Is Your Garden Gorgeous?

There are several things to consider before splashing water around your garden as there are no hard and fast rules that suit all plants. But the first step should be implementing preventative measures.

The gardens at Great Dixter.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Attracting and keeping frogs and toads in

When it comes to weed management in the garden, focusing on prevention will save you from hours spent pulling weeds. Mulch is the most common tool used to keep weeds out of your garden. By preventing light from reaching seeds, mulch reduces weed seed germination. Plants can be used in the same way to cover soil and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching weed seeds. When selecting plants for weed prevention, look for those with a dense canopy to shade the soil. We’ve rounded up a list of 12 great plants that will keep weeds out of your garden.

Herbs are super-easy to grow in garden beds orcontainers, and nothing tastes better than fresh herbs snipped from your garden for all your homecooked favorites. But while you may always plant annual herbs, such asbasil, dill, and cilantro, you’re missing out if you’re not growing perennial herbs. Perennial herbs come back year after year, making them a smart investment in your garden. Many also have beautiful flowers that pollinators love.

If you are a fan of beautiful herbs, we have a detailed list of the Best Types of Sage to Grow in Your Garden for you!

Rosa ‘Boscobel’ in a walled garden in east London

There’s an undeniable charm to a yard filled with overarching trees, trellises smothered in flowering vines, and elegant evergreen shrubs.Given the choice, most of us would opt for a ya

When we talk about native plants, we’re often referring to landscaping, but what about growing your own edible native plant garden? Native plants have adapted to where you live, after all, and unlike, say, your usual tomatoes and strawberries, native edibles have new flavors and scents to try. Meanwhile, planting edible native plants helps to forge a connection between the way we live now, and the way communities in the West have existed for thousands of years. “Just growing these plants is a way to tap into the continuum of time,” says Evan Meyer, the executive director of the Theodore Payne Foundation. “By growing edible plants, your garden can become a much more meaningful place.”   

We’ve all been there, the premature demise of our cilantro bolting into bitterness and a head full of seeds after an unexpected heat spike. But what if we started thinking about these “failures” as new flavor opportunities? One gardener’s flop is another’s feast after all. I’m talking seed-turned-spice drawer—yes, that downed cilantro is now your own hefty supply of gourmet coriander. 

I’m thinking, where do those garden owners put all the STUFF that a gardener leaves lying about, puts down and forgets about, dumps, loses, temporarily leaves somewhere, and doesn’t know what to do with?  Where are all the opened bags of grit, the empty terracotta pots, the buckets,  Where is all that stuff???

Back in early May I mentioned that I was making big changes out front, well, I never did say it was to our garden!