Summer Gardening

Quick Answer Heucheras grow best in partial shade in free-draining soil, planted with the crown level with the surface. Plant in spring or early autumn, mulch without burying the crown, and divide every three to four years in spring. Revive woody, lifting plants by replanting them deeper, and check pot-grown plants for vine weevil grubs. […]

Quick Answer: Dying Conifer Diagnosis Conifers turning brown typically indicate one of five problems: Avoid hard pruning back to old wood, then check soil drainage, as overwatering or heavy clay kills more conifers than any other cause. Improve drainage, remove affected portions, and ensure adequate spacing for air circulation. Most fungal problems cannot be reversed, […]

Quick Answer Fatsia japonica is a big, glossy, hand-shaped leaved evergreen shrub that copes with deep shade, pollution, coastal wind and near total neglect better than almost anything else you can plant. It wants planting in the ground rather than a container long term, tolerates full shade to part sun, and needs an occasional hard […]

Quick Answer For most UK gardens, an 85 litre single wheel barrow with a pneumatic tyre handles everyday jobs comfortably. If you regularly move a lot of soil, compost or rubble, a two wheel barrow around 200 litres, such as the Agri Barrow twin wheel model, saves trips and keeps you steadier underfoot. If balance […]

QUICK ANSWER Monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana) need a sheltered, sunny spot with moist but well drained soil and room to reach 12 metres or more, so check your space before planting. Browning is usually one of three things: natural shedding of the oldest lower branches, drought stress in a pot or newly planted specimen, […]

Quick Answer Most UK garden plums are ready to pick from the second week of August through to mid September, with Victoria plums typically hitting their peak in the third week of August. A ripe plum will have full colour, a faint powdery bloom, a slight give when gently squeezed and will twist away from […]

🌿 Quick Answer Winter pruning happens while plants are dormant and encourages vigorous new growth, so it suits apples, roses, wisteria and gooseberries. Summer pruning happens while plants are in leaf and restricts growth while boosting flowers and fruit, so it suits plums, cherries, forsythia and trained fruit trees. Get the season wrong on a […]

Quick Answer The best plants for full sun in the UK are hardy perennials that flower for months with little help, such as Lavender, Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’, Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Echinacea, Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’, Achillea, Salvia, Sedum, Eryngium and Phlomis. Give them at least six hours of direct sun and free-draining soil, skip the rich feed, and […]

Quick Answer No, don’t water an established lawn during a heatwave or hosepipe ban. Browning grass is dormant, not dead, and recovers naturally once rain returns. With nine water companies under Temporary Use Bans across England in the summer of 2026 and more than half the country in drought, save your watering can for containers, […]

Quick Answer To build your own fire pit, dig a circle in the lawn or lift paving, lay a fireproof gravel base over weed membrane, arrange reclaimed stone or bricks around a steel fire bowl, and dress with decorative gravel. The whole project takes a day, costs as little as £30 using salvaged materials, and […]