Why has my conifer hedge gone brown in patches?
Six causes of brown patches in a leylandii or cypress hedge, how to tell them apart, and the uncomfortable fact that most of them cannot be reversed.
intermediate40 min4 min read
Garden
Seasonal, practical gardening for people with a normal garden and a normal amount of time. Timings are given for a temperate northern-hemisphere climate — adjust for yours.
687 guides
Why has my plant stopped growing?
A plant that is alive but static is nearly always short of root room, root health, light or warmth — checked in that order, cheapest first.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy have my peas stopped cropping so soon?
Peas are a cool-season crop with a short natural window — how mildew, heat and picking rate end a row early, and how to have peas for months instead of weeks.
beginner12 min4 min readWhy is my cauliflower forming a tiny head?
Buttoning is a check to growth in a plant that then flowers anyway — the transplant, water and nitrogen faults that cause it, plus ricey and blind curds.
intermediate15 min4 min readDid weedkiller damage my plants, and will they recover?
The three routes weedkiller reaches a plant it was never aimed at, how to recognise each pattern, and the honest timescale for recovery.
intermediate20 min5 min readDo I need two apple trees to get fruit?
How apple pollination groups work, when a single tree is enough, and the family trees and crab apples that solve it in one plant.
beginner25 min3 min readHow deep does watering actually need to go, and how do I check?
The spade check that tells you whether your watering reached the roots or evaporated off the top, why a daily sprinkle is worse than nothing, and how to get water down where it is needed.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I buy topsoil without getting rubbish?
What the grades actually mean, the questions that separate a good supplier from a bad one, and the twenty minutes of inspection on delivery that saves you a decade of trouble.
beginner25 min5 min readHow do I cool a greenhouse down overnight?
A greenhouse that stays warm all night gives plants no recovery period and costs fruit set. Why it holds heat, and the vent arrangement that empties it after dark.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I divide perennial plants?
Splitting overgrown clumps to rejuvenate them and get free plants, and when each type should be divided.
intermediate1 hr2 min readHow do I get rid of whitefly and red spider mite in a greenhouse?
Telling the two apart, why the conditions that suit each are opposite, and the biological controls that actually work under glass.
intermediate45 min4 min readHow do I get the most from a greenhouse?
Ventilation, shading and hygiene — the three things that determine whether a greenhouse works or cooks.
intermediate1 hr 30 min2 min readHow do I grow courgettes?
One of the easiest and most productive crops, plus the mildew and pollination problems that occasionally interrupt it.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I grow dahlias and store the tubers over winter?
Starting tubers into growth, the staking and pinching that produce a good plant, and the lifting and storing routine that gets them through a UK winter.
intermediate1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I grow sweet peas that keep flowering?
Autumn against spring sowing, the deep root run they need, the pinching that produces a bushy plant, and the one habit that decides whether they flower for six weeks or four months.
beginner1 hr5 min readHow do I improve sandy soil that dries out?
Why sandy soil loses both water and nutrients, the materials that actually hold onto them, and the planting and feeding regime that suits it.
beginner2 hr3 min readHow do I lay gravel so it does not sink or spread?
The sub-base, edging and depth that make a gravel path or drive stable, and why most gravel problems are depth and edging rather than the stone itself.
intermediate6 hr4 min readHow do I lay turf so it takes?
Preparation, laying and the watering regime in the first month, which determines whether the turf establishes.
intermediate4 hr2 min readHow do I make new strawberry plants from runners?
Pegging the first plantlet on each runner into a sunken pot, when to sever it, and the rolling three-year replacement that keeps a strawberry bed cropping instead of declining.
beginner40 min4 min readHow do I overwinter a lemon tree, and why is it dropping its leaves?
Citrus want a cool bright winter, not a warm dark one — which is why the living room kills them, and why leaf drop in January is nearly always a light, temperature or watering problem.
intermediate45 min5 min readHow do I plant a window box that still looks good in August?
Window boxes are the hardest container there is — shallow, exposed and often in a rain shadow. The compost mix, planting density and feeding regime that keep one going all season.
beginner40 min4 min readHow do I plant an asparagus bed, and when can I start cutting?
A twenty-year crop planted once — the site and drainage that decide everything, the crowns-versus-seed question, and the cutting discipline in the first three years.
intermediate2 hr5 min readHow do I relieve compacted soil?
Three different depths of compaction and the different tool each one needs — plus the biological route that fixes it permanently while the mechanical one only buys time.
intermediate3 hr4 min readHow do I set up drip irrigation in a garden?
Designing a simple gravity or mains-fed drip system that reaches roots rather than leaves, and the timer and filter details that decide whether it keeps working.
intermediate3 hr4 min read