Plants
Plants, how to plant, what to plant
21 reliable plant choices for fool-proof borders that perform all year
Whether you’re an old hand or new to gardening, giving your borders a strong backbone of easy-to-grow plants that will survive where many others fail, ensures a long season of colour and gives you space to experiment.
8 flowers with incredible fragrance that can only be enjoyed at night-time
Fill the evening air with perfume to make your garden joyful 24 hours a day and support night-flying pollinators.
No time? You can still have a nice garden with these 3 top tips from our expert designer
Top tips for creating a nice garden with minimal hours of work.
POV: You’ve inherited an historic English hall with two moats and incredible gardens – now what?
Once home to garden designer Xa Tollemache, Helmingham Hall is now under the care of a new generation of Tollemaches and is as glorious as ever, especially in winter when its bones are laid bare.
Words: Chris Young, Photographs: Richard Bloom
This is the only type of bamboo you can plant that WON'T wreck your garden
Bamboo has a reputation for being a garden thug, and if you choose the wrong type it definitely is. Here, we recommend some varieties that are safe to plant in gardens.
What's new?
3 pro tricks to create an abundant garden, that doesn’t need back-breaking maintenance
Top tips from a garden designer on having a beautiful garden without the back-breaking maintenance.
Fill your space with gorgeous scents by growing these versatile plants that will be happy in a sunny spot and in pots
Scented-leaf pelargoniums are a group of tender plants prized as much, if not more, for the scent of their leaves as for the beauty of their flowers
Discover the dahlias in Frances Palmer's Connecticut garden, where she turned her tennis court into a flower patch
A gardener as well as a renowned potter, dahlia devotee Frances Palmer uses her own blooms to adorn her vessels, grown in her imaginatively conceived Connecticut garden.
Four must-know tips to grow stunning dahlias – from the head of the National Dahlia Collection
Horticultural lecturer Louise Danks and rescuer of the National Dahlia Collection explains four key tips to growing dahlias
Discover the beautiful National Dahlia Collection and the person who helped save it from disappearing
The National Dahlia Collection has had several homes since its inception in the 1980s, and now, under the care of a dedicated dahlia aficionado, it has been rescued and relocated once more to a new site in Cornwall.
Autumn
10 remarkable facts you (probably) didn’t know about dahlias
We're celebrating dahlia season, so here are 10 facts you might not have known about these gorgeous late season flowers
Slug-proof veg: the ultimate list of 17 vegetables that slugs and snails won’t eat
Struggling with slugs eating your crops? Here are 17 varieties of veg that they won't touch.
Looking for late-summer plant inspiration? Watch Dan Pearson pick his favourite plants for late season colour and interest
Bulbs
Everything you need to know about growing bluebells
English bluebells are one of the highlights of spring. Here's how to grow them in your own garden – and how to differentiate between English and Spanish bluebells.
These are the most elegant tulips to grow, recommended by experts
These are the very best white tulips to grow in the garden, all chosen by experts
6 dark tulips to grow for a rich and moody scheme
Here are the very best dark tulips to grow in the garden, all chosen by experts
Flowers
8 wacky planting combinations that will make your pots stand out
Try something different in your pots this summer, with one of these quirky planting combos.
Love dahlias? These are the 7 dahlias top designers would have in their own gardens
Three garden designers and landscape architects – Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Ula Maria and Jo Thompson – choose their favourite dahlias for late-season colour.
Don’t get ripped off at the garden centre this summer! Here’s what to avoid buying now – and what to snap up
How to be a savvy shopper at the garden centre, with expert tips on what to avoid buying and what to snap up now.
House plants
The internet says houseplants beat condensation and mould. We asked the actual experts
The internet is awash with advice on house plants beating mould. But are the claims actually true?
Myth buster | Do you really need to mist your house plants?
We are often advised to mist our houseplants. But is it really necessary?
Don't bin that poinsettia. Here's how to get it to flower again next Christmas
Don't discard your poinsettia after Christmas – discover the unusual secret to getting your poinsettia to flower again next year.
