Gardens

Easy green gardening

Whether you're fortunate enough to have a large garden, or just have space for a few window boxes, it's really important we do our bit for biodiversity. That flower filled pot on your windowsill can help bees and butterflies, and having as many plant filled containers as possible on your balcony can help lower temperatures inside and out! 

Gardening isn't a particularly cheap activity so plan what you need to do and have the word eco top of mind. There are a few key 'rules' which most of us know ...so to reiterate:

Harry Villiers' home office in the garden

Harry Villers of Villiers Brothers furniture company built an environmentally friendly home office/shed in his Essex garden. It uses recyclable materials such as steel, wood and glass. It has a salvaged oak floor from eBay. Villiers has launched Vintage Archive.

Cyclamens for winter garden delight

Cyclamens are inexpensive, abundant and they can make winter a flowering success. The Royal Horticultural Association (RHA)  describes cyclamens as 'a delightful tuberous perennial providing colour often when little else is flowering, particularly in late winter or early spring.'

Grow them in shadier spots - they don't like full sunshine - and don't let their soil become too dry and they'll keep on flowering month after month. They're great in window boxes and containers too, and work well planted with snowdrops, winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) and primroses.

Feed the birds

RSPB wildlife advisor Charlotte Ambrose says as winter approaches, so birds become vulnerable: 'Up until now they've been able to feed on insects and seeds, but the cold weather means they move into our gardens to find refuge. You can make a real difference and improve their chances of survival, as well as being rewarded by great views of wildlife in your garden or outside space.'

The benefits of bats in the garden

Bats can serve as pollinators

This is more true for other countries than the UK, but in some parts of the world, bats are pollinators for key species, just as bees are. And if bats disappear, the species that rely on their pollination services are also at risk. On the other hand, this is why planting species that bats rely on is crucial to their return. 

They control insects 

Tips for keeping cut flowers fresher for longer

keep cut flowers fresh for longer by remembering a few key tips..like changing the water regularly, cutting the ends of and trimming any dying foliage

Maintaining a greenhouse over winter

how to keep your greenhouse or glasshouse in good shape over December, the month with the fewest daylight hours

Garden rooms: more living space for your home

Moving house is formidably expensive and building an extension is time-consuming and disruptive. Hence the march of the ready-made garden building to fill the gap, which is a far cry from the humble shed of yesteryear.

Weatherproof artwork for your garden

Enjoy art outside with weatherproof artworks from insideout garden art. Perfect for dull garden walls or fences, a beautiful outside picture will cheer up your garden

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