Without pollination, your plants won’t be able to produce enough fruit or seeds, which is not just upsetting to the overall quality of your garden but can inhibit food production and food sources for wildlife as well. Honey bees, in particular, are an essential part of the agricultural world and it’s only through pollination that we get seeds and crops year after year. All about the bees In the UK there are over 250 types…

Springtime, especially the beginning of spring is a perfect time to plant your perennials seeds. You have spent hours gazing through seed catalogues and garden centre seed shelves and choosing your favourite ones, but how do you grow quick-growing perennials from seed? The good news is it’s quite easy if you follow these simple steps. You will be pleased to know that you don’t need any expensive growing equipment, although it can be beneficial to…

Skimmias are evergreen shrubs that reach about one metre in height and spread once they are fully established. They are often grown for their stunning foliage and if you have a male and female plant growing together then you can enjoy stunning berries from the female plant, which makes them particularly good for providing winter interest. Growing Skimmia Shrubs Before you plant one of these shrubs you need to make sure that you have the…

If you have healthy perennials it’s important you divide them regularly, just to make sure they continue to perform as well the following year. This is something that is quite easy to do and it’s perfect for all clump-forming herbaceous perennials, even plants like ornamental grasses. Most perennials will do much better if you divide them every 2 or 3 years. If you want to increase how many plants you have in your garden by…

If you are growing a Mahonia shrub it’s important that you keep it healthy and well-maintained. One of the things you should do to help it remain healthy and grow well is to prune it. Pruning the Mahonia aquifolium – Oregon Grape / Mountain Grape Firstly there are two different classes of Mahonia. The first is called Mahonia aquifolium and these are the lower growing evergreens that flower in the spring. These smaller Mahonias typically don’t…

If you are wanting to take a cutting from the Skimmia japonica, you want to take semi-ripe cuttings. By using these cuttings, you can easily propagate new shrubs. When should you take your Skimmia cuttings? Semi-ripe cuttings need to be taken from the current season’s growth. You want to find pieces so the base of the cutting is hard but the tip is soft. You can typically find stems like this on your shrub between…

Mahonia is a very strong evergreen shrub that brings with it bright yellow flowers and shiny green foliage in the winter. During the summer it produces bright blue berries for birds, these come after the yellow flowers they are renowned for. So if you have a beautiful Mahonia shrub that has brought with it a great deal of colour and texture to your garden you can take stem cuttings from your bush and propagate more…

Clay soil has a reputation for being hard and unsuitable for plants, but that is simply not true. Clay soils work quite well in gardens and in fact, bring rich nutrients to your plants. So whether you have clay soil, or think you do, rest assured that there are ways you can fix it, break it up, and grow perfectly stunning shrubs, trees and plants that do well in such conditions.  What is clay soil?…