Our Favorite Wheelbarrows for All Kinds of Garden Projects

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Header image: Cilantro seedlings grown in 100% recycled glass material. Image credit: Andrea Quezada

Gone are the carefree days of summer. School is officially back in session! Simple habits like creating a daily routine, prioritizing healthy eating and supporting their mental wellbeing can help your child succeed this school year.

Early autumn is a great time to enjoy the colour and beauty of late-flowering perennials, such as dahlias and asters, while also planning ahead for winter and spring. Borderline hardy plants benefit from protection in preparation for colder weather and tender potted plants like pelargoniums will need to be brought under cover if early frosts are forecast. Many spring-flowering bulbs can be planted over the next few weeks, and bare-root shrubs and trees ordered, ready to be planted in the garden from November onwards.

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Hey GPODers!

Growers in cold climates often utilize various approaches to extend the growing season or boost their crops, including cold frames, hoop houses, and greenhouses. Greenhouses—typically glazed structures— are often expensive to construct and heat throughout the winter. But, they have their benefits, which is why underground greenhouses can be viable alternatives.

Flanking our waterways in great mops of silver green, the willow is the most poetic and mysterious of trees. In many cultures – including ancient Egypt and ancient Greece – it was associated with immortality, death, and the underworld; old English folklore states that if you sit beside a willow and shed tears, the tree will cry with you. In China, where the weeping willow hails from, it represents strength and resilience, reflecting the instruction in the Tao Te Ching to have a flexible attitude: 'A tree that won't bend, breaks easily in storms.' Being pliant and strong, willow is used for weaving, and its light weight and hardness make it the best wood for cricket bats.

If you’re a fan of the quintessential indoor-outdoor Western lifestyle that comes along with expansive floor-to-ceiling glass, a warm wash of natural light, breezeways that maximize airflow, and surrounding serene landscape, you can thank famed architect Cliff May. Regarded as the founding father of the iconic California ranch house, May’s work has been repeatedly published in Sunset since the 1930s. What made his work stand out at the time was how he designed homes not so much based on architecture but on the way people wanted to live in them. Making the most of the Western climate, his goal was to provide a closer relationship with nature through garden courtyards and blur the line between how we use interior and exterior spaces. May in turn created private sanctuaries where families could relax and enjoy a lifestyle of informal outdoor living. He invented the way most people want to live in the West, and his influence is felt throughout the region some 90 years later.

Join us this summer as we explore some of the UK’s best 2-for-1 Gardens to visit in August, for fun days out with all the family. Whether it’s an adventure playground or woodland trail for the kids, or a rose garden or restored Elizabethan garden for the horticulturalists, there is plenty to enjoy at these gardens. Visit using your 2-for-1 Gardens card to save money on your trips to all these wonderful gardens.

If you’ve spent any time on design TikTok, then you’ve surely come across interior designer and TikTok creator Julie Jones.

Lana Williams, owner of Oakland, California-based plant shop and design company The Tender Gardener, is known for her gorgeous step-by-step plant recipes for creating lush outdoor planters. In Lana’s latest book release, The Container Garden Recipe Book, she’s revealing fabulous floral and frond combos that will have you making plant and pot pairings like a pro. Here she shares a few seasonally appropriate tips on the types of statement plants and containers to use as we transition from late summer into fall.