Planting ideas
Get inspiration for your garden and discover which plants will work best and where
7 deadly garden plants that could kill your cat, and what to plant instead
Here are 7 plants that are potentially toxic to cats, and suggestions on what to grow instead.
7 expert tips on helping your garden survive summer heatwaves
As the hot weather in the UK continues, we ask three horticultural experts how we should be adapting the way we garden to hotter, drier conditions
These plants are super easy to grow, come in the most amazing array of colours and fill the perfect summer colour gap
These pretty, long flowering perennials are loved by pollinators, come in many colours and work well in different styles of garden, from dry schemes to prairie-inspired plots
Pots
A vibrant drought-tolerant container display with plants for all seasons
James Horner creates a drought tolerant container for all seasons.
A delicate, airy planting combination for summer in a rustic stone trough
Designer Katie Guillebaud channels the ebullience of the season with this nature-inspired container idea
A green shrubby planting combo with lush summer colour and winter seedheads
Discover how to recreate this vibrant planting container, which will look at its best in May
Shrubs
Key plants from Piet Oudolf's field at Hauser and Wirth
The garden at the Hauser and Wirth gallery in Somerset is a planting installation by garden designer Piet Oudolf called the Oudolf Field. Here you'll find 24 of the key plants that make up the stunning perennial meadow garden.
Amazing displays of spring blossom are easier to achieve than you think. We pick the best flowering shrubs and trees for spring
Flowering trees and shrubs are one of the delights of spring and make wonderful additions to even the smallest of gardens.
Watch: How to prune or pollard a smokebush
Discover how to pollard or prune a smoke bush hard in spring in our easy step by step video, to keep it a good size for the garden and so it produces beautiful foliage
Spring
19 plant combos for stunning spring pots that bring colour and style to any garden
Here are 19 gorgeous spring planting combinations, put together by garden designers.
May gardening jobs: what to do in the garden in May
Our panel of expert gardeners pick the jobs you should be doing in the garden in May.
Fancy growing something different in 2026? Top plant sellers reveal the plants they're excited about this year
Fancy growing something different this season? Top plant sellers and nurseries told us which brand-new, recently introduced or simply fresh-to-their-lists plants they are excited about this year
Summer
Expert plantswoman Rosy Hardy chooses plants for July that will bring colour and interest throughout the heat
As summer hits its stride, plantswoman Rosy Hardy picks a rich mix of colours,
from a deep-purple clematis to a pink sweet pea and an orange red-hot poker
The best drought tolerant plants to grow to combat drier summers and warmer weather
Looking to add more drought tolerant plants to your garden? Annie Godfrey of Daisy Roots nursery recommends some of the best drought tolerant plants.
Looking to keep the colour through the coming months? Here are 10 recommended plants for late-summer
There are plenty of colourful plants that will ensure your garden remains fresh and bright throughout summer into autumn. Here are ten plants for late-summer colour, recommended by plantswoman Marina Christopher
Trees
Want beautiful cherry blossom in your garden? Here are 18 of the best cherry blossom trees to plant
Ornamental Japanese cherry blossom trees are one of the delights of spring, with their clouds of pink or white blooms.
Growing your own lemons? Turns out it's not as crazy as it sounds
Offering evergreen foliage and a year-round supply of fruit, citrus trees are easy to grow, provided you have somewhere to overwinter them
Stop the needles falling and the droop: here's how to care for your Christmas tree so it's happy for longer
You invest in a Christmas tree and bring it into your home over the festive season. Make sure it's as happy as possible so it lasts for as long as possible
Winter
Forget snowdrops: these are the best early spring flowers to bring sunny colour to your garden
Bring bright, sunny colour to your late-winter garden with the earliest flowers of the year, which will spread to create golden carpets under trees.
Discover the magical Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival
The annual Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival in Somerset is the place to be for galanthophiles in February.
Yellow snowdrops: where to buy and how to grow them
Most snowdrops are white, or green and white, but some have yellow markings – and are highly sought after.