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All the beauty products in your bathroom cabinet, from soaps to moisturiser, have their origins in plants, and&nbsp;many are easy to reproduce at home using herbs you can find in our garden centre in %locations%. Here are just some of&nbsp;the ways you can garden yourself beautiful:
Lavender bath water: put one part lavender flowers with two parts bay leaves, four parts fine oatmeal and four parts bran in a saucepan with water and simmer for an hour. Strain and add a cupful to your bath to&nbsp;guarantee a good night's sleep.
Marigold moisturiser: you'll find easy-to-grow pot marigold seed in our garden centre. Melt 150g&nbsp;emulsifying cream over a pan of boiling water, then add 70g glycerol and 80ml water and stir. Stir in 30g&nbsp;dried marigold petals, and simmer for three hours: strain and store in the fridge.
Herbal foot bath: pick a large handful of mixed fresh herbs: sage, thyme, sweet marjoram and bay work&nbsp;wonders. Put in a large bowl of boiling water with a tablespoon of salt and when it's cooled a little, sink your&nbsp;feet in. The ultimate reviver after a tiring day.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs to use as&nbsp;cosmetics.

Herbs for beauty

Bouquet garni is a traditional French method for using herbs in bunches to infuse a dish with flavour. The&nbsp;combinations help solve the problem of which herbs to grow for flavouring your cooking: simply divide your&nbsp;herb garden into separate areas for meat, fish and poultry, choose the right herbs from the selection in our&nbsp;garden centre, and you'll have a perfect selection for every dish.
Poultry dishes: lemony flavours contrast well with chicken, turkey or duck, so grow lemon thyme or lemon&nbsp;grass mixed with hyssop, thyme, tarragon and parsley.
Fish dishes: Aniseed-flavoured herbs produce classic fish dishes. Fennel and tarragon taste gorgeous with&nbsp;plaice; try lovage, dill, and bay with other fish such as bass, perch and salmon.
Meat dishes: rich meat casseroles come alive infused with flavoursome Mediterranean herbs. Oregano,&nbsp;thyme, sage, rosemary and bay can cope with slow cooking and taste wonderful together.
Make the bouquet garni by picking a sprig of each herb, with stalk attached, and tie together securely with&nbsp;string. Tie the whole bunch to the casserole handle and allow to drop into the dish during cooking. Remove&nbsp;just before serving.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about herbs you can grow for&nbsp;cooking.

Grow your own bouquet garni

Herbs are really successful in containers, as most come from shallow, stony Mediterranean soils and relish&nbsp;drier conditions in pots. Group several together for a fragrant herb patch outside your door. Here's how to&nbsp;grow five of our favourite herbs in containers:
Rosemary: give this hefty shrub plenty of room and a soil-based compost such as John Innes no. 3&nbsp;(available in our garden centre) to provide it with nutrients for longer.
Mint: mint is best in containers as it can be invasive outdoors. There are dozens of varieties in our garden&nbsp;centre: apple mint has fuzzy leaves while purple-stemmed chocolate peppermint looks sumptuous.
Coriander: sow fresh into generous troughs every month for a constant supply of fragrant flavour: as you&nbsp;use up one trough, the next is ready to pick.
Chives: generous potfuls of chives are perfect for snipping with scissors to add an oniony tang to salads.&nbsp;Their pretty pink pompom flowers are edible, too.
Basil: purple or green varieties look gorgeous in containers and they're happier there, too, as their tender&nbsp;leaves are out of reach of slugs. Keep well watered and pick regularly to keep it productive.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs in containers.

Herbs for containers

Set aside a corner of your garden for a traditional herb patch and you&#39;ll be hooked on these gorgeous little&nbsp;plants forever. Whether it&#39;s leafy parsley or fragrant thyme for cooking, or pot marigolds and echinacea for&nbsp;cosmetics or home-grown medicine, herb gardens are productive, useful and beautiful.

Formal herb gardens: traditionally, herb gardens were laid out in formal geometrical patterns, easy to&nbsp;recreate at home. Mark out a circle or square, then divide into symmetrical beds: L-shapes or diamonds work&nbsp;well. Add a central focal point, like an elegant container, and paved paths for a neat, satisfying design.

Herb spirals: another great way to grow herbs is to build a rising spiral of stones, bricks or vertical wooden&nbsp;boards to about 80cm high, then back-fill with soil. Herbs love the sunny, well-drained conditions and create&nbsp;a lovely cascade effect as they grow over the edges.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about making a herb garden.

Making a herb garden

Herbs have been grown in gardens for hundreds of years: most have a long history, handed down from&nbsp;generation to generation, with uses from medicine to cosmetics and beauty products to flavouring cooking.
They're easy-going plants which can be tucked into almost any corner of the garden, but to plunge yourself&nbsp;into their fascinating world dedicate a sunny spot to a herb garden. You'll find it's full of fragrance and flowers&nbsp;all summer: and best of all, it'll quickly become part of your daily routine to pick peppermint for your tea,&nbsp;marigolds to brew up some face cream, or a bay leaf or two for the evening meal.
To start you off, here are some essential herbs for your herb garden from the wide selection in our garden&nbsp;centre in&nbsp;Emerson's Green:
Culinary: Mediterranean herbs to give your cooking flavour and colour, these include rosemary, bay, thyme,&nbsp;marjoram and parsley.
Medicinal: make teas and tisanes to boost your health and well-being with peppermint, chamomile,&nbsp;echinacea and lemon balm.
Cosmetic: moisturising cream, hair dye and face packs are all possible from herbs grown in your garden: try&nbsp;marigolds, soapwort (Saponaria), catmint and witch hazel.
Please ask the staff in our Emerson's Green&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs.

When space is really limited, gardening needs ingenuity. With a few clever tricks and some innovative gadgets, though, you can turn even a balcony into a productive garden overflowing with fruit, vegetables and herbs.
You'll find plenty of useful gear to help you build your balcony garden in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre, from planters to dwarf apple trees specially bred to grow in restricted spaces. Here are our top tips for balcony success.
<ul>
<li>Use large planters wherever possible, so they act more like raised beds than containers and give your veg a longer root run. Generally, the larger the container you give your veg, the happier they'll be: if your balcony is high-rise, though, get a structural engineer in first to check it can take the weight of containers full of damp compost and plants. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Use successional sowing to keep your pots working hard all year. As soon as you harvest a crop, re-sow the container or replant with vegetable plug plants for a really quick replacement. That way you'll always have new crops growing up as you eat your way through the ones you sowed earlier. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Grow container veg varieties which are better suited to growing with their roots restricted. Good choices are Courgette 'Patio Star', Aubergine 'Ophelia', Broad Bean 'The Sutton' and Pea 'Bingo' – all grow small but have bumper crops for their size. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Don't forget the fruit as there are plenty of long-cropping varieties which grow quite happily in containers including gooseberries, blueberries and blackcurrants. Strawberries do better in pots, as they're off the ground away from slugs; and you can even grow 'Minarette' apple and pear trees, trained on a single stem. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Take care over feeding and watering as your plants depend entirely on you for their every need. Automatic watering systems share the load: you'll find timers, hoses and dripper systems in our garden centre. Add a weekly liquid feed when you water: liquid seaweed acts as a general-purpose tonic, but when plants are flowering a high-potash tomato feed encourages plenty of fruit.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing fruit and vegetables on a balcony.

