Summer Gardening

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 To keep bees in the UK you need a National hive, a bee suit, smoker, and hive tool (budget £500 to £800 to start), plus a nucleus colony of bees from a local association. No licence is required, but you must register your hive free on BeeBase. Join your local BBKA branch before […]

Quick Answer Dahlias are tender perennials grown from tubers that flower from July until the first frosts, giving you three to four months of colour. Plant outdoors after the last frost in late May, in full sun with well-drained fertile soil. Feed fortnightly, deadhead consistently, and lift tubers in autumn for frost-free winter storage. In […]

Quick Answer Plant fertilisers supply the three key nutrients plants need: nitrogen (N) for leaf and shoot growth, phosphorus (P) for root development, and potassium (K) for flowers and fruit. Remember the mnemonic shoots, roots and fruits. Organic fertilisers such as compost, seaweed, and chicken manure pellets are always preferable to synthetic alternatives, as they […]

Quick Answer The best drought-tolerant plants for UK gardens are Mediterranean species such as lavender, rosemary, and sage alongside tough perennials like achillea, eryngium, and salvia. Once established, these plants need little or no supplementary watering and will thrive through hosepipe bans and long dry spells. Choose plants with silver or grey foliage, waxy leaves, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Quick Answer Lawn edging is a strip of metal, plastic, brick, or timber that creates a permanent barrier between your lawn and flower beds. Installed correctly to a depth of 10–15cm, it prevents grass creeping into borders, eliminates the need for a half-moon edger, and allows a mower to pass over the top without strimming. […]

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 […]

I’ve been working as a professional garden designer and presenter on BBC Garden Rescue for over 20 years, and choosing the right trees has always been the first element I consider in any new design. Get the tree right and everything else falls into place around it. The common fear is that trees are only […]