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Planting, Growing and Caring Guides

The right care and attention for your plants is crucial, particularly for the first couple of years when they are making a new start in your garden. In this section we provide comprehensive guides on how to plant, grow and care for different plants by variety, covering everything from bamboo, bare root plants and climbers to perennials, rhododendrons and shrubs. Some articles also include videos where our plant experts talk you through the planting and garden care process step by step. So whether you're looking to get a clematis blooming up one side of your house, a dense laurel hedge along the front of your garden or implement a Japanese themed gardens with our beautiful Japanese acers, this is the place for you.

 

How to grow bamboo

How to grow bamboo

Bamboos are valuable ornamental plants with attractive, lush evergreen foliage that can be used to add a tropical effect, style, movement and panache to any garden. Easy to grow and fully hardy, they come in almost 10,000 varieties ranging from huge tropicals to tiny dwarf.

 

How to grow bare root plants

How to grow bare root plants

Many deciduous shrubs, trees and hedging plants, and some evergreens, are available as bare root plants whilst they're dormant between November and March. The roots will quietly establish and grow away below ground, ready to fuel a fabulous spring display.

 

How to grow climbers

How to grow climbing plants

Climbers are highly versatile plants producing beautiful flowers and lush foliage with a natural tendency to climb, scramble or ramble. They're perfect for covering unsightly walls and fences or adding height and colour when grown through arches or pergolas.

 

How to plant a climbing rose

How to plant a climbing rose

Climbing roses are quintessentially English and highly versatile - strong growing varieties are ideal for covering decorative obelisks, arches, walls, trellises and fences whilst shorter varieties can be trained around poles and tripods to form 'pillars'.

 

How to grow conifers

How to grow conifers

Our step-by-step guide to planting conifers in your garden covers digging and preparation of the planting hole, preparation of the rootball, use of mycorrhizal fungi, checking the planting depth, backfilling and staking, as well as on-going conifer care.

 

How to grow ferns

How to grow ferns

Ferns are highly versatile, ancient plants with mysterious, intricate leaf forms creating a naturalistic, informal appearance. Watching their tightly rolled fiddleheads gradually unfurl into magnificent fronds is quite a delight and their architectural foliage is great for adding movement to the garden.

 

How to grow fruit trees

How to grow fruit trees

Comprehensive guide to planting, growing and caring for fruit trees covering planting advice for both containerised and bare root trees, frost protection, fertilising, pruning, pests and mulching, as well as tips on how to harvest your fruit and where to store it once picked.

 

How to grow heather plants

How to grow heather plants

Heathers are best planted in beds totally devoted to themselves, except for the addition of a few conifers or small evergreen shrubs to provide contrast in height and form. Plant heathers in open areas, along pathways or up hillsides. Suitable for coastal and rock gardens.

 

How to grow hedging plants

How to grow hedging plants

Pot-grown hedging plants can be planted at any time providing the ground is not frozen or waterlogged. However, in practice early autumn is usually best for evergreen and semi-evergreen hedges, whilst deciduous hedges are best planted in mid-autumn to late winter.

 

How to grow herbs

How to grow herbs

Growing herbs, or even creating a herb garden, is easier than you think. All you need is good light conditions in a free, well-drained soil or even on a windowsill. Growing your own means a fresh supply of aromatic flavourings is never more than a few steps away.

 

How to grow hybrid tea roses

How to grow hybrid tea roses

Hybrid teas refers to a category of roses originally created by cross-breeding Hybrid Perpetual and Tea roses. This means they are both hardy and typically repeat flower, producing large, shapely flowers that open from high-centred buds on long, straight stems.

 

How to grow Japanese maple trees

How to grow Japanese maple trees

Japanese Maples are small, deciduous trees best known for their elegant, architectural form and stunning autumn foliage colours. They are generally slow growing and come in varying forms such as weeping, upright and spreading with lobed foliage like the fingers of a hand.

 

How to grow herbaceous perennials

How to grow herbaceous perennials

Perennials are plants that live for more than two years, as opposed to shorter lived annuals that live for one year and biennials that live for two years. There is a huge range to choose from with varying colours, styles, growth habits, flowering periods and textures.

 

How to grow rhododendrons

How to grow rhododendrons

Rhododendrons are best known for their spectacular clusters of large, showy and often fragrant flowers. These are typically tubular, funnel, or bell-shaped and available in a range of colours spanning reds, yellows, pinks, purples and even white, most flowering in the spring.

 

How to grow roses

How to grow roses

Roses are not the easiest plants to grow and do require a certain amount of care to be successful. Practicing a few basic principles in rose care can get even the greenest gardener off to the best start.

 

How to grow shrubs

How to grow shrubs

Shrubs are small to medium-sized woody plants distinguished from trees due to their multiple stems branching from the base and shorter height. They provide an array of foliage colours, vibrant stems, stunning flowers, berries, autumnal colour and beautiful fragrances.

 

How to plant a tree

How to plant a tree

Trees bring a great sense of atmosphere, height and permanence to a garden. They're probably one of the most expensive things you'll buy for your garden in the plant department so it's worth taking the time to get your tree planting right, get your tree off to the best start in life and be able to enjoy it for many years to come.

 

How to install a trellis

How to install a trellis

A trellis is a good option when growing twining climbers against a wall or fence. Twiners don't grip directly onto stone or brick but will wind tendrils around a support. Trellis help you cover a wall with climbing plants without worrying about them damaging the structure of the wall.

 

How to prune apple pear trees

How to prune apple and pear trees

Apple trees and pear trees grown as a free-standing bush or standard trees should be pruned between late autumn and early spring to promote a healthy shape, encourage flowering and ensure a good cycle of fruiting wood.

 

How to prune Japanese maple trees

How to prune Japanese Maple trees

Prune Japanese maples (Acer palmatum and Acer japonicum) after leaf fall but before January. Some simple pruning can restore or enhance their natural beauty, bringing out the best of these garden favourites for summer and winter viewing.

 

Taking hardwood cuttings

How to take hardwood cuttings

Taking hardwood cuttings is an easy and reliable way of propagating deciduous shrubs and trees to increase plant stocks, as well as some evergreens, e.g. holly. They are slower to root and take longer to produce shoots than their softwood equivalents, but the success rate is higher.

 

 

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