Growing fruit and veg on balconies

Hanging baskets make a bright splash of colour against a wall or fence, filled with brilliant scarlet pelargoniums or tumbling begonias. But don't just stick to bedding plants this year: try planting baskets which are productive as well as beautiful.
Edible hanging baskets are a great way to squeeze a little more produce out of your garden. Several types of fruit and veg do better raised off the ground: strawberries, for example, are kept well away from slugs, so you get to pick your crop unmunched and perfect.
Mix several different types of edible in the same basket to create a vibrant display of contrasting foliage and fruits: you can even create an 'instant dish' by planting complementary veg together, like tomato and basil for all the ingredients you need to make a flavoursome Mediterranean sauce.
You'll find everything you need to create an edible hanging basket in our garden centre in %locations%, from the baskets themselves to liners, compost, water-retaining gel to cut down on the watering workload, and of course plants and seeds. Here are some great varieties to try growing up in the air this year:
<ul>
<li>Tumbling tomatoes cascade fetchingly in jewels of red and yellow. Choose a container variety like 'Gartenperle' or 'Hundreds and Thousands'. Keep well-watered and feed with liquid fertiliser once a week.</li>
<li>
Chillies are Mexican firecrackers which love a hot, dry spot and don't mind restricted roots. Try multicoloured 'Numex Twilight' or tumbling 'Basket of Fire'.
</li>
<li>Peas: mangetout peas ('Shiraz' is a purple-podded variety) and dwarf types like 'Bingo' or 'Little Marvel' do exceptionally well in hanging baskets and don't need any support. Choose a larger basket and water well.</li>
<li>
Strawberries: fill a hanging basket with two or three strawberry plants and they'll froth joyously over the edge. Prolific varieties include 'Cambridge Favourite' or intensely-flavoured alpine 'Mara des Bois'.
</li>
<li>Herbs: Mediterranean herbs love conditions in hanging baskets. Hang your basket right by the back door for easy picking. Herbs that do well in hanging baskets include thyme, marjoram, basil and summer savory.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about creating edible hanging baskets.

Edible hanging baskets

Few plants are as easy-going as herbs. You can pop them in any spare corner and they'll settle in without fuss. Many of the herbs you'll find in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre are evergreen, too, so they'll perform all year without demanding much in return.
But to encourage your herbs to produce plenty of fresh growth for you to pick, it's worth paying them a little extra attention. Follow our top tips to enjoy heavenly herbs all year round.
<ul>
<li>Improve drainage: shrubby herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme hail from the poor, stony soils of the Mediterranean – and that's what they'll enjoy in your garden. If your soil is slow-draining clay, dig in bagged grit, available from our garden centre, before planting. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sun or shade? Most herbs like to bake and prefer a spot in full sun, but there are exceptions. Parsley bolts if it's too hot, and chervil too prefers shade. Other herbs for shady spots include lemon balm, sorrel and sweet woodruff. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sow annual herbs little and often: coriander, dill and chervil are quick-growing, leafy herbs, ready within a couple of months of sowing. Make sure you don't run out by sowing a new batch every month, ready to take over once your first harvest is finished. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Give flowering herbs a haircut: mint, marjoram and thyme flower profusely in early summer, and bees adore the blossoms. After the flowers are over, though, trim back the plants by about a quarter to encourage a new flush of leafy growth. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Repot mint every year: always grow mint in containers, as it's incredibly invasive (sink the pot among your other herbs for a more natural look). To keep it healthy, knock the plant out of the pot each spring, divide and replant in fresh compost. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Bring in frost-tender herbs: lemongrass, French tarragon and stevia don't tolerate temperatures below zero, so each year before the first frost dig them up and pot up in compost with added grit for drainage.&nbsp; Overwinter in a frost-free greenhouse or on a windowsill till late spring.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing herbs.

Keeping herbs happy

Once you've started making your own herbal teas, you'll be spoilt for tasteless teabags forever. Fresh herbal tea doesn't take any longer to make than a bag in a cup: just pick yourself a generous sprig from the herbs growing just outside the back door, dunk in a mug of boiling water and leave there for five minutes. And that's it: instant, delicious, refreshing and health-giving tea.
There are dozens of herbal teas and tisanes you can make from herbs you'll find in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre, with beneficial effects from helping digestion to aiding memory. Here are the best of the home-grown teas we love to drink:
<ul>
<li>Peppermint: The herb of choice for an invigorating, refreshing tea that also helps soothe indigestion and clear colds. There are several different mints so try a few for their different flavours: spearmint is the one to go for if you like your tea really minty.</li>
<li>
Rosemary: There are those who swear that the secret to their good memory is a cup of rosemary tea every morning for breakfast. Whether or not you believe them, rosemary tea is also great for relieving headaches and kick-starting your day.
</li>
<li>Lemon verbena: This beautiful and fragrant herb makes a fragrant yellow-green tea with a wonderful flavour like lemon sherbet. Soak three leaves in a mug and drink just before bedtime to send you off to sleep relaxed and soothed.</li>
<li>
Chamomile: You'll need flowers for this one (dry some for winter use). About a tablespoon of flowers steeped in a cup of boiling water gives you a green tea that's both anti-inflammatory, so great if you've got a sore back, and also mildly sedative, helping you get to sleep.
</li>
<li>Fennel: A great winter tea, the seeds of tall, stately fennel taste like aniseed. Pop a teaspoonful in your mug and then strain them off like tealeaves for a really refreshing drink that will freshen your breath. It's also said to relieve hunger pangs – great if you're on a diet.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about using herbs in teas and tisanes.

Herbs for tea

Big pots of leafy, flavoursome and generous annual herbs sat just outside the back door where you can reach out and pick them for your cooking are one of the delights of your %locations%&nbsp;kitchen garden. When you grow your own, you can have as big a bunch of parsley as you want: and even better, you can try more unusual herbs like caraway, summer savory, dill and chervil.
Here's how to make sure you have pots and pots of flavour from one end of the year to the next:
<ul>
<li>Sow little and often so you've always got a new tray of seedlings ready in the wings to take over once the previous crop finishes. Plant half a row, or a new container once a month from March to September for year-round flavour.</li>
<li>Keep parsley in the shade, as if you let it get too hot and dry it'll quickly flower and run to seed. Pretty aniseed-flavoured chervil, looking a little like cowparsley, is another plant that likes cool, shady conditions.</li>
<li>Pick leaves frequently as it encourages fresh growth. Basil, parsley, and coriander all flower if left to grow unchecked, which turns the leaves bitter. Keep the sweet, fragrant young foliage coming by nipping out the tips for cooking every few days.</li>
<li>Sow coriander where it's to grow as it hates being transplanted. If you haven't got a spot in the garden, just sow the large, round seeds directly into a trough or generous container to grow into a fountain of lush, spicily scented greenery for flavouring Asian cookery and salads.</li>
<li>Make a late sowing to bring indoors in around September, and you'll have fresh herbs to pick from the kitchen windowsill all through winter. Parsley and basil are perfect for this: pick them sparingly and they should keep going till spring.</li>
</ul>
​Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about sowing and growing annual herbs.

