Viticella clematis are smothered with flowers and easy to care for, says Val Bourne For a no-fuss climber that takes up little ground room, look no further than the Viticella…
Top tips
How to grow tomatoes
Well, that’s not entirely true. If you’d visited my garden last summer you’d have noticed the air had taken on a blue hue, thanks to me getting rather upset about…
Succeeding with self-seeders
There’s so much to celebrate about footloose and fancy-free self-seeders. These plants are annuals, biennials or perennials that simply scatter copious amounts of seed. For this reason, they pop…
Lawn Care: It Takes Two
Measure twice, cut once. If you want to do something well it pays to do it twice, whether you’re pruning – check twice before you cut – or planting…
On test: Lawn seed and fertiliser spreaders
Distributing lawn seed for a new lawn, or to thicken up your existing grass, can be a haphazard business if it’s broadcast by hand. The same applies to lawn feed,…
Plant out dahlias
The dahlia tubers I re-started earlier in the spring have grown well and are now ready to go out into the garden. Late May is the perfect time as the…
On Test: Lawn Weed, Feed and Moss Killers
LAWNS don’t have to be hard work to keep in good shape. Regular cutting plus a combined feed, weed and moss treatment a few times a year from April…
Lawns and chemicals
When we moved to Spring Cottage 12 years ago, the old shed contained a cocktail of chemicals, including DDT – an organochlorine pesticide that was banned in Britain in 1984.…
How to deal with garden pests
1 Box tree caterpillar The grubs cover plants in webbing. Pick them off, use a pheromone trap or nematodes, or try a chemical such as Bug Clear Gun, Defenders Bug…
How to create a garden pond
© Alamy A pond adds so much to the garden on every level. It need not be massive – if space is tight you can create a patio mini-pond in…