Planting for Pollinators – The RHS Chelsea 2022 Feature Garden

It’s nice to be aware of the many changes and trends taking place in the world of gardening.

The online Purdue Plant Doctor does just that, plus offers possible solutions.Two Purdue Professors, entomologist Cliff Sadof and plant pathologist Janna Beckerman, collaborated on the recent enhancements to the online tool at PurduePlantDoctor.com. They also have some advice on how to sharpen our diagnostic skills and to learn how to do the homework it takes to plot a c

You can enjoy a fragrant garden, even if you don’t have space to garden. As the majority of the fragrant plants are mainly vines or shrubs, you can easily grow them in pots. Arrange these fragrant plants on your balcony, patio or rooftop garden according to your preference and climate.

When it comes to outdoor maintenance, consider the elements and the critters. To fully tackle all your yard, patio, and garden space, break it up into sections a make a to-do list.

James Lloyd-Jones photographed at his company’s Innovation Centre in Bristol, where different crops and new technology are trialled

If you happen to be a town dweller with a small garden, chances are you have looked out of the window at that long, narrow strip of land and wondered how you could improve it with a bit of clever design. It's not the easiest task as an amateur, but the joy of working with a garden designer is that they have a wealth of ideas on hand, not just about pretty planting, but about how to shape a garden to maximise the space at hand. Garden designer Lottie Delamain, who made her first appearance at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022 with her dye garden, offers virtual consultations for owners who want some inspiration to do it themselves. Here she offers some of her designs as examples of how a small garden can be transformed with a little DIY and elbow grease.

Gardening can be a rewarding and therapeutic pastime, but for those with busy schedules, it might seem impossible to keep up with the demands of plant maintenance. Fortunately, there is a solution: low-maintenance plants. These hardy species require minimal care, allowing gardeners with limited time to still enjoy a beautiful and thriving outdoor space.

By Stephen Roshy

Just to clarify, it’s rock plants, not rock music. Following on from my enthusiastic postings about the alpine plants at the recent RHS Show, anyone equally smitten will be interested in visiting Wisley’s rock garden in its centenary year.  There’s a new Crevice Garden planted by Czech alpine specialist Zdenek Zvolznek that creates a wonderful diversity of habitats for a huge range of plants.  Probably better to go sooner rather than later as everything seems to be flowering ahead of schedule. crevice garden/daphne

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.

Tired of insects hovering around your home and gardens? Don’t worry! You can keep them at bay without the use of any chemicals by growing these Bug Repellant Plants. 

Coinciding nicely with my foraging ventures in the garden, the publishers, Green Books, invited me to a fungay foray in deepest Kent to launch their latest book – Edible Mushrooms by Geoff Dann (a licensed forager). We soon adjusted our ideas of setting off home at the end of the day with baskets laden with cepes and chanterelles when Geoff told us he had scouted the foraging area and there was hardly anything to be found – apparently it is a very late year. The foraging took place i