Sowing and growing annual herbs

Before you reach for the spray bottle, try flower power for tackling pests and diseases. Many common ailments from aphids to carrot fly can be kept at bay by planting annual flowers and herbs, readily available in our garden centre, alongside your veg in your %locations% garden. Here are a few to try:
Carrots and spring onions: carrot fly find their prey by smell, detecting carrot foliage a mile off. Plant pungent spring onions alongside, though, and their smell confuses the flies completely.
Roses and garlic: a forest of garlic planted with roses produces essential oils the rose draws up into its system, making it taste revolting to aphids.
Broad beans and nasturtiums: blackflies enjoy nasturtiums even more than broad bean shoots – so plant these annual flowers with beans and the flies abandon your veg for them.
Tomatoes and French marigolds (Tagetes): Another strongly-scented plant, whitefly hate the smell of French marigolds, so plant with tomatoes to keep them whitefly-free.
Lettuce and chervil: you'll have lettuce minus the aphids if you grow them alongside a generous row of leafy chervil: some say slugs dislike it, too. Both make great salad ingredients.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about using herbs and annuals as companion plants.

Good companions

Just imagine a meadow full of flowers outside your back door. It's a dream many gardeners share: and it can&nbsp;come true if you plant one of the popular annual meadow mixes, available in our garden centre. Here's how:
Preparing the ground: annual meadows need good garden soil, unlike traditional hay meadows (wild&nbsp;meadows grow best on poor land, which is why they're so hard to establish in gardens). So weed the site,&nbsp;add organic matter and rake it into a fine tilth just like you would for sowing any seed.
Choosing your mix: Cornfield annual mixes include poppies, corn marigolds and corncockle; or choose a&nbsp;blend for short stems (around 40cm tall) or perhaps combining particular colours: red flax, black-eyed Susan&nbsp;and Californian poppies, for example, for a hot-coloured meadow.
Sowing and aftercare: mix seed with silver sand so it's easier to distribute evenly, then broadcast at about&nbsp;3g – a small-ish handful – per square metre. Rake in afterwards and water, then watch it grow. After you've&nbsp;enjoyed the display, clear the ground in autumn: some will re-seed but to get your special mix back again re-sow next spring.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about planting annual meadows.

Annual meadows

Annual flowers are among the easiest plants you can grow. They're ideal for filling gaps, or simply producing&nbsp;a dazzling display of colour from summer to the first frosts. There's a great choice of annuals in our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%: here's how to get perfect results every time.
Under cover: half-hardy annuals can't cope with frost: sow into pots in spring to plant out later 
1: Fill trays with seed compost: you'll find the equipment you need in our garden centre 
2: Place in a shallow bowl of water to soak up moisture from the bottom 
3: Sow seeds sparingly, and cover lightly with vermiculite or more compost 
4: Pot on seedlings as they grow, then plant out after the last frost.
Direct outside: hardy annuals can be sown straight into the garden from March 
1: Weed the bed and rake the whole site level. Water if necessary. 
2: Mark areas for each type of seed, dividing the bed into irregular sections 
3: Make drills 1/2cm deep within each section to identify your seedlings as they come up in lines 
4: Sow sparingly into each drill, cover lightly with soil and water
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing annuals from seed.

Sowing annuals

One of the great luxuries of gardening is collecting armfuls of cheerful flowers for filling vases to overflowing&nbsp;with colour and scent for the house. Some of the best flowers for picking are easy-going annuals, and we've&nbsp;picked our top ten from the wide range available in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre.
Bupleurum: lime-green flowers and foliage, contrasting perfectly with brighter colours
Cosmos: graceful daisy-like flowers on 90cm tall stems: 'Purity' is exquisite white, and 'Dazzler' is vivid pink
Ammi majus: frothing umbels of pure white flowers, like an elegant cowparsley
Tobacco plant (Nicotiana): tall, airy flowers in colours from white to pink to lime green
Snapdragons (Antirrhinum): pretty cottage-garden flowers with generous blooms
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus): blue is the classic colour, but they come in white, pink or darkest purple
Sweetpeas (Lathyrus odoratus): choose Spencer types for scent, and Grandifloras for big, blowsy flowers
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella): exquisite starry blue or white flowers are followed by architectural seedheads
Larkspur (Consolida): a rich royal blue flower with tall spikes produced till the first frosts
Bells of Ireland (Molucella laevis): curious curving spikes of vivid green bell-like flowers veined with cream
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about annual flowers you can pick&nbsp;for the house.

Annuals for picking

One of the best things about having a garden packed with annual flowers is that it's also full of wildlife.&nbsp;Butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects like hoverflies adore open annual flowers: birds will be hot on&nbsp;their heels after the big, generous seedheads.
Here's our pick of the five best varieties from the range in our garden centre to attract insects into your %locations% garden.
For butterflies:
Marigolds (Calendula officinalis): cheery orange flowers which are adored by butterflies 
Honesty (Lunaria annua): lots of simple, open pink or white flowers butterflies can reach easily 
Stocks (Matthiola): the scent of these cottage-garden favourites attracts butterflies in from miles around
For bees:
Phacelia tanacetifolia: fuzzy smoke-blue flowers on dense foliage which bees find irresistible 
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus): choose native blue types and they'll be smothered in bees 
Forget-me-not (Myosotis): these late-spring arrivals provide much-needed early nectar for emerging bees
For birds:
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus): leave old sunflower heads in place for upside-down bluetits to feast on 
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena): architectural seedheads provide valuable food for birds 
Teasels (Dipsacus fullonum): biennial, flowering in its second year, goldfinches adore spiky teasel heads
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing annuals to attract&nbsp;wildlife.

Annuals for wildlife

Annual plants are here-today, gone-tomorrow party girls. They may have just one season in the sun, but what a season: they flower for an incredibly long time and are invariably so spectacularly beautiful you'll lose your heart to them.
We stock two kinds of annual in our garden centre in %locations%: hardy annuals to sow direct from March onwards, and half-hardies to sow under cover as they don't like frost. Here are just some you'll find in our garden centre.
Hardy annuals: 
Ammi majus: lacy white flowers over feathery foliage 
Poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii): cheery yellow-and-white flowers 
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena): starry blue or white flowers followed by architectural seedpods 
Ladybird poppies (Papaver communtatum 'Ladybird'): scarlet papery petals each with a black blotch 
Nasturtiums: abundant red, orange or creamy flowers over rounded leaves
Half-hardy annuals: 
Cosmos 'Purity': clear white daisies with yellow centres on long stems 
Zinnias: pompom flowers in brilliant scarlets, yellows and purples 
Swan river daisy: profuse mauve daisies tumbling over pots and baskets 
Nemesia: another perfect container plant with pretty, delicate blooms 
Tobacco plant (Nicotiana): charming open flowers in pink, cream and green over big leafy rosettes
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing and growing annuals.

