The drought has been declared over in 19 counties – but hose bans will remain in force. Recent record-breaking rainfall led the Environment Agency to re-analyse water levels, as dozens…
News
Bird box is fit for feathered royalty
A bird box fit for royalty is giving our feathered friends something to tweet about. Peckingham Palace, one of the world’s most luxurious bird boxes, has been created to give…
Critic slams National Gardens Scheme
The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) has come under fire from gardening’s most outspoken critic. Anne Wareham argued that the NGS “blighted gardens in the UK forever” when it was created…
Concern over pesticides and bee death
Gardeners are set to come under more pressure to ditch a group of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, due to worries over bee colony death. An investigation at Reading University, backed…
Talent show seeks wooden entries
A garden competition lampooned by The Sun as ‘Britain’s most boring contest’ is back for a second year. Fence Factor, the national challenge that sets out to find Britain’s best…
New clematis beats the wilting blues
A clematis that’s said to resist wilting and dieback is to make its debut Chelsea. Clematis ‘Shikoo,’ which has double, rosette-style blue flowers, is new from Thorncroft Clematis of Norwich.…
Alan Titchmarsh slams water firms over hosepipe bans
TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh has lashed out at water companies as hosepipe bans come into force. “It has always been my bugbear that gardeners keep being blamed for [water] shortages…
Hosepipe ban leads to 800% rise in water butt sales
Gardeners are panic buying water butts as the drought tightens its grip on the UK. Haskins, the four-strong garden centre chain with two of its outlets in hosepipe ban areas, reported…
Gadgets leave us out of touch with nature, says Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh has warned that society’s obsession with technology is making us lose touch with nature. The former Gardeners’ World host said: “We are part of a fast-paced culture that’s become…
Drip irrigation to be allowed during hosepipe ban
Gardeners are to be allowed to use drip irrigation for the first time during hosepipe bans. Up to 20 million homes in central and southern Britain will be forbidden from…