My tree is leaning after a storm — what should I do?
How to tell a new lean from an old one, the ground-level signs that mean it is actively failing, and the order to do things in when it involves a neighbour or a road.
intermediate30 min5 min read
Garden Maintenance
Pruning, weeding, watering and tidying up.
132 guides in Garden
Which clematis pruning group do I have?
Identifying a clematis group from when it flowers, and what each group needs — with the safe approach for a plant you cannot identify at all.
beginner30 min3 min readWhich hedge should I plant for privacy?
The realistic candidates for a UK privacy hedge, what each costs in annual maintenance, and why the fastest-growing option is almost always the wrong one.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy does my patio flood when it rains?
The four reasons paving holds water — no fall, the wrong fall, blocked joints and nowhere to drain to — and which of them you can fix without relaying.
intermediate2 hr4 min readHow and when should I clean a greenhouse?
The autumn clean that decides how well a greenhouse performs all winter — glass, overlaps, gutters, frame and floor — and why the light gain is worth the afternoon it takes.
beginner3 hr4 min readHow do I remove a large branch from a tree?
The three-cut method that stops the bark tearing, where the final cut goes, and the point at which this becomes a job for a professional.
intermediate1 hr4 min readWhat is crown reduction, and is topping a tree bad?
The four kinds of crown work, what each is actually for, and why topping — cutting a tree off at a height — creates a more dangerous tree than the one you started with.
intermediate25 min5 min readHow do I attract wildlife to my garden?
The changes that most increase garden biodiversity — water, shelter, food and doing less — in rough order of impact.
beginner2 hr2 min readHow do I collect and use rainwater in the garden?
Sizing and siting butts, linking them, keeping the water usable, and where rainwater is genuinely better than tap water.
beginner2 hr4 min readHow do I fix a hanging basket bracket so it does not pull out of the wall?
Why the top screw is the one that fails, what a watered basket really weighs, and how to fix a bracket into brick, block, render and timber so it stays there.
intermediate40 min4 min readHow do I get rid of a tree stump?
The four realistic options — grinding, digging, chemical treatment and patience — what each actually costs in effort and money, and how to choose between them.
intermediate5 hr6 min readHow do I help garden wildlife in hot weather?
Water is the thing that matters, and how you provide it decides whether it helps or drowns things. What birds, hedgehogs, bees and amphibians actually need in a drought.
beginner15 min5 min readHow do I install a French drain in a garden?
Where a French drain does and does not help, the fall and materials it needs, and the outfall question that has to be answered before you dig.
advanced10 hr4 min readHow do I stop weeds growing between paving slabs?
Why weeds keep coming back in the same joints, the methods that clear them without spraying, and the jointing that stops them for years.
beginner2 hr3 min readHow do automatic greenhouse vent openers work, and how do I set one?
What is inside a wax-cylinder opener, why the adjustment is not a temperature dial, where to mount it, and the three things that stop one working.
beginner30 min4 min readIs it bad to water plants in the middle of the day?
The scorching myth, the real reason midday watering is wasteful, and why the depth you water to matters far more than the hour.
beginner10 min4 min readWhat happens if my tree falls on a neighbour's property?
Why liability turns on what you knew and what you did, not simply on whose tree it was, and the record-keeping that decides which of those you can prove.
beginner30 min5 min readWhen can I cut down daffodil leaves after flowering?
The six-week rule and what is actually happening in that time, why knotting and plaiting do the same damage as cutting, and how to live with the untidy phase.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I deadhead flowers, and does it actually help?
Why removing spent flowers extends flowering, where to make the cut on different plants, and the ones you should deliberately leave alone.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I garden in a tiny space or a courtyard?
Using height, choosing fewer larger containers, and the watering regime a small space demands.
beginner1 hr 30 min2 min readHow often should I water newly planted shrubs and perennials?
Why new plants need watering long after they look established, how much a single soak actually delivers, and the first-year regime that decides whether they survive.
beginner20 min5 min readShould I get a polytunnel or a greenhouse?
Cost per square metre, light quality, heat retention, lifespan, wind resistance and how each one looks in a garden — the honest comparison before you spend the money.
beginner15 min4 min readTree roots are lifting my patio — what can I do?
Why cutting the offending root is often the worst option, the three fixes that work, and how to rebuild a surface so the tree and the paving can coexist.
intermediate3 hr5 min readWhich type of greenhouse heater should I get?
Electric fan, electric tube, paraffin and gas compared on control, running cost, humidity and safety — plus the honest question of whether you need to heat the whole greenhouse at all.
beginner20 min4 min read