Filling your house with the colour and fragrance of fresh flowers cut from the garden is one of the great pleasures of gardening. The trouble is, though, if you take all the flowers from the garden, there's nothing left to look at outside.
The answer is to create yourself a cutting garden – an area of your garden dedicated to raising flowers to enjoy indoors. The whole purpose of such a garden is to be harvested regularly, rather like a vegetable garden, so you don't mind if it's sometimes got a few bare patches.
You'll find all you need to create your cutting garden in our garden centre in %locations%. Here's how to go about it:
<ol>
<li>Find the right spot: you'll need somewhere in full sun, as your plants will only flower to their full potential with plenty of light. Planting densely also demands a lot from your soil, so choose the best-quality patch you've got.</li>
<li>
Get ready: before you start, dig over the area, removing weeds and large stones, and work in plenty of well-rotted farmyard manure. Then put in hedging and edging: you'll find plants for low hedging in our garden centre, and materials to lay a smart path.
</li>
<li>Choose your plants: select 'hardy annual' seeds from the range in our garden centre. Great choices are white, frothy Ammi majus, Cosmos bipinnatus with lovely daisy-like flowers and of course sweetpeas to train up a wigwam in the centre.</li>
<li>
Start sowing: Sow your flowers from March onwards just like vegetables, in straight lines to make picking them easier. Make shallow drills and sprinkle the seed sparingly along the bottom. Cover with a little soil, label and leave.
</li>
<li>Keep the display going: sow little and often so you've got some plants to pick, some coming up to flowering and some just sown. Support taller varieties like larkspur by sticking canes in each corner of the row and threading round string at intervals up the height of the plants.</li>
</ol>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about planting an annual cutting garden.

Annual cutting gardens

Natural planting using swathes of gently-swaying grasses shot through with drifts of tall, open perennials to mimic the wild look of the American prairie lands caught the imagination of gardeners across Europe in the 1990s, and it's been going strong ever since - you can see some fabulous examples at public gardens like Trentham in Staffordshire. It's a look you can adapt easily at home in %locations%&nbsp;for a gorgeous, contemporary design that's also very low maintenance.
You'll find all the plants you need in our garden centre: here's how to create your own back-garden prairie.
<ul>
<li>Choose the right spot: prairies need sunshine, so pick an open, bright area of your garden, preferably not too damp as most prairie-style plants prefer free-draining conditions. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Restrict your varieties: prairie planting relies on repetition for its effect, so limit your range of plants to a handful of grass varieties and a few perennials or annuals - just plant lots of them. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Start with the grasses: these form the backbone of your design, so choose carefully. Tall grasses move gracefully in the wind: good choices are Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', Molinia caerulea 'Transparent' or evergreen Stipa gigantea. All have spectacular flowers which sparkle in the frosts of winter. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Mix in the flowers: flat-headed or spherical flowers work best with grasses as contrasts in texture and shape. They often flower at the same height, too, giving that level prairie-like look. Go for achilleas, autumn-flowering asters, and other daisies: both echinacea and rudbeckias were made for prairie settings. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Plant in drifts: design your planting not in blobby groups, but in drifts of the same plant meandering naturally in waves through the design. Plant seven, nine or eleven of the same plant together: be generous for maximum impact. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Don't be too tidy: part of the charm of a prairie planting is the effect of frosty winter weather on seedheads and dead stems, so leave clearing up until February, when you can just chop everything back down to the ground and let it do it all over again.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about designing prairie planting.

Prairie planting

Most gardens have a shady spot: a north-facing wall, perhaps, or under a tree, or in the shadow of a nearby building. Learn to love your shade: you'll find a world of new plants opens up, and you get a cool, pleasant nook to sit out of the heat of the day: perfect for enjoying an iced drink after a hot session gardening.
The range of plants you'll find in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to grow in shade is extensive and includes delicate woodlanders, broad-leaved foliage plants and pretty spring flowers. We've picked our top ten shade-loving plants to turn your shady bits into garden highlights.
<ul>
<li>Hostas: there's an ever-wider choice of bold, broad-leaved hostas, from beefy ribbed 'Sum and Substance' to white-splashed 'Fire and Ice'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ferns: damp shady spots cry out for graceful Osmunda regalis or silver-and-purple Japanese painted ferns.&nbsp; If your shady spot is dry, grow Dryopteris felix-mas: 'Cristata' has curly-ended fronds. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Rodgersia: massive leaves like a bronzed horse-chestnut 30cm across erupt from the ground, followed by stately plumes of white or pink flowers 
.</li>
<li>Foxgloves: living wild in woodland, foxgloves love dappled shade. Grow common foxglove in purple or white, or an eyecatching modern multicoloured hybrid. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Epimediums: among the prettiest spring woodlanders, the young emerging leaves in shades of copper are almost as lovely as the dancing flowers. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Pachysandra terminalis: a really useful ground-cover plant with a dense covering of evergreen leaves that grow even in the deepest shade. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Euonymus: choose from silver-and-green 'Silver Queen' or gold-and-green 'Emerald 'n' Gold' for an easy, evergreen, low-maintenance shrub that sings out from a shady spot. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Brunnera: with broad, ground-smothering leaves (in 'Jack Frost' they're silvery-green), it's the flowers which really steal the show, powder-blue and prolific throughout spring. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Hardy geraniums: among the easiest plants to grow, geraniums flower profusely in shade: choose pale-coloured varieties like Geranium sanguineum 'Album' to glow in low light. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Heucheras: heuchera leaves are every bit as colourful as flowers, from rich plum 'Palace Purple' to 'Amber Waves', the colour of butterscotch. They're evergreen, too.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing plants for shade.

Plants for shade

Annuals

Keeping a display going from May to September is usually a tricky juggling act involving careful choice of&nbsp;plants to flower one after the other, and luck.
You can make things easier by simply controlling when your perennials flower, using a trick known as&nbsp;the 'Chelsea chop' – because you do it when the Chelsea Flower Show is on, around the end of May.
This works well with lots of perennials, and you'll find most of them in our garden centre. They include&nbsp;daisies: dyer's chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria), echinacea and helenium; and many cottage garden&nbsp;favourites like Phlox paniculata, sedums and goldenrod (Solidago).
At the end of May, use secateurs (found in our garden centre) to cut back every stem by a third to a half. It&nbsp;seems brutal, but all you're doing is delaying flowering for a while. Cut back some clumps and not others,&nbsp;and some flower at the normal time with a second display arriving a few weeks later.
You'll find plants grow sturdier and less leggy – so you don't need to stake them: you get double the flower&nbsp;power, too. So get chopping!
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about using the Chelsea chop to&nbsp;delay flowering.

