Mugwort is a wild factor that loves our edges, from paths and concrete riverbanks to feral car-park corners and wastelands. Its leaves, with their silvery undersides and feathery plumes of plant life, thrive in those reputedly inhospitable stipulations: I’m now not positive I’d counsel you plant it on your lawn, however when you are
advice
You know, social media can be a tricky place to navigate, even (or perhaps especially?) when it comes to gardening. Yet, in the muddle of trolls and bots, there are some fascinating voices out there that can really help you challenge your preconceptions and expand your horticultural horizons. Out of all the lessons I
Help! You’re trapped in a Pinterest loop and can’t get out. You’ve decided to try your hand at interior design—you have a sense of what good design entails, plenty of ideas (and TikTok tutorials), even sleek furniture or art. But before you know it, you’ve fallen down an internet rabbit hole of ideas upon ideas.
Over the years, many theories have popped up to attempt to explain why spending time in green space can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improve self-image and, in some studies, even measurably reduce the need for pain medication. From their purported ability to clean the air, to allegedly mood-lifting compounds emitted by soil
It’s that time of year when even the most resolute non-gardeners look out at the spring sunshine and the riot of growth going on outside their windows and feel a pang of curiosity. Yet I think that many of these timid first timers often feel excluded from embracing the joys of horticulture because of
There are some pieces of received wisdom in horticulture that are so frequently repeated, it can seem as if they simply must be true. Like the idea cacti are hard to kill, despite the fact this is actually incredibly easy to do – just give these desert-dwellers too much water or too little light.
Stairwells are essentially the area directly above and around your home’s staircase. Usually at the main entrance to your home, they’re the first area guests step into, so making a good impression is paramount. A beautifully decorated stairwell with a smart runner up the stairs, will make it a pleasure to come home.
Painting a
If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor space, be it a rambling garden or a compact balcony, now is the time to think about using it to its full potential. From bright blooms to pretty pots and fruit trees to wildflowers, we asked the experts about the garden trends they’re passionate about this year.
A
To me it’s one of the perpetual mysteries of gardening: why some plants, despite appearing to really have it all, somehow still languish away from the horticultural spotlight. Very near to the top of that list must be hellebores, with their exotic blooms opening up as if by magic in the dead of winter.
Popping up in living rooms across the country, and certainly as questions in my inbox, is the new generation of grow lights. An amazing tool, these can be a conundrum for many. So here’s a quick guide to cut through the confusion.
First things first. The concept of grow lamps isn’t exactly new. As
One of the most wonderful (and peculiar) things about gardening is the seemingly universal desire to defy climate to create landscapes that would be impossible in nature. While Singaporean gardeners flock to see cherry blossom trees flown in from the temperate regions of China and held in chilled glasshouses each “spring”, here in Blighty
January
You will notice the slight lengthening of the days even now, and the plants and birds certainly sense it: it’s not unusual to see buff-tailed bumblebees out and about on a mild January day. Snowdrops are flowering, green shoots are pushing up through the earth, catkins are unfurling and the garden is grinding back
It was the runner beans that did it. My neighbour, who is in her 90s, dropped round an envelope filled with a small handful of dried beans, which looked as if they’d been dipped in pink and black paint. A few months later, I was eating the best runner beans I’ve ever tasted, and
One of the best things about old-school gardening advice is how it connects us, in a very direct way, with our shared heritage. However, by the same token, many practices can keep us tethered to cultural ideas that are long past their practical or even aesthetic relevance. Just like the fact that we now
As someone who spends so much of his life fascinated by weeds growing in cracks in the pavement, I find it bizarre that to most of modern society plants are just a generic green backdrop to the natural world. I am not alone, either. Us botanists have actually coined a term, “plant blindness”, to
Have you noticed that there are a few horticultural ideas that are ubiquitous staples in books, blogs and catalogues, yet you barely ever see in gardens? These range from outdoor aubergine plants loaded with fruit on our blustery North Atlantic islands, to advice on getting poinsettias to reflower year after year instead of inevitably