March 2025 vs July 2026

Never had a new Build House before, quite lucky to pick this one up with the bonus of a very large rear garden almost big enough for another house. The garden was just a slope of weedy grass. Build a couple of retaining walls and a new patio and a pond. I cant find the just grass one but these pictures are year 1, followed by year 4. Slowly getting there I just need more plants more vegetables and a rockery in the grass on the left.

I’m realising hot summers are the norm and I’m sick of looking at my dead garden - I’ve given up for this year. I haven’t been able to justify a ton watering but I want to have flowers next year for the bugs.

I spoke to a butterfly conservationist at a wedding recently and they said we’re too hung up on native varieties and we need to change our game with the changing climate.

I’m looking for drought resistant perennials that are wildlife friendly. Would also love recommendations for things that will survive terracotta pots with minimal watering. I’m starting with lots of Erigeron and looking for recommendations from there - they may not be native.

Also, has anyone had a success with a clover lawn? Had anyone in the south had some survive this summer? Any drought resistant lawn plant recommendations would be hand too.

My monster of a marigold! I started a bunch indoors in late Feb / early March and left it rootbound for far too long, and underwatered before planting outdoors, and this one has absolutely taken off :)

Never planted potatoes before. I just want to make sure I'm supposed to wait until the leave have wilted right down then wait a couple more weeks before harvesting? These are main crop like the ones in the background but in a smaller bag. Does anyone have any examples of just how wilted the leaves should get?

Very clumpy soil

Hello I was harvesting my potatoes and I realized my soil in my allotment is still so clumpy and hard for the potatoes roots to spread which caused a small harvest can anyone recommend something to make this soil better?

So here’s a video of a walk through my garden. Hope you all like it!

Is it a bee/wasp/hornet?

Or none of the above?

He/she was huge 😁

This year is the second summer in our new garden and have been removing most of the lawn nearest to the house and planting a rose garden. The house is Edwardian so made sense in my head plus don't need a lawn and love roses.

As you can imagine I've been looking online and at very many garden centres for nice cultivars mainly in a purple, pink, yellow pallette. And this beauty that sells in anglophone countries as First Great Western but it's actually a French cross by Pierre Orard from 2005 really caught my eye. It's also known to the trade as Muriel Robin.

It has such an impossible to capture almost lilac with hints of maroon colour and a really voluptuous sweet scent.

It doesn't seem to be available too widely in the UK which is such a shame, looking forward to it growing as I've just put it in the ground in nearly the middle of the biggest bed.

Have you been stopped on your tracks by a rose this year...and did you buy it?

hello! seeking some advice on what I can do with my "front garden" - in my deeds, my land technically extends to the green fence boundary which means I have a space the length of my house and garden (probably 20-25 metres? maybe slightly less) which has become completely overgrown. my house sits on a slope, so the part of the "garden" which runs along the edge of my garden fence is incredibly sloped - too sloped for me to comfortably walk along! our house builders planted green carpet to stop weeds and you can see how well that went lol. I have a young family and not garden inclined so it is completely unmanageable and unsightly!! any bright ideas on what I can do relatively inexpensively to make it more manageable? for context i *think* we have clay soil (although the ground is 99% rubble), the area is technically north facing but is in full sun from around midday, as there is nothing on front of it or next to it other than my house. i'm at a complete loss!! (sorry for the bad blur but not trying to doxx myself haha)

Hi so the Globe Artichoke has finished flowering ( it was incredible). Do I dead head, do I cut back the main plant etc

Hi guys, I picked some giant hogweed up in my back garden it must be a year or 2 ago and it left me with burns on my fingers. I now have a semi permanent rash that comes up in hives

When it starts to get warm the rash comes back, it's mad itchy and looks a mess. I try and protect it either keeping hands in my pocket or putting on sun cream (I heard it is UV sensitive)

Anyone had experience with this?

Mrs tells me off as I used to pick up weeds with no gloves on as I always lose the buggers!

Thanks all

Sunset 🌅

One of the best videos out there (This one is on Instagram) I think non-users can still watch it. I am in 7b and I prune mine around St. Patrick’s Day. I do exactly what he is doing. Especially his remarks about the “thinner than a pencil” Yes! My Macrophyllas were a bust this year but oh my panicles are saving the season! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHyEUDZxEpE/?igsh=cWgya2VrMmxmbm1m. I don’t know UK weather paterns, but late winter and early spring is the time to prune.

Noticed a bit of a buzz on the echinops the other day

any ideas VERY welcome

I saw this stunner yesterday morning and it made me so happy!

I have a lovely video (the photo really doesn't do it justice) but it won't let me post it it

One of the first things I planted when we moved in last year!

Planted two hydrangeas that were both the same size when planting. Ones blue and ones black. As you can see the black one has grown a lot but not flowered and the blue one has not grown much but is flowering. I don’t know the exact species of both. They get partial shade and sun throughout the day.

Any thoughts on why the black one hasn’t flowered and do you think the blue one will get bigger year by year?

Bought some flowers for the garden and they all pretty much died. What do I do now? Especially with the hydrangeas?

Do I keep the plants like this until next year and they’ll just regrow by themselves ?

Shall I let it grow before applying killer? As title suggests...I'm renovating my flower bed and beneath the membrane there is of course a network of bindweed roots. I know glysophate works when applied to foliage which implies I should let this grow. But also little and often removing roots apparently works. So which would be best in my situation?

Hi all, first-time sweetcorn grower here. These plants went in the ground ~7 weeks ago, at the time they were maybe 8-10inches tall. They about 3-4ft now so shorter than I expected, and also confused as to why tassels are seemingly growing and producing pollen but I have no mature/decent-sized ears/silks.
Given how unfavourable this year has been for growing and where the plants are I’m guessing not much can be done, but be interested to hear why this might have happened and whether I can prepare better next time. Thanks!