The Chelsea Chop

If a garden were a picture, trees and shrubs would make the frame, but the paint would be perennials,&nbsp;bringing the whole thing to life with colour and movement.
Here are our top tips for picking combinations from the fantastic choice of perennials in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to&nbsp;make your garden a work of art.
Design in triangles to avoid a 'blobby' effect. Combine tall verticals – say, foxgloves - with hummocky&nbsp;shapes like geraniums and low-growing horizontal ground cover.
Contrast shapes to bring out the best in your plants. Look for opposites: strappy-leaved daylilies with broad-&nbsp;leaved heucheras, or upright, airy grasses with daisy flowered rudbeckia.
Use repetition to pull your design together. Several bold clumps of the same variety of helenium at strategic&nbsp;points, for example, make the garden feel whole.
Manage colour to create the mood you want. Zingy reds and oranges with clashing blues and purples are&nbsp;exciting, whereas similar shades together calm things down.
Plant in groups or drifts for real impact. Odd numbers work best: three is a minimum but you can go up to&nbsp;nine, eleven or fifteen plants at a time for real wow factor.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about designing with perennials.
&nbsp;

Designing with perennials

There's a spell in late August when the garden can hit the doldrums. Late summer is a tricky time, when the&nbsp;main razzmatazz is over and plants start to tire.
Get the show going again with some of the many perennials you'll find in our garden centre which are at their&nbsp;best in late summer. Here are our top ten:
Helenium 'Moorheim Beauty' starts in July: its coppery-red daisy like flowers go on for months
Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji' froths with fragrant white flowers into autumn
Aconitum 'Sparks Variety' flowers till late September with spires of midnight blue
Plume poppy (Macleaya microcarpa) is a dramatic, towering perennial with handsome foliage
Red hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria) has spires of tubular flowers from red to pale yellow
Aster 'Little Carlow' is one of many Michaelmas daisies, with cheerful lilac flowers
Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert' carries pure white flowers on dancing stems till autumn
Penstemon 'Garnet' has deep wine red foxglove-like spires till October
Sedum 'Ruby Glow' tops succulent purple leaves with flat ruby-red flowerheads
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' produces fiery red sprays of tubular flowers from August
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about perennials that look good in&nbsp;late summer.

Late summer perennials

Perennials play an exuberant starring role in vibrant summer displays – but you may be surprised to know&nbsp;there are many which perform well into winter.
In our garden centre we've got plenty of perennials to bring colour to the garden through even the coldest&nbsp;months: here are five of our favourites.
Bergenia are also known as elephants' ears: big, broad, leathery leaves turn shades of red and purple in&nbsp;autumn and stay evergreen all winter. Fat flower spires top the display in spring.
Heuchera foliage comes in every colour from lime green to deep purple: they have pretty flower spires in&nbsp;summer but in winter make bright splash of welcome colour.
Hellebores are among our best-loved winter flowers: Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) flowers in December&nbsp;while H. orientalis starts in early spring. The handsome leaves are evergreen, too.
Cuckoo pint (Arum italicum) reverses the seasons, dying down in summer but returning in autumn with&nbsp;handsome marbled leaves and spikes of red berries.
Phlomis russeliana is one of many perennials which holds architectural seedheads into winter, contrasting&nbsp;well with the equally sculptural winter remains of grass flowerheads.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about perennials that look good in&nbsp;winter.
&nbsp;

Winter perennials

The real heart-stopping, breathtaking beauty of a garden comes from that most easy-going of all the plant&nbsp;groups: the perennials, generous, free-flowering plants which die down each winter, only to bubble up again&nbsp;from spring, peaking in midsummer with a fireworks display of flowers.

Pack your garden in %locations%&nbsp;with perennials from the huge selection in our garden centre and you&#39;ll have something in&nbsp;flower for every week of the year. Here are a few tips to help you choose:

Visit the garden centre often as we have different perennials in stock according to the season. Choose whatever takes your fancy each month for a really long-lasting display.

Cut perennials back after flowering and they&#39;ll often give you a second flush of flowers. You&#39;ll find&nbsp;secateurs for the job in our garden centre.

Plant the right plant in the right place: there are perennials for every spot in your garden, whether it&#39;s&nbsp;shady, sunny, dry or damp. Ask our garden centre staff for help if you&#39;re not sure which to choose.

Plant in threes or fives for greatest impact: drifts or groups of the same plant really catch your eye and&nbsp;demand to be noticed. We have regular deals on our perennials throughout the year.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing perennials.

Dahlias are among the loveliest of late-summer bulbs, flowering their socks off for weeks on end (especially if you dead-head them regularly to keep the blooms coming).
You can choose a dahlia to suit your garden whatever your style: spidery cactus varieties like 'Black Narcissus' for an exotic look, or pretty pompom 'David Howard' for a classic herbaceous border. Single-flowered dahlias suit natural planting styles: in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you'll find delicate pure white 'Twynings After Eight' and what are popularly known as 'The Bishops' – 'Bishop of Llandaff' in scarlet, yellow 'Bishop of York' or lilac 'Bishop of Leicester'.
All, however, are frost-tender, so need special care over winter.
In a well-drained soil in a warmer area of the country, you may be able to leave your dahlias in the ground: insure against hard frosts by covering the ground around the plant with a mulch up to 15cm thick of dry autumn leaves or coarse bark chips. Hold it in place with a double layer of fleece, pegged down to stop it blowing away. In spring remove the mulch to allow the plant to shoot up again.
If you're reluctant to risk losing your tubers in a hard winter, though, lift and store them in autumn under cover. Here's how:
<ol>
<li>Once the foliage has been blackened by frost, dig up the tubers and let them dry for a day or so. Then brush off excess soil and trim back the stems to about 15cm above the roots. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Line a shallow tray with newspaper and place your tubers on top with the stalks uppermost. Pack loosely with dry compost or sand, so the tubers are just covered. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Store somewhere dry, cool and frost-free: a garden shed won't be reliably frost-free unless it's heated, so cover your dahlias with sheets of newspaper if a frost is forecast. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Inspect your tubers regularly through the winter and get rid of any showing signs of rotting or disease, as otherwise it'll spread quickly to other healthy tubers in storage.</li>
</ol>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about storing dahlias over winter.

