How do I fix a patchy lawn?
Diagnosing bare patches, repairing them with seed or turf, and the aftercare that decides whether the repair takes.
beginner2 hr2 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 get good results from peat-free compost?
Peat-free is a technique change, not a downgrade — six habits built on peat that give poor results with wood fibre and bark, and what to do instead.
beginner20 min5 min readHow do I get rid of aphids?
Controlling greenfly and blackfly without wiping out the predators that would have done it for you.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I grow salad leaves?
Cut-and-come-again salad from a windowsill, pot or bed — the quickest and highest-value thing most people can grow.
beginner2 days2 min readHow do I grow tomatoes in a greenhouse on strings?
The string training system used in every commercial glasshouse, adapted to a domestic greenhouse — how to set it up, how to wind, when to strip leaves, and the layering trick for a long season.
intermediate45 min4 min readHow do I know when it is safe to plant out tender plants?
The four conditions that all have to be met before tender plants go outside permanently, why waiting a fortnight usually produces a better plant, and what to do if you have already planted and a frost is coming.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I overseed a patchy lawn?
Preparing the surface so seed reaches soil, choosing the right mixture, and the watering that decides whether it germinates.
beginner2 hr3 min readHow do I plant a bare-root fruit tree?
The winter planting job that decides whether a fruit tree thrives — hole shape, planting depth, keeping the graft union clear of the soil, and the low stake that builds a strong trunk.
beginner1 hr6 min readHow do I prepare a garden after winter?
The order of jobs in early spring, and what to leave alone rather than tidying too early.
beginner3 hr2 min readHow do I prepare a garden for winter?
The autumn jobs that matter — protecting tender plants, mulching, clearing (and not clearing), and looking after tools and pots.
beginner5 hr3 min readHow do I protect pots and containers from frost?
Why pots freeze when the ground does not, protecting roots rather than leaves, and saving the pot as well as the plant.
beginner1 hr3 min readHow do I prune and train a climbing rose?
The framework-and-spur system that makes a climber flower from the ground up rather than only at the top, why horizontal training does the work, and how to renovate one that has become a bare tangle.
intermediate1 hr 30 min6 min readHow do I tell if my plant has root rot, and can I save it?
The sleeve test that settles it in seconds, why overwatering suffocates rather than drowns, and the salvage sequence that works when enough root is left.
intermediate25 min5 min readHow short should I cut my lawn, and how often?
The one-third rule, the cutting heights that suit a family lawn through the year, and why scalping causes most of the problems people blame on weather.
beginner30 min3 min readWhat can I do about a neighbour's hedge that blocks my light?
The high hedges complaint route — what it covers, what it does not, the evidence a council expects, and why every route starts with a written attempt to settle it yourself.
beginner45 min5 min readWhat can I put in a compost bin, and what should never go in?
The green and brown lists, the surprising items that are fine, and the small number of things that genuinely must not go in.
beginner15 min4 min readWhen can I cut new grass for the first time?
Cutting too early pulls seedlings out by the roots; leaving it too long lets the grass go leggy and thin. The height to judge by, and the one adjustment that matters more than timing.
beginner12 min4 min readWhen should I prune a tree in my garden?
The dormant-season default, the species that must not be pruned in winter and the ones that must not be pruned in spring, and why the timing follows from when the plant sets its buds.
intermediate25 min5 min readWhen should I prune my plants?
One rule that covers most shrubs — prune after flowering — plus the exceptions worth knowing.
intermediate20 min2 min readWhich plants cope with drought in a UK garden?
How to read a plant's leaves and roots to predict whether it will survive a dry summer, and the British complication that the same plants must also survive a wet winter.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy are my chillies staying green and not ripening?
Chillies ripen on accumulated warmth and time, and a British season runs out of both — how to speed it up, and what to do with a plant still covered in green fruit in October.
beginner12 min3 min readWhy are my tomato leaves curling?
Separating harmless physiological leaf roll from heat stress, virus and the herbicide contamination that is far more common than people realise.
beginner20 min3 min readWhy do my vegetables run to seed, and can I stop it?
Bolting has three different triggers — heat, day length and a check to growth — and which one applies to a crop decides whether you can prevent it or only avoid it.
beginner14 min6 min readWhy has my lavender gone woody, and can I save it?
Why lavender splits open and goes bare at the base, whether an old plant can be renovated, and the twice-yearly cut that prevents it entirely.
beginner30 min3 min read