Peat-Free Compost: Choosing a Blend, Watering and Feeding
Choose peat-free compost for the plant and its purpose. Learn how to check moisture, read feeding instructions and avoid unnecessary extra fertiliser.
Journal
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How to Grow Mint Without Letting It Take Over the Garden
Quick answer: Mint is easy to grow and hardy in USDA zones 3–9, but it spreads fast through underground runners and can overtake a bed within a season. Grow it in a pot, or sink a bottomless container into the ground with the rim 2–4 in (5–10 cm) above soil level. Give it sun to…
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Long Flowering Perennials: 25 Species Ranked by Bloom Weeks
Quick answer: Long flowering perennials fall into two camps. Nine species hold open flowers for 12 weeks or more on their own — catmint, Rozanne geranium, calamint and ’Goldsturm’ rudbeckia lead the list. The rest flower for six or seven weeks and repeat if you cut them back in early July. Mix both and you…
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How to Prune Currant Bushes: Black, Red and White
Quick answer: Prune currants in late fall after leaf drop or in early spring before bud break. Black currants should lose about a third of their oldest stems every year, cut right down to the ground. Red and white currants are kept and built up into a permanent framework instead, where you only shorten leaders…
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How to Grow Rosemary (and Actually Get It Through Winter)
Quick answer: Rosemary is only reliably hardy in USDA zones 8–10, so in zones 3–7 it’s grown as a container plant. Give it full sun, gritty well-drained soil, and water sparingly — rosemary is far more likely to die from overwatering than from underwatering. Overwinter it somewhere bright and cool, around 40–50°F (5–10°C), and it…
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Growing Citrus Trees in Pots: A Complete Guide for Cold-Climate Gardeners
Quick answer: In USDA zones 3–6, citrus trees have to be grown in containers and moved indoors for winter — they can’t survive outdoors year-round. Keep the tree outside from late spring to early autumn, then overwinter it somewhere bright and cool, ideally 5–10°C (41–50°F). Water sparingly in winter and hold off on fertilizer until…
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Growing lavender in a cold climate: the complete guide
Quick answer: Growing lavender in zones 3–6 comes down to drainage, not warmth. Plant English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) such as ’Munstead’, ’Hidcote’ or ’SuperBlue’ in full sun, in lean gravelly soil at pH 6.5–7.5, on a mound 20–30 cm (8–12 in) above grade. Mulch with gravel, never bark. Prune in spring once new green growth…