Getting dahlias through winter

Clematis win a place in the heart of every gardener for their breathtaking flower displays as they scramble becomingly up fences and over trellises. Most varieties are very well-behaved and just need a little tucking in to their supports every so often and an annual prune to keep them performing year after year.
One of the many good things about clematis is that there's never any need to be without their charming, sunny flowers, as there are varieties which flower at all times of the year. In our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you'll find clematis that flower in spring, summer, autumn and winter: here's our pick to give you a clematis for every month.
January:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Clematis cirrhosa var. balearica has pretty ferny evergreen leaves and curious red-speckled&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; flowers: the fluffy seedheads which follow last for months
February: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;'Wisley Cream' is another early bird with greeny-white flowers and glossy evergreen foliage:&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; silvery, silky seedheads follow the flowers
March:&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Clematis armandii is evergreen, with glossy, leathery leaves and almond-scented blossom
April:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alpine clematis have daintily nodding, violet-blue flowers that last weeks: 'Frances Rivis' is&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; deep violet-blue and a prolific favourite
May:&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Clematis montana comes in white or pink and is cheerfully rampant, a froth of flowers in May
June:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Early large-flowered clematis like 'Perle d'Azur' and 'Prince Charles' have huge and plentiful&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; satiny flowers
July:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Clematis viticella types are tough and trouble-free and come in rich, velvety colours: 'Etoile&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Violette' is deep purple
August:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Late-flowering 'Gravetye Beauty' is an eyecatching ruby red with lovely pompom-like&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;seedheads to follow the flowers
September: &nbsp; &nbsp; Clematis rehderiana needs plenty of room but if you give it the space it's an eyecatching&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;choice, with big panicles of scented pale yellow flowers like little bells
October:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;'Bill McKenzie' has bright yellow flowers with curiously thick petals, curling outwards like&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; lemon peel, and long-lasting silky seedheads
November: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Clematis tangutica is smothered in lantern-like flowers followed by big fluffy seedheads
December: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Clematis cirrhosa var purpurascens 'Freckles' is a very reliable evergreen type with deeply&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; speckled dusty pink flowers right through winter
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing clematis year-round in&nbsp;%locations%.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Year-round clematis

Perennials - Elmwood

Perennials

Bulbs are so versatile you can grow them anywhere – even if you're gardening on a balcony. In our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%&nbsp;we've got everything you need to pack containers with spring colour: follow our top tips for a dazzling&nbsp;display.
Layering: choose a deep container from the range in our garden centre and pack bulbs in by planting in&nbsp;layers. Put tall daffodils at the bottom, cover with compost, then tulips followed by crocuses at the top.
Keeping it simple: cram the biggest container you can find with a really special tulip like 'Abu Hassan' for a&nbsp;single blitz of brilliant colour with maximum impact.
Get the timing right: combine two bulbs with the same flowering time for twice the wow factor: try partnering&nbsp;dark blue hyacinths with pillarbox red early tulip Tulipa praestans.
Perfect partners: plant pretty violas at the feet of tulips for a partnership made in heaven: lilac-coloured&nbsp;violas with smokey purple tulips are stunning.
Dropping in: have pots of lilies or tulips ready to drop in to your borders just as they're about to flower for&nbsp;instant garden colour. Just lift them out again once they're finished.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing bulbs in containers.

Pots of pleasure

Daffodils aren't just for March. You can enjoy their cheerful yellow trumpets in your garden from January until&nbsp;May if you plan cleverly: we've got a fantastic choice in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre to help you do just that.
Early to rise:
'Rijnveld's Early Sensation': in flower by Christmas some years. Brilliant yellow&nbsp;and 35cm tall 
'February Gold': does what it says on the tin: this pure yellow gem reaches just&nbsp;15cm in late February 
'Tete a Tete': one of the best miniatures, flowering prolifically with golden swept-back petals. About 15cm
Mid-season marvels: 
 
Tenby daffodil (Narcissus obvallaris): Wordsworth's golden daffodil: small and&nbsp;dainty at 25cm 
'Rip Van Winkle': miniature double with a spiky mane of green-tinged, spiky petals.&nbsp;To 15cm 
'Jenny' is a mid-sized daffodil at 25cm, with a pale butterscotch trumpet and swept-back, creamy petals
Late and lovely:
'Dutch Master': brilliant golden trumpets and a delicate scent, growing to 45cm tall 
'Cheerfulness' is a double with three or four scented blooms on each stem: 45cm 
Pheasant's eye daffodil (Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus): among the last to&nbsp;flower, these delicate white daffs are also scented: 40cm tall
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing daffodils for a long&nbsp;display.

Small but perfectly formed

Tulips left in the ground will sometimes re-flower, but more often they'll dwindle and disappear. You can&nbsp;replant with new combinations – but if you've got a really good display going, it's also possible to persuade&nbsp;the same tulips to come back next season. Here's how:
<ul>
<li>remove dead flowers and wait till foliage turns yellow, about six weeks after flowering</li>
<li>dig up your bulbs, brush off excess soil and discard any which are diseased or damaged</li>
<li>dry under cover for a couple of weeks – the greenhouse or a conservatory is perfect</li>
<li>store your bulbs in net bags for winter in a well-ventilated place at room temperature (about 20ºC).</li>
</ul>
In our garden centre you'll also find species tulips – smaller, wilder-looking tulips which come back year after&nbsp;year so you won't need to lift them.
Good ones to try are Tulipa turkestanica, appearing in early spring with up to nine flowers per spike; Tulipa&nbsp;greigii 'Red Riding Hood', 20cm high and scarlet in April; and Tulipa sprengeri, the last of the tulips to flower&nbsp;in late May, again bright scarlet.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about how to make your tulips last&nbsp;for years.

Tulips that last

Those first optimistic green shoots peeking through are a sure sign that winter is on the wane: with a&nbsp;selection of spring bulbs from our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you can cheer yourself up from January to early summer.
Just after New Year the first snowdrops appear: tall 'Atkinsii', or 'John Gray' carrying large flowers on arching&nbsp;stems. Scatter other January jewels at their feet for contrast: bright yellow winter aconites, or pretty pink&nbsp;Cyclamen coum.
February is the time for crocuses – 'Snow Bunting' is pure white, while purple Crocus tommasinianus&nbsp;spreads happily through rough grass. Grow them with exquisite dwarf irises, just 10cm tall: 'Katharine&nbsp;Hodgkin' has curious greyish-purple petals, 'Harmony' is a slatey blue, while 'J.S. Dijt' is vibrant purple.
In March the show really gets going. Brilliant yellow daffodils, blue perfumed hyacinths, a sprinkling of bright&nbsp;pink Anemone coronaria and perhaps some white Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow) make a riot of vibrant&nbsp;colour.
Plant spring bulbs in September or October in well-drained soil in sun or dappled shade, about three times&nbsp;as deep as the bulb itself. Adding a handful of grit helps drainage in heavy soil.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about bulbs for a springtime&nbsp;display.

Spring fever

The spectacular bulb display you've been enjoying all spring need not stop with the last tulip. Hundreds of&nbsp;beautiful summer-flowering bulbs, available in our garden centre in %locations%, keep flowers coming till autumn.
Alliums: the firework-like spheres of showy purple alliums light up the border from May to July. Choose from&nbsp;tall drumsticks of 'Purple Sensation', the huge 20cm-across spheres of 'Globemaster', or low-growing Allium&nbsp;karataviense with pale pink heads and broad purple leaves. Nectaroscordum siculum is closely related, with&nbsp;umbrellas of dangling bell-shaped creamy flowers flushed lilac.
Dahlias: in flower from June to autumn, the choice is as dazzling as the flowers. Single-flowered dahlias mix&nbsp;most easily into borders: try scarlet 'Bishop of Llandaff' or white 'Twyning's After Eight'.
Lilies: heady mid- to late-summer fragrance is the hallmark of stately Oriental lilies like white Lilium regale.&nbsp;Brightly-coloured Asiatics like the yellow 'Grand Cru' are non scented but don't need staking: and elegant&nbsp;Martagon lilies have over 20 blooms to a stem.
Crocosmia: super-easy to grow with handsome strappy foliage, flame-coloured crocosmia lights up borders&nbsp;from July to September. Choose from vivid scarlet 'Lucifer', crimson-splashed orange 'Emily McKenzie' or&nbsp;buttery 'Warburton's Yellow'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing bulbs for summer&nbsp;displays.

