Geoff Stonebanks learns ways to enjoy his garden in lockdown and offers his hard earned advice. In a ‘normal’Â year, Geoff Stonebanks opens his summer garden to hundreds of visitors, offering copious refreshments including tea, cakes and even lunch and afternoon teas. This year, the garden has been closed, giving Geoff a time to stand back and take stock.
Container gardening
Drought tolerant plants for your garden
If hot weather, dry soil and sunny spells are wreaking havoc in your garden then choose plants that have adapted to hotter and dry conditions.
How to harvest, ripen and increase your garden bounty
How to harvest, ripen and increase your garden bounty, Martyn Cox helps you make the most of your garden edibles with some timely GYO advice.
Keeping your fruit & veg healthy and productive
Martyn Cox helps you harvest some fruit and vegetable treasure and offers advice to keep your plants productive
Five plants to attract butterflies
Encourage more butterflies into your garden by choosing plants with nectar rich flowers
Buying plants
At this time of year, it’s all go in the garden. There’s lots to get on with, including planting up beds, borders, containers and hanging baskets. Geoff Hodge has plenty of advice about buying plants. Get the most from your garden centre purchases and choose wisely with his sage advice
What is RootBooster and does it work?
Already a fan of Flower Power, Geoff Stonebanks takes a look at RootBooster and its benefits for his container based garden.
What are Tree Lilies?
Looking like lilies on steroids, tree lilies produce towering stems that are capable of carrying up to 30, dinner plate sized blooms in summer. Apart from their dramatic good looks, the flowers possess an intoxicating scent that makes spending time outside a true sensory experience.
Meet Primrose ‘Everlast’
Primroses are an elegant early spring flower, creating a splash of colour on the banks, meadows and at the edge of the hedgerows. There is something very pure and graceful about these native wildflowers. You probably grow primulas in your garden. There are lots of brightly coloured amazing hybrids and varieties to add colour and […]
Does Flower Power Plant Food really work?
Award winning garden designer Geoff Stonebanks reveals his most asked visitor question and explains why, for him, Flower Power has become indispensable.
My Flower Power Story – Our Magic Potion
Susan and Keith Wells were gifted Flower Power by a grateful neighbour, now they use it in their garden and call it their Magic Potion
How can I use colour creatively in the garden?
Geoff Stonebanks is an instant gardener, because he wants the area he is creating or changing to look like the image he has in his head, instantly
What’s all the fuss about begonias?
If there’s one type of summer container plant that has the WOW factor in spades it’s the begonia
What makes begonias good garden plants?
Geoff Stonebanks explains how he uses garden begonias in his award winning garden
Garden highlights of a decade at Driftwood
As we enter the 2020’s, we reveal some of Geoff Stonebanks gardening highlights over the last 10 years and take a look at some of his aspirations for the coming decade!
How do I overwinter my tender and half-hardy plants
WIth winter fast approaching Geoff Stonebanks offers his hard earned advice regarding overwintering plants
How can I use containers creatively in the garden?
Plants in pots and containers make up parts of most gardens, but they can be used to plant larger areas too, giving you lots of options in terms of plant choice and design.
What specimen plants can I grow in containers?
Award winning garden designer Geoff Stonebanks shares his tips for growing perennials, shrubs and specimen plants in pots
Flower Power – The winning plant food
When a plant fertiliser helps you keep winning gardening competitions, it’s time to share the secret
Which summer flowering bulbs work well in containers?
 Geoff Stonebanks uses summer flowering bulbs to augment his garden containers with great effect
How do I water container plants?
As a complete novice, as I was back in 2009 when I began gardening, I suppose the one thing I did not think of when creating a garden with so many containers, is the impact the watering would have. If we have many more summers like 2018 I’ll probably have to rethink my garden design. […]
What can I use instead of plastic flowerpots?
Even though plastic flower pots are recyclable, few get a second life before disposal. Jean Vernon offers five alternatives to plastic flower pots
Ideas to take home from RHS Chelsea 2019
There are so many inspirational gems at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, many are unachievable in most gardens, but here are five ideas from this year’s show to take home for your plot
Five new plants at RHS Chelsea 2019
Richard Jackson picks his favourites from this year’s RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year
Tips for growing in containers
You can learn a lot from a garden that consists of over 250 pots and containers and wins awards, Geoff Stonebanks offers his hard earned tips
My Flower Power story
Flower Power helped us win three garden competitions this season, says award winning garden owners Alex Redfern and Joe Shannon
Spring bulbs in containers Driftwood
Create a crescendo of colour in your pots and containers, says award winning garden designer Geoff Stonebanks
What’s so great about Cannas?
If you’ve never grown cannas you are missing a great gardening trick says Jean Vernon
What bedding plants are best for containers?
Geoff Stonebanks shares his selection of annuals and bedding plants for containers
What sort of strawberries should I grow?
I was once party to a late night student debate about the most perfect fruit. The eventual winner was the strawberry, because of its mouth sized portions, no peel or core to deal with, no need for preparation or condiments and so sweetly delicious I have never met anyone who claims to dislike them. To […]