How to make the most of the Big Garden Birdwatch

Obviously there are no birds anywhere to be seen. Ben and Gemma, the lovely people from the RSPB, sit beside me and we all gaze hopefully out of my living room window, waiting. “This always happens,” says Gemma. “Every single time.”
Ben Andrew is one of the RSPB’s...
How to make the most of the Big Garden Birdwatch

How to create snowdrop heaven in your garden

Galanthophile Val Bourne with her snowdrops Photo: Christopher Jones








It’s an early snowdrop
season this year, thanks to the mild weather – although this may be
checked again by the recent cold snap. But early is bad news for me as I am
...
How to create snowdrop heaven in your garden

Ask Alys: your gardening questions answered

I’d like window boxes on the ledges of my house, which faces east. Can you recommend plants that attract bees, and what soil to use?I learned the hard way that window boxes need to be secured in place: an internet search for window box brackets will give you everything from the ornamental...
Ask Alys: your gardening questions answered

Gardens: the January checklist | Dan Pearson

Water during winter
Breaking ice to allow oxygen to get to fish is never a good idea. Instead, keep a rubber ball on the surface of your pond that can be easily removed to allow a window in the ice which can be tapped by birds during the day.
Newly planted evergreens will be vulnerable to drying...
Gardens: the January checklist | Dan Pearson

Chelsea 2015: three cheers for Prince Harry

Designer Matt Keightley’s garden for Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale Photo: RHS








Yesterday, at its grand unveiling of Chelsea
Flower Show 2015, the RHS
confirmed that there will be 15 show gardens. Also, that historic
anniversaries will...
Chelsea 2015: three cheers for Prince Harry

Gardens: dealing with deadwood

It won’t be long now until the shortest day of the year. The leaves are down and swirled into corners. The colour is drained from the autumn and through newly naked branches, low light falls to the floor for the first time in months.
I love this time of year for the countermovement it...
Gardens: dealing with deadwood

Replant or to the chipper? What to do with your Christmas tree

Time to say farewell: there are several things you can do with your tree now Christmas is over 








As January beckons and the festive season draws to a close, children across
the land will soon be removing the angel atop their tree, and parcelling up
the...
Replant or to the chipper? What to do with your Christmas tree

The Queen"s Garden, review: "a coup for ITV"

Alan Titchmarsh visited The Queen’s Garden for ITV Photo: ITV








If ever there was a programme suited to Christmas Day viewing on BBC One, it
was The Queen’s Garden. So it must have been pretty galling for
the corporation that this...
The Queen"s Garden, review: "a coup for ITV"