Summer stars

Bulbs aren't just for spring: you can have flowering bulbs in your garden all year round with a little planning.&nbsp;In our garden centre we stock bulbs seasonally, so you'll find spring and summer bulbs on sale in autumn,&nbsp;and late-season bulbs on our shelves in %locations%&nbsp;from spring. Choose bulbs for every season to enjoy colour from&nbsp;January till December:
Spring: bulbs are first on the scene with a splash of colour so don't stint on quantity: fill your garden with&nbsp;crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips from the fantastic range in our garden centre, and double your&nbsp;display by packing them into pots, too.
Summer: it's the turn of the real showstoppers in summer, and in our garden centre you'll find brilliantly-coloured dahlias, flamboyant lilies, sophisticated bearded irises and easy-going pompom allium bulbs.
Autumn: plant lipstick-pink nerines for a brilliant splash of colour in September: other autumn bulbs we stock&nbsp;include autumn-flowering saffron crocus, exotic-looking Gladiolus murielae and brilliant yellow Sternbergia.
Winter: tiny pink Cyclamen coum nod among the earliest snowdrops, while winter aconites and tiny, delicate&nbsp;winter-flowering irises like Iris danfordiae provide a cheery December splash of yellow.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about using bulbs in your garden.

Once the last daffodil has died down, don't let your bulb display stop. Dozens of bulbs flower spectacularly right through summer, keeping you in dazzling flowers until well into autumn.
Plant as you would spring bulbs, burying them to three times their depth in crumbly, moisture-retentive but free-draining soil. If yours isn't perfect, dig in organic matter first (we have well-rotted farmyard manure in our garden centre) and add a handful of slow-release fertiliser like bonemeal.
Plant our top ten summer bulbs from the range in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for a summer that's spectacular from end to end.
<ul>
<li>Allium: ornamental onions make explosions of colour dotted through the border, with ramrod-straight spherical flowerheads. 
Recommended varieties: 'Globemaster', 'Purple Sensation' 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Agapanthus: the African lily is one of the truest blues you'll find, and their huge heads are a spectacular sight. 
Recommended varieties: 'Bressingham Blue', 'Back in Black' 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Dahlias: handsome plants with dozens of flower forms: whether you like spider, pompom or single-flowered, you'll find them in our garden centre. Recommended varieties: 'Bishop of Llandaff', 'David Howard' 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Lilies: heavily-scented oriental lilies have huge, heavily-perfumed blooms. Other types include hardy Asiatic lilies and pretty martagon types. 
Recommended varieties: Lilium regale, Lilium martagon. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Begonias: if it's waterfalls of flowers you want – look no further. Tuberous begonias tumble over container edges in a mass of bloom. 
Recommended varieties: 'Champagne', 'Angelique'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Gladioli: tall and sophisticated, gladioli are in fact easy to grow, with spires of huge, intensely-coloured flowers. 
Recommended varieties: 'Green Star', Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Acidanthera murielae: another showstopper in the border. Tall, scented and perfect for cutting, its graceful white flowers have purple hearts. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Iris: bearded irises are so aristocratic they have their own language of falls, standards and beards. Don't worry: they're all sumptuous. 
Recommended varieties: 'Jane Phillips', 'Superstition'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Cannas: hot and tropical brilliant orange, vermilion or yellow cannas have paddle-like leaves which can be as colourful as the flowers. 
Recommended varieties: 'Durban', 'Wyoming'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Galtonia candicans: stately pure-white spires of bell-like flowers erupt gracefully in mid-summer, reaching up to 1 metre tall.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing and growing summer bulbs.

Bulbs for summer colour

Bulbs

Plants need three main nutrients to do well: nitrogen for leafy growth, phosphorus to produce strong roots,&nbsp;and potassium, for flowers and fruit. If your plants go short, they'll grow poorly, fail to flower or fruit, and&nbsp;develop sickly, yellowing foliage.
If your soil is in good heart, all you'll need to kick start the year is a spring dose of slow-release fertiliser such&nbsp;as bonemeal or pelleted chicken manure, both available in our garden centre. Repeat in mid summer for&nbsp;greedy plants like vegetables, sweet peas, clematis and roses. Stop fertilising by late summer, though, as&nbsp;new growth after that point is more vulnerable to frost damage.
Plants in containers rely on you for nutrients. Balanced liquid seaweed added to your watering can once&nbsp;a week keeps them healthy. In our garden centre you'll also find controlled release fertilisers, available as&nbsp;granules or handy pellets to insert into the compost, releasing nutrients for up to 12 months.
Big heavy-fruiting greenhouse plants also benefit from some extra help: give them weekly feeds of&nbsp;potassium-rich tomato feed, also available in our garden centre, as soon as they start flowering.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about choosing fertilisers for your&nbsp;garden.

To fertilise... or not to fertilise?

With such a wide selection of different garden composts available in our garden centre it's sometimes difficult&nbsp;to know which to choose. Don't worry, it's simple: just ask yourself these three questions.
Is my plant growing in a border or in a container? Soil improvers such as well-rotted farmyard manure&nbsp;boost nutrients in the open garden, so that's what you should use added to the planting hole for new shrubs,&nbsp;trees and perennials.
Annuals and bedding in containers enjoy multi-purpose compost, but for longer-lasting displays of shrubs,&nbsp;perennials or grasses mix this 50:50 with a soil-based compost like John Innes no. 3 which holds on to&nbsp;nutrients for longer.
Is my plant acid-loving? Ericaceous or acid-loving plants, including rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and&nbsp;blueberries, only grow well in soils with a pH (acidity) of less than 6.5. If your soil isn't naturally acidic, grow&nbsp;them in containers of special ericaceous compost, also available in our garden centre.
Do I want compost for propagating seeds or cuttings? Seeds germinate best in soil-based seed compost&nbsp;such as John Innes Seed. Later, young seedlings can be potted up into multi-purpose compost.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing the right composts&nbsp;for your plants.

Compost choices

Feed your soil, not your plants is a good piece of advice for any gardener: a well-cultivated soil is like deep&nbsp;brown breadcrumbs, rich and hearty and able to provide everything your plants could need.
Healthy soils have an open structure, so water drains through easily. They're also moisture-retentive, with&nbsp;sponge-like particles which absorb water and hold onto it until plants need it. Open soils also teem with&nbsp;micro-organisms, making it easier for roots to absorb nutrients and generally helping your plants to thrive.
Getting goodness into your soil is straightforward: all you need is plenty of organic matter. Well-rotted&nbsp;farmyard manure, available by the bag in our garden centre, works deep into the soil through the season&nbsp;releasing nutrients as it goes. Dig in to the top layer of the soil at half a wheelbarrow load per square metre.
Slow release fertilisers such as bonemeal and pelleted chicken manure, also available in our garden centre,&nbsp;increase nutrient levels gradually over the season too: apply in March and again in late June. Follow with a&nbsp;mulch of more well-rotted organic matter and your plants will be in heaven.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about soil improvers for your&nbsp;garden.

