How do I keep a garden watered while I am away?
Reducing what needs watering before you go, the automatic and passive options, and the plants worth asking a neighbour about.
beginner1 hr4 min read
Garden Maintenance
Pruning, weeding, watering and tidying up.
132 guides in Garden
Do I need permission to cut down a tree in my garden?
The four separate things that can stop you felling a tree — a preservation order, a conservation area, a planning condition and a felling licence — and how to check each before you commit to anything.
beginner30 min5 min readCan I cut branches overhanging from my neighbour's tree?
The general position on the right of abatement, the four limits on it that people routinely get wrong, and the sequence that keeps a hedge-trimming afternoon from becoming a legal dispute.
beginner30 min5 min readHow do I get ahead of weeds for the season?
Killing weeds while they are small, the difference annual and perennial makes, and why bare soil is the real problem.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I make an outdoor space usable in the evening?
Light, warmth and insects — the three things that decide whether a garden gets used after dark, in the order that matters.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min readWhen should I cut my hedge?
The cutting windows for the common UK hedge species, why they differ, and the nesting-bird check that comes before all of them.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I get rid of weeds?
How to deal with annual and perennial weeds differently, why mulching beats weeding, and what to do about the difficult ones.
beginner2 hr2 min readWhen and how do I prune a hydrangea?
Which hydrangea you have decides everything — mopheads and lacecaps are barely cut, paniculatas and annabelles are cut hard, and mixing the two up costs a year of flowers.
beginner45 min3 min readCan I cut my hedge during nesting season?
What the law actually protects, why March to August is a guideline rather than a legal date, how to check a hedge properly, and what to do if you find a nest mid-job.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I prune a hedge properly?
Cutting the batter so light reaches the base, the timing that keeps a hedge dense, and the species that will not regrow from old wood.
beginner3 hr3 min readHow do I tell if a tree in my garden is dangerous?
The signs a householder can genuinely spot from the ground, what each one means, and the point at which a look becomes a phone call to an arboriculturist.
intermediate40 min6 min readHow much ventilation does a greenhouse need?
Why an open door on its own does almost nothing, the roof-vent area a greenhouse should have, and the low-plus-high pairing that makes air actually move through the house.
beginner15 min4 min readHow often should I water my plants?
How to tell when a plant actually needs water, why deep infrequent watering beats daily sprinkling, and the signs of overwatering.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I prune and train a climbing rose?
The framework-and-spur system that makes a climber flower from the ground up rather than only at the top, why horizontal training does the work, and how to renovate one that has become a bare tangle.
intermediate1 hr 30 min6 min readWhat can I do about a neighbour's hedge that blocks my light?
The high hedges complaint route — what it covers, what it does not, the evidence a council expects, and why every route starts with a written attempt to settle it yourself.
beginner45 min5 min readWhen should I prune a tree in my garden?
The dormant-season default, the species that must not be pruned in winter and the ones that must not be pruned in spring, and why the timing follows from when the plant sets its buds.
intermediate25 min5 min readWhen should I prune my plants?
One rule that covers most shrubs — prune after flowering — plus the exceptions worth knowing.
intermediate20 min2 min readWhy has my lavender gone woody, and can I save it?
Why lavender splits open and goes bare at the base, whether an old plant can be renovated, and the twice-yearly cut that prevents it entirely.
beginner30 min3 min readWhere is the best place to put a greenhouse?
Ridge orientation, shade, frost pockets, wind and the services run — the five factors that decide a greenhouse position, in the order they actually matter in a British garden.
beginner30 min4 min readAre tree roots damaging my house?
How to tell tree-related movement from the many other causes of cracks, why the soil matters more than the tree, and the order to do things in — because felling first can make it worse.
intermediate45 min5 min readHow do I cut back a badly overgrown hedge?
The one-side-a-year method that lets a hedge recover, which species tolerate hard cutting and which are killed by it, and how to rebuild the taper as it regrows.
intermediate8 hr5 min readHow do I feed plants properly?
What the numbers on fertiliser mean, when plants actually need feeding, and why more is worse than less.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I get rid of weeds growing in paving and gravel?
Why weeds appear in joints that look solid, the physical and chemical options, and the jointing repair that actually stops them coming back.
beginner1 hr3 min readHow do I make my garden lower maintenance?
Design and planting choices that genuinely cut the work, rather than the ones that sound like they will.
beginner2 hr2 min read