Horticulture Ideas, Tips & Guides

We’re nearing our 150th episode mark and for us, that has meant a lot of plants discussed. But it’s also meant a lot of great guest appearances. As you know, each episode we ask an expert from the field of horticulture to lend us their brains and weigh-in on some great plant choices for the topic at hand. We’ve had guests who made us laugh, think twice about a much-maligned perennial, or even come to realize that there are far better options out there for our gardens. Who was our funniest guest? The one that made us seriously reconsider our planting choices? Or the one who made us grip the steering wheel with white knuckles (yes—that did actually happen)? Tune in now to find out and listen to our favorite guest segments.

On the hunt for the ultimate garden centre or service in the UK? It's not just about jazzing up your garden – it's all about crafting your very own green paradise! 

Spending time gardening or enjoying others’ gardens opens our eyes to the environment around us and the realities of climate change. But can individuals make a difference by gardening more sustainably, when the problems (and solutions) seem so huge?

How to Identify and Control 11 Cactus Pests

If you’re new to gardening, you might be wondering where to start. To help you get to grips with the basics, we’ve created lots of helpful guides and tips on gardening for beginners.

Don’t let the concept of Chaotic Garden confuse you! It can be a great project to take on. Let’s understand it in detail.

I am bored of rain. Fed up with cloudy days. Sick of the grey drip-drip-drip of this cool, showery, sun-starved, stormy summer, and the monotony of a weather forecast that only predicts more of the same. But even so, I’m forced to admit that the silver lining to what’s been a very sodden growing season is that many of our most beautiful, late summer-autumn flowering garden perennials and shrubs are loving the biblical quantities of rainfall in recent months, a high note to what’s otherwise been a forgettable year.

Jade is one of the best houseplants you can grow that also look great in the gardens. Have a look at the Best Crassula Ovatas you can grow!

If you’re interested in an organic solution for problems with your garden and houseplants, you may want to consider neem oil. “This botanical pesticide is used as an insecticide, which is most effective on immature insects,” says Barbara Smith, consumer horticulture extension agent at theHome & Garden Information Center at Clemson University. “It does have some fungicidal benefits for diseases such as powdery mildew.”

We’ve all been there. We’ve all read the marketing blurb for a shiny new plant variety, and decided that we had to have it. We may have been good, and waited for a few days, to be sure that we really had to have it, but we’ve all paid money for brand new plant varieties for the garden. And then we find out that they don’t quite live up to the hype. You don’t hear about ‘early adopters’ outside of the tech world, really, but that’s exactly what we are, and a certain amount of disappointment is inevitable.

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for some statistics about the average UK garden size, and I found some interesting ones. According to the 2015 media pack for the RHS The Garden magazine, a document that is aimed at attracting advertisers to the publication, the 380,000 RHS members the magazine is sent to have gardens that are 10 times larger than the UK average, covering over half an acre.

If you’ve ever wished you lived in a tropical climate, simply so that you could grow your own chocolate, then the future is looking bright. Last time I touched on this subject I mentioned plants that might add a chocolatey touch to your garden (with their colour, scent and even flavour).

Jill Edmondson, University of Sheffield and Jonathan Leake, University of Sheffield

There is an all-time rise in breathing issues and the simple solution lies in the power of mother nature. Have a look at the best Indoor Plants that Reduce Respiratory Problems.

When it comes to insects, there are many different types that roam our gardens and yards. Two such insects that often cause confusion due to their similar appearances are the June Bug and the Japanese Beetle. While they might look alike at first glance, there are several key differences that set them apart. Let’s have a look at June Bug vs. Japanese Beetle!

This month we are celebrating the castles in our 2-for-1 Gardens scheme. Bursting with history and grandeur, they are great sites to explore as the weather gets a little cooler. In the gardens, find plenty of horticultural interest, from poison gardens to sculpted yews. Make sure to use your 2-for-1 Gardens card on your visit to ensure you’re making savings on your day out.

Marsha Arnold

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

With their slender stems and perfumed blooms, sweet peas are a firm favourite for cut flowers.

Summer is still here, and it is still HOT. What could be better than a glass of lemonade to beat the heat? As we approach the last few weeks of summer, preparations for the change of seasons begin. Youth and adults navigate the start of a new school year, retail stores reset for upcoming holidays, and small and large farmers transition into fall crops, winding down harvest of summer produce like tomatoes, corn, and blackberries, making them harder to find at local markets.

Today, we bring you an external expert to the table to tell us some nifty gardening tricks. Nicky Roeber is the Online Horticultural Expert at Wyevale Garden Centres. Here, he shares his top tips for creating a garden that can be packed up and moved — perfect for green-fingered members of “generation rent”.

Identify and Control 13 Common Chrysanthemum Pests

This is the Royal Horticultural Society symbol for the Award of Garden Merit ‘AGM’. This award indicates that the plant is recommended by the RHS.

A Coronary Garden was more popular in late Victorian times but as I discovered it goes back beyond the 17th century. Coronary gardens were  used to grow flowers that could be used for wreaths and garlands and take their name Coronary from the word crown not the health problem.

Dendrology is the the branch of botany and science about trees and other plants that have woody structures. It includes the natural history of trees, species identification, taxonomic classifications and economic significance.

Growing Tips

The North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS) is over 106 year old and has been the premier gardening and horticultural charity supporting the north of England through out that time. It is independent of the RHS! The NEHS is not to be confused with Northern Horticultural society 1963-1988 or The Northern Horticultural society 1988 – 2009 which were subsumed along with Harlow Carr gardens by the RHS. Their magazine ‘Northern Gardener’ was replace by RHS publication The Garden.

There are all sorts of presents you can give an avid gardener for Christmas. A concept present may be a small collection of garden ornaments or some funny sayings. More seriously garden tokens are always useful but I like to select my own tools.

Dramatic gardens can be designed on minimalist principles. Minimalist gardens need to look good during all seasons and at all times of the day. Thus all your senses plus horticultural nous need to be considered when setting out your initial design.

Britain has some of the best gardens in the world. The choice of which to visit is far larger than this selective list but at least it gives you somewhere to start planning this years outings.

Diarmuid Gavin Garden Recreated

Extraordinary Leaves by Armytage and Schrader is available from amazon.

The Royal Horticultural Society produce many books and this one, RHS Gardening Month by Month by Ian Spencer contains over 1,300 seasonal tasks. Covering tasks for every part of the garden, expert plant advice and lists of star plants from January to December it is a great confidence booster. When you have finished those tasks it will be time to start a new year!

Yes it is well past time to look at geraniums again. Since this blog started there have been over 60 pages of tips about geraniums. The most popular have been about scented,  regal and dwarf geraniums but zonals and bedding also retain much interest. (You can find these and more links by using our search button).

Flush with cash reserves and a conservative spending policy, poor gardeners and horticultural workers should be able to feel some comfort. In a recent mailing I was solicited to donate £25, £50 or £100 in addition to supporting the (expensive) product catalogue. This request wont germinate and bear fruit with me until they are more down to earth and do more for the horticultural workers and families.

Gerbera are ornamental plants that are related to sunflowers. They are very popular as a decorative garden plant or good as cut flowers. Most Gerberas are result of a cross between Gerbera jamesonii and Gerbera viridifolia. The resulting Gerbera hybrida are basically of South African descent.