Expert Gardening Tips

Alan Titchmarsh: The unwritten rules of choosing planters for your garden

Gardener, writer and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh shares the secrets of what planters to buy — and what plants to put in them.

How to grow your own peaches: The best varieties to choose, where to plant them, and how to keep them safe

Yes, you can grow peaches in Britain — so long as you know a few simple tips. Mark Diacono explains more.

Mary Keen: How to plant your own wildflower meadow

The gardener, plantswoman and writer Mary Keen shares her experience of planting a spectacular wildflower meadow.

Charles Quest-Ritson: What English country gardeners can learn from their German counterparts

Charles Quest-Ritson has spent years making trips to Germany to gather ideas and new plants — but is puzzled that nobody back in Britain has been able to replicate their most famous garden style.

Alan Titchmarsh: The best succulents to grow in your garden, and how to keep them safe in winter

The enthusiasm of a schoolteacher injected a young Alan Titchmarsh with passion for succulents early in life — and it still burns as bright as ever, even if his plants of choice have changed.

How to grow gooseberries: What to plant, how to look after them, and best ways to enjoy the harvest

Mark Diacono explains everything you need to know about gooseberries, the fruit 'that's really two fruits in one'.

Mark Griffiths: The irises that are fit to be the apple of any gardener's eye

Mark Griffiths takes a look at the famed irises of Japan, and how their influence has been felt to Britain — and back.

Charles Quest-Ritson: Moving back to an English country garden has been a joy — but we do miss the cheese

Giving up life on the Cherbourg peninsula to return to England has brought huge happiness to Charles Quest-Ritson — but there are still a few things he misses.

Grow your own courgettes: What to plant, when to plant it... and why size really does matter

Mark Diacono shares his tips on the surprisingly simple yet hugely rewarding art of growing courgettes.

Alan Titchmarsh: The plants which will make you ignore the crazy rules of tastefulness and embrace a riot of colour

Alan Titchmarsh admonishes us all to embrace colour in the garden — and nothing brings it as easily as pelargoniums.

The tale of Britain's 52 native orchids, and the 'maverick miscellany of amateur and professional naturalists, painters and writers' who champion them

Mark Griffiths celebrates the 52 species of native British orchids whose extraordinary history and unconventional beauty have beguiled and intrigued both scientists and amateurs.

Mark Griffiths: The joy and consolation of 'Slow Gardening' in this savage yet beautiful spring

The gardener and writer Mark Griffiths has had to unlearn the habit of a lifetime, put his diligence to one side, and embrace a slower approach to tending his garden.

Everything you need to know about Foxgloves: Beautiful, useful, poisonous — and a dream for bumblebees and plant-breeders alike

Charles Quest-Ritson celebrates one of the most striking flowers of this time of year, and offers his tips on how to make the most of them.

The secrets of the wisteria pergolas in the Private Gardens at Petworth House

The wisteria at Petworth's private garden is simply astonishing. Non Morris takes a look at how it's done.

How to re-wild your garden, from ponds and trees to attracting butterflies and hedgehogs

Joel Aston — one half of the 'butterfly brothers', along with his sibling Jim — explains how rewilding gardens to attract myriad species, from nectar-feeding insects to newts, birds and hedgehogs.

Mary Keen: The secrets of windowsill gardening

The internationally-renowned garden designer and writer Mary Keen turns her thoughts indoors to the best plants to grow on windowsills and elsewhere around the house.

How to grow peas: What to plant, when to plant it, and how quickly you'll be dishing it up

Mark Diacono shares his expertise with peas, from how to keep pests at bay to the fast-growing varieties he once used to outsmart Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

The common garden plants that are deadly to dogs and cats – and what to do if they eat one

Many beautiful and common plants in the average English garden can prove fatal to household pets. Peter Green, a veterinary surgeon, gives his advice on some of the most common things to look out for.

Everything you need to know about growing camassias

Camassias are tall, elegant and simple to grow. It’s easy to see why people fall in love with these American beauties, says Val Bourne.

Alan Titchmarsh: 'I suppose I should be going stir-crazy in self-isolation. The reality has been rather different'

Gardener, writer and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh has been going to the Chelsea Flower Show for half a century, and should have been there again this month. Instead, he's in lockdown — and it's reminded him why he took to a career in gardening in the first place.