Horticulture & Plant Ideas

Quick Answer The best flowers for bees in the UK provide pollen and nectar from February through to November, giving both honey bees and solitary bees a continuous food source across the whole season. Single-flowered, open-faced blooms are always better than double-flowered varieties. Aim for a mix of spring bulbs, summer perennials, and late-season plants […]

Quick Answer Prune Cornus (grown for winter colour) in late March to early April, once established for three or more years. Cut all stems back to around 10cm above ground level. This hard pruning, called coppicing, encourages vigorous new growth that produces the brightest stem colour the following winter. Young plants under three years old […]

Quick Answer STIHL cordless strimmers are among the best-built grass trimmers available for UK gardens. The FSA 45 suits small gardens with its integrated battery and blade system, the FSA 56 steps up for medium gardens with replaceable 36V batteries, and the FSA 60 R handles larger plots with a 350mm cutting width and up […]

If you think you’ve got a black thumb when it comes to houseplants, I’ve got brilliant news for you. There are loads of absolutely gorgeous indoor plants that are practically impossible to kill, even if you’re a complete beginner. I want to show you my tried and tested beginner bulletproof house plants, even if you’ve […]

If there is one piece of advice I give almost every client who comes to me for a garden design consultation, it is this: fill your borders properly. Not half-heartedly with a few lonely shrubs surrounded by a sea of bare earth, but densely, intelligently, and with plants that work brilliantly together. Ground cover plants […]

These are plants with stories woven through Anglo-Saxon charms, Druid ritual, Tudor love spells, and the extraordinary tradition of floromancy, the art of reading the future in petals and blooms. What I love about this as a garden designer is that every single one of these plants earns its place on pure horticultural merit. They […]

Quick Answer To plant a successful flower bed, first choose your site and test your soil, then prepare the ground by removing weeds and adding organic matter. Design using three plant layers (ground cover, mid-layer, and tall), pick a unified colour scheme, and use repetition of plants in groups of three or five. The whole […]

Getting rid of fungus gnats can be a perpetual headache for houseplant owners. These tiny flies quickly disrupt the serene green oasis of our indoor space. These tiny, flying pests may be diminutive in size, but their impact is disproportionately felt. Fungus gnat larvae feast on plant roots and organic matter in damp soil, damaging […]

Quick Answer To look after an orchid, water every 7–14 days using the soak-and-drain method, never leaving it sitting in water. Position in bright indirect light away from direct sun. Feed monthly with specialist orchid fertiliser. Cut spent flower stems back to a node to encourage reblooming. Repot every two years in fresh orchid bark. […]

The plants on this list are the ones I return to again and again in my own garden designs because they deliver season after season with minimal intervention from you. Besides, once you’ve bossed these specimens, you’ll be relishing more challenging plants in future years and thats where the gardening magic really happens! Quick Answer […]