, tomatoes are ripening on the vine and potatoes are inviting you to dig for their delicious treasure. There are still runner beans...

'My garden has no colour or flowers during mid to late summer'. Is this you? If so, you might want to plug your summer flowering gap. It's easier than you might think. Here's 12 suggestions to help you fill the garden with colour:   As much as gardeners tend to...

You can't hide from seasonal pollen. It's a plant's method of fertilisation and without it, many will die out. Around one fifth of the UK population has some sort of allergy or intolerance and a reaction to pollen is one of the most common problems. Hay fever; as many sufferers...

Young children love gardening. The outdoor world holds such joy for small people who can be inspired by the wonders of nature to a point where it influences their future life. Every minute spent in the garden as a pre-school child or primary pupil is a valuable experience, especially during...

  Does your heart plummet when you think about winter? One of the problems of the season is that it's more difficult to spend time outdoors. The daylight hours are short, nights are long, and work often gets in the way of opening the door onto the big wide world....

Oodles of Christmas gifts for your plant and garden-loving friends There's no getting away from it, Christmas is coming and you really need to go shopping. This task is now a lot simpler than it used to be because most of us can do it from the comfort of home....

It's November and the magic of the season can be brought to life with plants. As we approach the uphill climb to the shortest winter day there's a huge sense of deprivation amongst people who love to be outdoors. Falling light levels in November mean that those with indoor work...