How do I replace the polythene on a polytunnel?
Choosing the cover, the still warm day you have to wait for, hot-spot taping, and the two methods of securing the edges — trenching and base rails.
advanced6 hr4 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
How do I store opened compost and fertiliser?
Compost degrades in the bag and fertiliser does not — the storage that keeps each of them usable, and the realistic shelf life of both.
beginner15 min4 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 readIs spent mushroom compost any good?
Cheap, bulky and genuinely useful — but it is alkaline, and that single fact decides where it belongs and where it does real damage.
beginner15 min4 min readShould I cut the old leaves off my hellebores?
Why removing the old foliage in midwinter is worth doing, which hellebores it applies to and which must not be cut, and how it breaks the hellebore leaf spot cycle.
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 readWhat is green manure, and is it worth sowing?
What a cover crop actually does for bare soil over winter, which one to sow when, and the case where it is more trouble than it is worth.
beginner45 min4 min readWhat is wind rock and how do I stop it?
How repeated rocking opens a funnel around a stem that then fills with water and rots the collar, how to spot it before the plant dies, and the three-part fix that actually holds.
beginner25 min4 min readWhen can I prune a Japanese maple?
The narrow window that avoids bleeding sap, why acers need far less pruning than they usually get, and the thinning approach that keeps the layered shape.
intermediate1 hr4 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 readWhy are my bay tree's leaves going yellow?
Reading the pattern on a bay's leaves to separate a starved pot-bound plant from cold wind scorch, bay sucker damage and waterlogging, and the pot routine that prevents most of it.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy are my plants chewed through at soil level?
A plant felled at the base overnight is cutworm, slugs or mice — the shape of what is left standing tells you which, and each needs a different answer.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy are some buds on my blackcurrant swollen and round?
Big bud mite is a problem in its own right and also carries reversion, the virus-like disease that ends a blackcurrant's productive life — how to tell how far gone a bush is.
beginner30 min3 min readWhy does my lilac not flower, and when should I prune it?
The four reasons a lilac stops flowering, why the pruning window is only a few weeks wide, and how to bring a leggy old lilac back down to a size you can see.
beginner1 hr5 min readDo I need to clean pots and seed trays between seasons?
Which containers genuinely need cleaning, what the dirt is actually carrying, and a method that does not involve soaking everything in bleach.
beginner1 hr4 min readFleece, hessian, bubble wrap or straw — which winter protection should I use?
What each covering material is actually good at, which ones must never touch foliage, and how to match the material to whether you are protecting leaves, a crown or a root ball.
beginner15 min5 min readHow much rainwater can I actually collect from my roof?
The one calculation that turns roof area and rainfall into litres, why the plan area rather than the sloping area is what counts, and how to work out whether more storage would actually help you.
beginner15 min4 min readIs double digging worth doing?
The four situations where it earns its enormous effort, the reasons it fell out of favour, and the far cheaper alternative that gets most of the benefit.
advanced8 hr4 min readWhat is foliar feeding and when does it actually work?
A genuine technique for correcting trace element deficiencies fast — and a poor substitute for feeding the roots, which is how it is usually sold.
intermediate15 min4 min readWhy do my leaves have pale winding tunnels in them?
Leaf mines explained — why they are not holes, why nothing you spray reaches the larva, and when they matter enough to act on.
beginner12 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 readHow do I grow alliums, and why do the leaves die before the flowers?
Planting depth and drainage, why tatty foliage at flowering time is normal rather than a fault, and how to hide it — plus whether to deadhead or keep the seedheads.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I prune and deadhead rhododendrons and azaleas?
Deadheading by snapping rather than cutting, why these shrubs need so little pruning, and the honest position on cutting a large old rhododendron back hard.
beginner45 min4 min read