Droughts in the UK may not be as frequent as in hotter climates, but with increasingly dry summers and hosepipe bans becoming more common, it’s vital to know how to care for your plants when water is in short supply.
Taxus or Yew There is nothing more stately and quintessentially British than a yew hedge. There are several forms of Taxus but only really Baccata are mass grown for evergreen hedging. They are a little slow growing, so buy as...
Prunus Rotundifolia Or Cherry Laurel If you want an evergreen screen or privacy in a hurry, these are for you! Laurels are an extremely popular species made up of numerous trees, shrubs and hedging plants. Their practicality and aesthetic appearance...
Leylandii If you want an evergreen screen or privacy in a hurry, these are for you. You either love them or hate them, but there is no other form of hedging that will do the job as quick and economically....
Carpinus Or Hornbeam A traditionl english hedger and a good alternative to beech. It has very attractive green foliage that changes to yellow in the autumn and bears hop like fruit clusters in late summer and autumn. Unlike beech hedging,...
Griselinia Or New Zealand Broadleaf These are upright evergreen shrubs that have simple, oval glossy green leaves and yellowish green flowers. On the female plants they have very small purple fruits when they are grown on mass. They are ideal...
Site preparation Eliminate weeds and loosen the soil to improve drainage and compaction. Dig a hole to a depth to allow planting at the same level as the nursery line and up to 3 times the diameter.Break up the soil...
Berberis - Barberry Make a lovely barrier with there little thorny spikes. They can be evergreen and deciduous plants, but the important thing to remember is that the prickles are there all year round. Perfect to stop dogs or unwanted...
Maintaining your tree efficiently means preventing the branches from overgrowing. If you don’t do this frequently enough, your trees will not only become messy and unpleasant to look at, but there’s also a risk that they’ll become a serious hazard,...
Fagus or Beech A traditional english hedge, it has lovely green or copper purple, oval foliage that changes to yellow and then a rich russet brown in Autumn. They do tend to keep hold of some of the leaves during...
Photinia Red Robin or Christmas Berry Evergreen dense, medium growing shrubs with an upright bushy habbit. They have lovely green glossy foliage with new growth being a nice bright red later before maturing. In Spring they do bear creamy white...
Bamboos Are very desirable garden plants. They can make large clumps that are ideal as focal points or for adding structure to borders. They can look unsightly if left to grow unhindered, and may become invasive. But keeping plants under...
Revamping your garden can be such an exciting task. You can begin to think about the design of your patio or that vegetable garden that you’ve wanted to create for years. But before you can do any of these things,...
