Do 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 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
Do 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 look after a pond in freezing weather?
A frozen pond kills fish by trapping gases under the ice, not by the cold itself. Keeping one small area open, without smashing or boiling anything, is the whole job.
beginner20 min5 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 readHow do I prune honeysuckle and jasmine?
Two twining climbers that become bare tangles if left alone, the different timing each needs, and how to renovate a bird's nest of dead growth without losing the plant.
beginner1 hr5 min readHow do I read a weather forecast for frost risk in my garden?
Which fields in a forecast actually predict frost, how to correct a regional forecast for your own site, and the decision rule for whether to go out and cover things tonight.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I stop my pots blowing over?
Why tall plants in light pots go over, and the weight, shape and shelter changes that keep them upright without moving everything indoors.
beginner30 min3 min readWhat do I do with all the hedge clippings?
Composting, chipping, dead hedging and green waste, which materials must never go in any of them, and the disposal duties that come with invasive species.
beginner1 hr5 min readWhat is a cloche for, and when should I use one?
The four distinct jobs a cloche does, when each matters in a British season, and the ventilation rule that stops it becoming a cooker.
beginner20 min4 min readWhen do I cut back dogwood for its winter stems?
Why only young wood colours, the late-winter cut to a stool that forces a fresh set, and the gentler one-third rotation for a plant that is also doing a screening job.
beginner40 min4 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 readWhich plant problems spread to my other plants?
A sorted list of what genuinely travels between plants and how, so you know which problems need isolating and which can be dealt with at leisure.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy did my lavender die over winter?
Why wet, not cold, kills most British lavender, how to tell winter rot from frost damage, and the planting and mulching changes that stop it happening again.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy does my soil go hard and crusty after rain?
Capping is raindrops smashing weak aggregates apart on bare soil — why it stops seedlings emerging, and the three changes that end it.
beginner20 min3 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 readHow do I stop plants rotting in wet soil over winter?
The practical measures that get a borderline plant through a wet British winter — mounding, grit, raising pots, keeping rain off the crown and not cutting back — in the order they are worth doing.
intermediate45 min4 min readIs seaweed good for the garden, and can I collect it from the beach?
Fresh, dried, meal and extract are four different products with three different jobs — plus the law on collecting it, which is not what most people assume.
beginner25 min4 min readOrganic or synthetic fertiliser — does it matter to the plant?
To the root, a nitrate ion is a nitrate ion. To the soil, to the timing and to how easily you can get it wrong, the difference is real — and it is not the one most people argue about.
intermediate15 min3 min readWhy have my leaves been stripped to the veins overnight?
Sawfly larvae, lily beetle grubs and viburnum beetle all strip a plant fast, they are all on the underside, and hand removal is what actually works.
beginner12 min4 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 readCan a plant virus be cured, and what do I do with the plant?
Why there is no treatment for a plant virus at any level, how to tell a probable virus from the things that mimic it, and the decision that follows.
intermediate15 min4 min readHow and when do I clip box and topiary?
The two-cut year that keeps box crisp, why you clip on a dull day, the hygiene that reduces blight, and how to bring a shapeless old ball back to a defined shape.
intermediate1 hr 30 min4 min read