Why I Fell in Love with Root Barriers (and Not Just Concrete) There’s a quiet tension that runs beneath many of our gardens, hidden under the lawn and the flowerbeds. On unassuming mornings, while...

Some gardens arrive in our lives as blank pages; others, comme Braithwaite Gardens, are already whispering stories when we first step through the gate. Ours is a small community plot tucked between terraced houses...

Sycamore trees in the UK: are they protected? Sycamores are a familiar presence in so many British gardens – generous, leafy, sometimes a little bossy with their shade and seedlings. If you’re wondering whether...

When you stand under a mature tree and feel the weight of its branches stretching towards the sky, it’s easy to imagine its roots plunging just as deeply into the earth. Many people picture...

There’s a quiet kind of courage in taking a pair of secateurs to a tree you love. One wrong cut and you worry you’ve ruined its shape forever; one right cut and suddenly the...

There’s a special kind of heartbreak that comes from falling in love with a rhododendron, only to discover your garden sits on solid chalk. I remember my first garden on the South Downs: spade...

Why ants appear in the kindest gardens If you care about organic gardening and wildlife, sooner or later you notice the same small drama: a bustling ant colony right where you wanted to sow...