Terracotta or plastic pots — which is better?
How each material behaves for water, warmth, weight and frost, and which plants are genuinely better off in each.
beginner15 min4 min read
Plants & Flowers
Choosing, planting and keeping things alive.
150 guides in Garden
What can I grow in a coastal garden with salt spray?
What salt-laden wind does to leaves and soil, the plants that shrug it off, and how to build shelter in stages so a garden can develop behind it.
beginner25 min4 min readDo self-watering pots and planters actually work?
How the wick and reservoir system really behaves, the plants it suits and the ones it kills, and the winter problem nobody mentions.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I naturalise bulbs in grass?
Which bulbs actually spread in turf, the scattering method that avoids a planted look, and the mowing calendar that decides whether the display improves or dwindles.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I root prune a plant to keep it in the same pot?
The dormant-season operation that keeps a mature shrub, bay or acer in the same container for decades — how much root to take, how much top growth to match it, and the aftercare that decides whether it works.
intermediate45 min4 min readHow do I stop raspberries spreading across the garden?
Raspberries spread by suckers from shallow roots, so mowing, edging and a barrier work and digging usually makes it worse.
beginner45 min3 min readWhat can I plant instead of box?
Six genuine substitutes for low clipped box hedging and topiary, what each does better and worse, and the honest trade-offs on speed, hardiness and cost.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich climbers actually flower on a north-facing wall?
The difference between a cool shaded wall and a genuinely dark one, the climbers that flower well with no direct sun, and why a north wall is often kinder to a plant than an east-facing one.
beginner15 min4 min readDo pot feet actually do anything?
What raising a pot off the ground genuinely changes, the two seasons it matters most, and the free alternatives that work as well as the ones sold in threes.
beginner5 min3 min readHow do I train and prune a blackberry?
Blackberries and hybrid berries fruit on last year's canes, so the whole method is keeping new and old canes physically separate on the wires — which turns a thicket into a manageable crop.
intermediate1 hr 30 min4 min readAre my bluebells English or Spanish, and does it matter?
Four features that separate the native bluebell from the Spanish one and their hybrids, why the difference matters ecologically, and the legal position on native bluebells in the UK.
beginner20 min4 min readDo I actually need rooting hormone?
What it does, the plants where it makes a real difference, and why more of it makes rooting worse rather than better.
beginner10 min3 min readDo plant moisture meters actually work?
What a cheap probe meter is really measuring, why it reads wet in dry compost and dry in wet compost, and the free methods that beat it.
beginner5 min3 min readHow and when should I feed roses?
The two-feed year that suits repeat-flowering roses, why the last feed has a deadline, and which of the traditional rose remedies are worth bothering with.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I prune a blueberry bush?
Blueberries need almost no pruning for their first three years and then a simple annual renewal — take out the oldest stems at the base and keep the young wood that carries the fruit.
beginner30 min3 min readWhich herbs survive a UK winter outside?
Which herbs are genuinely hardy, which are annuals that were always going to die, which need protection, and the winter wet that kills more herbs than frost does.
beginner25 min4 min readHow do I layer a shrub to make a new plant?
The propagation method with the highest success rate and the least equipment — pegging a living branch into the ground and letting the parent do the work.
beginner30 min5 min readAre metal planters bad for plants?
Whether galvanised troughs, corten steel and zinc containers really cook or poison roots, which ones actually cause problems, and the three changes that make any of them work.
beginner10 min3 min readCan I plant a new rose where an old rose died?
What rose replant disease actually is, why a new rose planted in an old rose's soil sulks while everything else around it thrives, and the three practical ways round it.
intermediate1 hr4 min readHow far apart should I plant perennials?
Spacing worked out from the eventual spread rather than the pot size, why odd-numbered groups of one plant beat single specimens, and the case for planting closer than the label says.
beginner20 min4 min readWhat do plant hardiness ratings actually mean?
How to read the RHS H1 to H7 hardiness scale and the American zone numbers you will also meet, what both of them leave out, and why a rating on a label is a starting point rather than a verdict.
beginner12 min4 min readWhen should I plant or move snowdrops?
Why snowdrops are bought and moved in leaf rather than as dry bulbs, the right moment in spring to lift and divide a clump, and the conditions they actually need to spread.
beginner45 min4 min readHow and when do I sow foxgloves, wallflowers and other biennials?
Why biennials are sown in early summer rather than spring, the plant-out timing that gets them established before winter, and the self-seeding habit that means you only do this once.
beginner40 min4 min readHow do I get hyacinths to flower indoors for Christmas?
Why only prepared bulbs will do it, the dark cold period that has to be counted backwards from the date you want, and the two failure modes that produce leaves and no flower.
beginner40 min5 min read