Category: Blog

How to grow broad beans in the UK is one of the most satisfying things to discover as a kitchen gardener — because broad beans are one of the very few crops you can sow in autumn, leave in the ground all winter, and harvest in late spring before almost anything else is ready. How…

There are few garden features that make as dramatic and immediate an impact as a well-placed pergola. In a matter of months, what was once a flat, featureless plot acquires height, structure, shade, and — once the climbers get going — the kind of romantic, tumbling beauty that takes most gardens years to achieve. Pergolas…

Windy gardens in the UK are far more common than people admit. Whether you’re on an exposed hillside in the Pennines, a coastal plot in Norfolk, or just a back garden in a new-build estate where the houses funnel every gust straight through your borders, wind is one of the most underestimated problems a UK…

You don’t need a garden, an allotment, or even a greenhouse to grow cherry tomatoes in the UK. A sunny windowsill — south- or west-facing, ideally — is genuinely all the space you need to produce a steady, satisfying harvest of sweet little tomatoes from July right through to October. Learning to grow cherry tomatoes…

Ask any experienced UK gardener about mint and you’ll likely get a knowing look followed by a cautionary tale. The decision to grow mint in the UK without a containment plan is one of the most reliably regretted mistakes in British gardening — right up there with buying an ornamental bamboo for a small garden…

If you’ve never grown beetroot before, prepare to feel slightly embarrassed that you waited this long. Learning to grow beetroot in the UK is one of those gateway experiences that turns a casual gardener into a proper one — because the gap between a freshly pulled, roasted beetroot and the slippery, vinegary discs from a…

If you’ve ever walked past a garden in late July and done a double-take at those magnificent drumstick heads of blue or white flowers swaying above a tidy clump of strappy leaves, you’ve already met agapanthus. Learning how to grow agapanthus in the UK is easier than most people assume — and once you crack…

Garden sheds are one of those purchases that most UK gardeners eventually make and many eventually regret — not because sheds are a bad idea, but because the wrong shed in the wrong place is a source of frustration for years. Garden sheds seem straightforward until you start researching them and discover that the choices…

How to grow French beans in the UK is one of the most rewarding questions in the kitchen garden, because French beans deliver more fresh produce per square metre than almost any other vegetable you can grow. How to grow French beans in the UK is also genuinely straightforward — they’re faster from sowing to…

The best bulbs to plant in autumn are the ones that transform a bare, cold garden into something extraordinary from February onwards — and the remarkable thing about autumn-planted bulbs is that they ask almost nothing of you in return. The best bulbs to plant in autumn go into the ground in October and November,…

Creating a garden that attracts butterflies is one of the most rewarding shifts you can make in how you think about your outdoor space. A garden that attracts butterflies isn’t just beautiful to look at — it’s a sign that your plot is genuinely healthy, that it supports a food chain, and that you’re gardening…

How to grow aubergines in the UK is a question that separates the casually curious from the genuinely committed kitchen gardener. How to grow aubergines in the UK is not impossible — far from it — but it does require more patience, more warmth, and more attention than most other vegetables. Aubergines want a long,…