Features and Advice

The colourful red bracts of the poinsettia have become a festive favourite. Here are some tips to keep your plants looking fabulous for weeks on end.

Happy Winter Solstice. Traditionally celebrated on the shortest day of the year, winter solstice falls a few days before Christmas.

The garden birds aren’t just pretty to look at, they are a vital weapon in the gardener’s war on pests.

Geoff Stonebanks shares his festive tips and plants for garden containers.

Create some real drama in your garden with a seasonal planter. Just a handful of plants will establish colour and interest for weeks on end.

Create a truly scrumptious side dish to your festive feast, using red cabbage. Even the most reluctant cabbage fans will love this recipe.

Geoff Stebbings extols the virtues of the Christmas rose – Helleborus niger.

Geoff Stonebanks explores his love of garden hydrangeas.

Make your garden work a bit harder and generate a few natural gifts for friends and family says Jean Vernon.

For instant festive impact poinsettias are the go to plant, but there are lots of creative ways to enjoy them says Jean Vernon.

Martyn Cox guides you through ten of his (almost) foolproof favourite plants for beginner gardeners.

We all know how to secure our homes and protect them from burglary, but what about our gardens? An outside space can be easy to access and provide a sheltered and protected route to our homes.

Harvesting herbs fresh from your own garden is easy, fabulous and provides unlimited flavour potential. Even over winter you can grow herbs outdoors.

Here are five houseplants that are easy to grow and hard to kill, including African violet, begonia, coleus, alocasia and hydrangea.

If you are looking for some small, but great value ideas for the gardener in your life, Jean Vernon suggests some lovely stocking fillers for garden lovers.

Sometimes plants don’t like where you planted them, or you simply change your mind. It’s OK to move them, Martyn Cox explains.

The shops are brimming with some beautiful Christmas houseplants at the moment – but some are better than others. Here’s how to get the pick of the pots.

Is your festive offering fit for a King or Queen? Just what was on the Christmas table fresh from the garden three hundred years ago?

As the seasons change the garden birds become more animated in our gardens. Jean Vernon suggests ways to attract more garden birds.

Are you looking for the perfect gift for a gardener? Jean Vernon suggests some seasonal presents ideal for gardening loved-ones.

Martyn Cox continues his beginners guide for gardeners. This week he has plenty of advice on buying plants for your garden.

Whatever your feelings about the autumn tidy up, there is one job that does need getting on with – clearing away all those fallen autumn leaves.

Geoff Hodge talks pros and cons of lifting dahlias or leaving in the garden. As well as lifting begonia tubers.

Are you planning to make a new lawn? Is it better to lay some turf or sow some seed? Martyn Cox helps unravel the conundrum.