Mulch Away & Keep the Drought at Bay

With its long history of medicinal use, I find yarrow to be one of the most incredible and fascinating common garden plants.An herbaceous perennial and member of the

Also Read: How to Grow Ferns

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. Chitting potatoes is also called gree

As we approach the second half of summer, borders can start to look tired and untidy, especially if you have packed them with early summer flowers, like irises, lupins and oriental poppies that have now faded. There are some simple tasks you can do now to keep your border looking good for longer. Filling any gaps in your planting and tidying away old flower stems and leaves can quickly restore a border to a healthy and colourful display that can last right through to autumn.

Gardeners know pollinators are essential, especially those industrious bees buzzing tirelessly in and out of squash blossoms and trumpet vines. But one kind of bee may wear your patience thin if you’ve discovered their handiwork: Carpenter bees! If you’ve found perfectly round ½-diameter holes drilled into your deck timbers, wood siding, mailbox posts, or outdoor furniture with a little sawdust beneath the holes, you may be housing these gentle bees.

By Marilyn Syarto

By Marilyn Syarto

It’s an age-old debate that’s almost impossible to avoid when living with another person: Does silverware go up or down in the dishwasher? And is there even a right answer? Since the popularization of the dishwasher, how to load this appliance has been a hot point of contention, particularly when it comes to silverware. Should silverware be rinsed first? Should you organize each utensil so like is grouped with like? Should you use the silverware basket or the rack, if your dishwasher is a newer model? Some people are adamant that silverware should be placed handle-up, while others insist on handle-down—but those aren’t actually the only options.

Zinnias are truly marvelous flowers, spectacularly colorful annuals that are incredibly easy to grow.And they come in a dizzying array of colors,

There is no point in growing salads at ground level in our garden – they disappear overnight as platoons of slugs and snails emerge from their hiding places in walls and terraces to feast on my efforts. Rather than spend a fortune on wool pellets and nematodes (I keep these for other crops) I grow my salads in containers that can be kept out of their reach. In the kitchen courtyard where I like

Retail therapy at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014 by Daniel Carruthers The Chelsea Flower Show, now in it’s 101st year, is revered for its wonderful gardens showing the latest trends in garden design. The show does also have many other elements of inspiration too with a wide and often unsung retail section. Predominantly the Eastern Avenue is the shopaholic gardeners first port of call with everything on display ranging from hats and gardening apparel to seeds and works of art.