Fill that flowerless hole in the border with something that’s going to keep the colour coming right through to autumn. You should be able to pick these plants up from garden centres, or see individual suppliers listed. Osteospermum ‘Falling Stars’ 1. CAPE DAISIES Sunlight is vital to the performance of…
Clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ Their gently scrambling habit makes them the perfect follow up act for June-flowering roses and early summer-flowering shrubs. Pruning couldn’t be simpler: Just cut them down to the lowest shooting buds in mid-February and vigorous new growth will soon follow. The best reason of all for…
The biggest tip for success is to buy a pre-trained tree, this removes the trickier pruning required to shape the tree in the first few years. Some of the best trained forms for small gardens include espalier, fan and cordon (commonly sold as ‘Minarette’ trees). Of the three, the single-stemmed…
Well, that’s not entirely true. If you’d visited my garden last summer you’d have noticed the air had taken on a blue hue, thanks to me getting rather upset about the state of my tomato plants both inside and outside of the greenhouse. Blight had felled my ‘Garden Pearl’ plants…
If you’re after a quick fix, where results outweigh the initial work you put in, follow the steps below for planting raspberry canes in November, for a bumper crops next year. Step 1) Dig a trench 1ft (30cm) deep and 3ft (90cm) wide. Add a 3in (7.5cm) layer of compost. Mix…
Is it really the August Bank Holiday? Part of me feels sad because the curtain is on the verge of falling on summer, but I do love autumn’s colours, crispness (you can keep the days of damp dreariness) and that glorious glut of homegrown goodies. As usual, many people’s long…
Foxgloves are a typical cottage-garden plant that will self-seed prolifically There’s so much to celebrate about footloose and fancy-free self-seeders. These plants are annuals, biennials or perennials that simply scatter copious amounts of seed. For this reason, they pop up everywhere and, once you’ve planted them, you find that…
Mow twice a week for a thick and healthy sward Measure twice, cut once. If you want to do something well it pays to do it twice, whether you’re pruning – check twice before you cut – or planting (remember to dig a hole at least twice as wide…
Dahlias are back in fashion and are a glorious addition to the garden © Alamy The dahlia tubers I re-started earlier in the spring have grown well and are now ready to go out into the garden. Late May is the perfect time as the frosts are pretty much over…
© Alamy 1 Box tree caterpillar The grubs cover plants in webbing. Pick them off, use a pheromone trap or nematodes, or try a chemical such as Bug Clear Gun, Defenders Bug Killer or a chemical from Provado or Westland Resolva. © RHS/Andrew Halstead 2 Fuchsia gall mite Causes…
