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An east facing garden receives direct sun from sunrise until roughly midday or early afternoon, depending on the time of year and any surrounding structures. After that, the garden transitions into shade for the rest of the day. This means you have the best of both worlds in many respects: enough morning sun to grow […]

If you have heavy clay soil and shade, your go-to plants will be hostas, ferns, astilbes, hellebores, hydrangeas, and hardy geraniums, all of which thrive in exactly the conditions many gardeners dread. These plants have evolved in moisture-retentive, nutrient-rich clay environments and tolerate low light levels perfectly, making them ideal for the UK’s many shaded, […]

🌿 Quick Answer To design a front garden, start by surveying your space for sunlight, soil type, and size. Define whether you need parking, privacy, or planting as your priority. Choose a style — cottage, formal, or low maintenance — then sketch a layout balancing hard landscaping with at least one third planting. Select layered […]

Whether you’re designing a classic white border inspired by Sissinghurst or simply want to lift a shady corner with some luminous planting, white flowers are the most versatile and brightening colour in the garden designer’s toolkit. White is a garden colour (tone) that works absolutely everywhere, with nearly everything, in every style of garden, and […]

Knowing when and how to lift and divide spring bulbs is a common question that thousands of new gardeners have asked me, the Garden Ninja, over the years. I understand why it’s confusing, as you may think you should lift bulbs when dormant as you do with shrubs, but that would be incorrect. The three […]

This guide covers everything you need to know about topping trees, also known as crown reduction, pollarding, heading back, lopping, or simply pruning to restrict height. We’ll look at which trees respond brilliantly, which ones will just laugh at your efforts and grow back twice as fast, and why conifers are in a category entirely […]

The trouble is that March can be a bit of a deceiver. One week, it is mild and sunny, and you are convinced spring has landed. Next, it’s snowing, and you are wondering if winter ever actually left. This is completely normal in the UK, and the secret to March gardening success is knowing which […]

I hear this worry from gardeners constantly, and it arrives in my forum week after week without fail. The good news is that a dying ceanothus is rarely a mystery if you know what to look for. The less welcome news? Some ceanothus problems can be fixed, and some simply cannot. My job in this […]

The short answer is that neither approach is universally better. What suits your garden depends on your soil, budget, mobility, the plants you want to grow, and frankly, how much effort you’re willing to put in upfront. Let me explain why you would choose a raised bed or growing directly in the ground so that […]

I made the leap from IT project manager to BBC Garden Rescue presenter and professional garden designer. After 12 years of managing IT projects, I completely changed careers, and I’m here to give you the honest truth about what it actually takes. Not the motivational fluff you’ll find elsewhere, but the real deal based on […]