Gardening advice
Expert gardening advice for designing and planting in your garden
Think 'No Mow May' is not for you? These neat ideas for your lawn will make your garden look amazing in May
Worried that No Mow May will turn your garden into an unmanageable mess? Here are some ways that you can embrace the 'No Mow' concept while keeping your garden acceptably neat.
Put down the plant feed: turns out fertilisers lead to less blooms and butterflies in your garden
A new study suggests links between fertilisers and a decline in wildflowers and pollinators. So why, asks Jo Kirby, are we still using them in our gardens?
Lawnmower men versus wild women: the latest battle of the sexes is over the grass in your garden
The latest seemingly harmless social media trend of perfect lawns could actually be damaging wildlife
POV: You’ve inherited an historic English hall with two moats and incredible gardens – now what?
Once home to garden designer Xa Tollemache, Helmingham Hall is now under the care of a new generation of Tollemaches and is as glorious as ever, especially in winter when its bones are laid bare.
Words: Chris Young, Photographs: Richard Bloom
You need to cut your lawn before May arrives: here's the reason why No Mow May is so important
No Mow May encourages gardeners to leave their mowers in the shed and transform their lawns into havens of biodiversity. Illustration Lesley Buckingham
What's new?
How to grow peonies for beautiful early summer flower displays
Peonies offer voluptuous blooms to grace your garden from late spring until July. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall and Claire Austin give tips on how to grow these alluring flowers
Love peonies? Try these lesser-known, big-bloomed beauties that flower for ages and won’t flop over
Known for their large, showy, goblet-shaped blooms, these small shrubs provide welcome structure in the garden long after their spectacular spring flowering
Tired of digging, weeding and controlling pests? Meet the veg growers who are doing things differently
Forget digging, hoeing, weeding, feeding, and pest control: meet five growers who are embracing lower input, nature-friendly ways of growing food
Bluebells are lovely, but are they the invasive kind? Here's how to spot English bluebells
The experts at Westonbirt Arboretum explain how to spot an English bluebell and a Spanish one
Everything you need to know about growing bluebells
English bluebells are one of the highlights of spring. Here's how to grow them in your own garden – and how to differentiate between English and Spanish bluebells.
Advice for big gardens
How to plant a water lily in a pond - an expert guide to planting water lilies successfully
Tim Stretton, head of gardens at Mounton House, offers expert advice on the best way to plant or replant a water lily in water
How to coppice hazel
Our guide on how to coppice and cut back hazel for lovely hazel stems and to keep your hazel plants healthy
6 big changes to how we’ll be gardening in the future, by one of Britain’s top head gardeners
Sissinghurst head gardener Troy Scott Smith shares the big changes he is making in how he gardens in response to climate change
Advice for dry gardens
Get help for planting and ideas for your dry garden
How to protect grass seed from birds
Head gardener Troy Scott Smith explains his tips and tricks on sowing grass seed in a way that the birds won't eat
What does 'organic' actually mean? We break down the confusing terms and see if it's possible to garden organically
Organic is a word used a lot in the gardening and farming world these days, and many people are trying to 'go organic'. But what does organic actually mean? It isn't as simple as you think
How to care for your lawn: 10 top tips for keeping your lawn lush and green
Head gardener of Stockton Bury Tamsin Westhorpe explains ten simple tips that will help you care for your lawn
Gardening how tos
Wondering exactly how to do something in the garden? Discover our gardening guides
It's back! This tiny caterpillar could destroy your hedges: here's how to deal with it
The box caterpillar, or box tree caterpillar, can devastate box plants in a matter of days. Here's how to deal with it.
How to renovate a small lawn in spring: watch an expert head gardener offer chemical-free tips
Grass can look patchy, bare and weedy in spring but you can easily restore a lush green sward with these simple steps from a professional gardener
Watch | Troy Scott Smith makes peony supports using hazel
Discover how to make your own peony supports, which will work for other plants too, with expert advice from Sissinghurst head gardener Troy Scott Smith
Low maintenance gardens
Our guide to finding the easiest ways of gardening
The best peonies for your garden: beautiful blooms that are easy to grow
Nursery owner Claire Austin grows over 100 different herbaceous peonies in her garden and trials field to find the very best
Looking for plants that won't get eaten by slugs? Here are 38 slug-proof plants and flowers that won't get munched by molluscs
Looking for plants that won't get munched by slugs? Instead of using slug controls, why not grow plants that the molluscs just don't like? Here's 38 to choose from
Leave your leaves: Here's why you don’t need to tidy up those garden leaves
Gardeners mean well, but the act of gardening can be a hindrance to increasing biodiversity. Maybe, says Rebecca McMackin, we need to let leaves be. Illustration Rosanna Morris
Advice for shady gardens
Get help for your shady garden
20 of the best plants for shade - including a designer's recommendations
Discover 20 of the best plants for shade, including recommendations from garden designer Chris Moss
Looking for colour in winter? Hellebores are perfect flowers for the season- here's how to plant, care for and sow them
Plant expert John Hoyland gives advice on planting, sowing and growing hellebores. Plus, the best varieties to grow, recommended by some of our favourite plant experts.
A small sloping backyard was given a designer update and is now a beautiful, flower-filled family garden on different levels by Farlam & Chandler
Design duo Farlam & Chandler has transformed a heavily shaded plot into a beautiful, flower-filled family garden
Sunny gardens
Beautiful pink, orange, red and white poppies for your garden and how to care for them
The scarlet poppy may be one of the most instantly recognisable flowers, but with more than 70 species of Papaver, in a range of shapes and colours, there’s one for every garden. Plant expert John Hoyland picks the best and gives his growing advice
When to water plants in hot weather
In the heatwave, make sure you're watering your plants at the right time of day
Wondering what jobs to get done this summer? Let Sissinghurst's expert head gardener guide you
Sissinghurst’s head gardener Troy Scott Smith guides us through the jobs that he and his team do in summer. Images by John Campbell
Advice for wet gardens
Get help for your wet garden
31 small garden design ideas from experts that will maximise impact and space on your own plot
Three top designers share expert advice on creating small spaces that really work, with insightful dos and don’ts to apply to your own garden. Picked by Harry Holding, Caroline Clayton, Harriet Farlam and Ben Chandler
Ten tips for gardening plastic free
David Ware, head of eco garden centre EdibleCulture, offers up his top tips for how to garden without using plaastic
Stop! Here are 14 things you think you need to do in your garden but you actually don't
The RHS offers up 14 things in your garden that you think might work, but which actually don't