Getting started
How to start a garden when you have never grown anything
A calm, step-by-step way to go from bare ground or an empty balcony to plants that actually live.
Gardening that works, one season at a time.
Practical gardening guides for real gardens and real schedules. How to start, what to plant, how to keep things alive, and what to do when they struggle.
Houseplants
Why your houseplant's leaves turn yellow, and how to fix it
A yellow leaf can mean too much water, too little light, a hungry plant, or nothing worth worrying about. Work through the causes in order instead of guessing.
Pests and problems
The garden pests actually worth worrying about
A garden full of insects is a healthy garden. Only a handful do damage worth acting on. Learn those few, and you can leave the rest, and their predators, to do their work.
Vegetables and herbs
A first vegetable garden you can actually keep up with
The usual advice is to grow what you eat. The better advice for a first year is to grow what is hard to kill and quick to reward. These five crops do both.
Latest guides
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Vegetables and herbs
Growing herbs on a windowsill that last past week two
The pot of basil from the supermarket is not one plant, it is fifty crammed together and sold to die. Split it, repot it, and give it the light it wants, and it keeps going.
Flowers
Easy flowers that bloom the first year from seed
Perennials are a long game. For colour this year, sow hardy annuals. They are cheap, forgiving, and most will flower within a few months of going in the ground.
Soil and compost
How to start a compost pile that doesn't smell
A smelly compost heap is almost always too wet and too short of air. Balance your greens and browns, turn it now and then, and the smell problem solves itself.
Soil and compost
Understand your soil before you plant anything
Before you spend money on plants, spend ten minutes on your soil. A simple jar test shows whether you are working with sand, clay, or something in between, and that changes everything.
Seasonal jobs
What to do in the garden in early spring
Early spring is tempting and dangerous. There is plenty to do, but a warm week is not the same as the end of frost. Here is what is safe to start now and what should wait.
Explore by topic
Getting started
If you have never kept a plant alive, this is where to begin. The first decisions, the tools that actually matter, and how to avoid the mistakes that make people give up in the first month.
Houseplants
Growing things indoors has its own rules: less light, drier air, and no rain to bail you out. How to choose plants that suit your rooms and keep them healthy through the year.
Vegetables and herbs
Food you can grow without a farm. Vegetables and herbs that give a real harvest from a bed, a few pots, or a sunny windowsill, chosen for flavour and for how forgiving they are.
Flowers
Flowers for colour through the seasons and for the bees and butterflies that depend on them. What to sow, what to plant, and how to keep a bed in bloom for longer.
Soil and compost
Good gardens start under the surface. How to read your soil, improve it over time, and turn kitchen and garden waste into compost that plants respond to.
Seasonal jobs
Gardening runs on a calendar. Practical checklists for each part of the year so you do the right jobs at the right time, in the right order.
Pests and problems
Yellow leaves, holes in the foliage, and plants that sulk for no obvious reason. How to work out what is wrong and decide when a problem is actually worth treating.