Spring Gardening

Quick Answer The best ornamental grasses for UK gardens are clump-forming varieties like Stipa tenuissima for small spaces and Miscanthus or Calamagrostis for larger borders. Most need full sun and free-draining soil, need very little feeding, and want cutting back hard each February before dividing overcrowded clumps every three to four years in spring. I […]

Quick Answer To make a compost bin from pallets, stack three matching pallets into a U shape on level, free draining ground, then screw the corners together with decking screws and angle brackets for rigidity. Hinge a fourth pallet to the front to act as a door. Always choose pallets stamped HT rather than MB, […]

Quick Answer Lavender and roses feed bees brilliantly for a few weeks in midsummer, but pollinators are active in the UK from January through to November. Add early plants such as winter aconite, snowdrops, primrose, hellebores and mahonia for late winter, and late plants such as echinacea, sedum, asters, Japanese anemone and ivy for autumn, […]

Quick Answer Mulching means spreading a 5 to 7cm layer of organic material, such as compost, bark or leaf mould, over weed free, damp soil in April to May or September to October. Keep it clear of stems and trunks. Done properly, it cuts weeding by up to 80 percent, halves summer watering, and steadily […]

Quick Answer Peat compost is unsustainable because it is stripped from ancient peat bogs that take thousands of years to form, releasing stored carbon and destroying rare wetland habitats in the process. Good peat-free alternatives include homemade compost, wool and bracken compost, coir, bark and green waste blends. Each behaves a little differently to peat, […]

Quick Answer Glazed ceramic pots hold moisture best and suit shade or thirsty planting, resin and composite pots are the lightest option for balconies and roof gardens, galvanised metal and zinc bring a durable industrial look, and wooden planters give the best insulation for raised beds and permanent features. Stone, faux lead, self-watering and recycled […]

Quick Answer Prune camellias immediately after flowering finishes, never before. For Camellia japonica and x williamsii varieties this is usually May or June, and for sasanqua varieties it’s February or March. Remove dead, damaged and crossing growth first, then trim back up to one third of the current year’s growth to shape, always cutting just […]

Quick Answer To create a pond, choose a spot with partial shade away from deciduous trees, dig to a minimum depth of 60cm with marginal shelves, line with butyl rubber underlay and liner, fill slowly with a hose, then add oxygenating plants and a combination filter-pump. Allow 4–6 weeks for the water to stabilise before […]

Quick Answer The most effective ways to get rid of slugs in a UK garden are: beer traps set correctly at soil level, copper tape barriers, wool pellets around vulnerable plants, nematode biological treatments (Nemaslug), hand-picking at night, and encouraging natural predators like frogs, hedgehogs, and ground beetles. No single method works alone. Combining three […]

Quick Answer Repot houseplants in spring when roots are growing out of drainage holes, water runs straight through the pot, or growth has noticeably stalled. Move up only one pot size at a time, use the right compost for your plant type, and water thoroughly afterwards. Most houseplants need repotting every two to three years, […]