Feeding your soil

For some plants, ordinary feed just isn't enough. Orchids, for example, need magnesium and other trace&nbsp;elements; even fuchsias are particularly greedy feeders which need more potash than the average soil can&nbsp;provide while they're flowering in late summer and autumn.
For plants like these, buying a feed that's specially formatted to suit their needs is a shrewd move. You'll&nbsp;ensure that those nutrients which your soil can't provide are there when your plant needs them.
As well as specialist orchid and fuchsia feeds, in our garden centre we have fertilisers formulated for acid-&nbsp;lovers like rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, full of the iron and magnesium they need to avoid leaf&nbsp;yellowing and produce those explosions of flower in late spring.
Citrus like lemons, limes and calamondin oranges enjoy a high-nitrogen food in summer, when they're in full&nbsp;growth, but like to switch to a more balanced feed in winter, to help keep them healthy and avoid premature&nbsp;leaf fall.
Also available in our garden centre are high-phosphate feed for free-flowering African violets, root-&nbsp;strengthening potash rich feeds for bonsai trees and low nitrogen feeds for slower-growing cacti. Please ask&nbsp;the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about specialist feeds for your plants.

Special feeds for special plants

The soil beneath your feet is your most precious resource in the garden: look after it, and your plants thrive.&nbsp;There's a huge range of bagged composts, soil improvers and fertilisers in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to keep&nbsp;container plants happy and your soil in tip-top health.
Multipurpose compost is perfect for container-grown bedding, cuttings and potting on. In our garden centre&nbsp;you'll find environmentally-friendly peat-free and peat-reduced composts, and composts with added fertiliser&nbsp;and water-retaining gels - great for thirsty hanging baskets.
Specialist composts are tailor-made for the needs of plants from citrus to roses. You'll also find soil-based&nbsp;composts in our garden centre for permanent container planting, ericaceous composts for lime-hating plants&nbsp;and fine-grade seed composts for sowing.
Soil improvers like farmyard manure and composted bark beef up poorer soils to keep plants growing&nbsp;strongly. Mix with your soil when planting and use to mulch the surface to suppress weeds and hold in&nbsp;moisture.
Fertilisers include liquid feeds such as liquid seaweed and tomato feed to encourage flowering and fruiting.&nbsp;Add slow-release fertilisers such as bonemeal to planting holes and mix granular feeds into potting composts&nbsp;for feed-and-go convenience.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about composts and fertilisers.

Leaving soil bare to the elements for any length of time is a recipe for disaster. Soil structure is a delicate thing, and if it's pounded into a hard cap by relentless rain, baked by the sun and then colonised by tough, hard-to-eradicate weeds it's no wonder you struggle to get anything to grow by spring.
There's an easy, economic way to protect your soil for long periods of time, while improving its structure and feeding it, too. Green manures are beneficial plants grown like crops on vacant land. All have some sort of good effect on soil, and they're so densely-sown they keep the worst of the weather at bay.
In our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you'll find several varieties of green manure as large packets of seed, to broadcast and rake in as soon as the land falls empty. They germinate in next to no time, covering the ground rapidly with greenery so weeds don't get a look-in.
When you want to use that patch again, shear off the top growth and add it to the compost heap. Then roughly dig the roots of the green manure into the ground. Allow them a few weeks to rot back into the soil and they'll release nitrogen for your plants to use later in the season.
Here are five green manures to try in your garden:
<ul>
<li>Buckwheat: A delicate, graceful plant that's quick-growing, with lush, nitrogen-rich leaves. It's frost-tender, so only use it between April and August. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Phacelia: Pretty in flower and adored by bees, phacelia is grown as a summer green manure, though its frosted stems act like a blanket through winter. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Grazing rye: A useful all-rounder which looks like coarse grass and stands all winter. Deep-rooted so it'll break up claggy soils. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Winter tares: Another good choice for protecting soils over winter, this broad bean relative absorbs nitrogen from the air to release into the ground. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Clover: Choose your clover to match your soil: alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) combats wet, acid soils while crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is good for light soils.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about using green manures.
&nbsp;

Green manures

Soil and fertilisers

Wicker baskets from the range available in our garden centre make a wonderfully natural setting for bulbs, pansies and primulas. But for a display as productive as it is beautiful, plant your basket with a selection of herbs. It makes a charming gift – and it's perfect for spoiling yourself, too.
Pick out a style and colour that catches your eye, in the largest size you can afford: larger baskets hold more&nbsp;compost, so don't need watering as often, and you can include a wider range of herbs.
If the basket doesn't already have a liner, cut polythene to fit and punch holes in it for drainage. This holds in&nbsp;moisture, and also protects the wicker. Then add a layer of gravel for drainage.
Fill your basket with multipurpose compost mixed with a handful or two of horticultural grit - both are&nbsp;available in our garden centre. Then get planting!
Shrubby herbs like rosemary and thyme are fragrant and last years. But leave space for some annuals, too,&nbsp;like spicy basil or French tarragon. You'll find all these herbs and more to choose from in our garden centre.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing baskets and herbs&nbsp;for your display.
&nbsp;

Herb baskets

There's a huge choice of containers available in our garden centre in %locations%, but two types remain most popular: clay&nbsp;terracotta, or versatile plastic. So which is best for you?
Terracotta has the look of a richly organic traditional material, yet you'll find angular modern designs among&nbsp;the traditional clay in our garden centre.
Terracotta pots are heavier, and also have porous sides, allowing air and water to pass through and letting&nbsp;plants' roots 'breathe'. This means you'll need to water more often: lining the inside with plastic (punched with&nbsp;drainage holes) helps. You'll find pots in our garden centre are labelled 'frost resistant' so they won't flake or&nbsp;crack in the cold: putting them up on pot 'feet' also helps prevent frost damage.
Plastic is light and lasts ages, and there's a dazzling range in our garden centre. Modern plastic finishes can&nbsp;look almost identical to terracotta, so you can still get the traditional look.
They hold on to water more easily, needing less watering and a perfect environment for plants like&nbsp;blueberries which like to sit in damper compost. Drought-lovers like Mediterranean herbs, though, prefer&nbsp;terracotta.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing between plastic or&nbsp;terracotta containers for your garden.

Plastic vs terracotta

Containers are brilliantly versatile, and you can use them to create whatever mood you want in your garden in %locations%&nbsp;– whether it's lushly tropical, or funky and stylish. Here's how:
Container colour: Paint raised garden boxes or wooden containers – both available in our garden centre –&nbsp;to create quirky colour-themed container gardens. Oil-based stains are low-key and tasteful; or try waterproof&nbsp;marine paints in vibrant colours. Echo stem or flower colours for a really striking effect.
Plant style: For the jungly look, pick big plants with lush-looking leaves: phormiums, hardy gingers and&nbsp;bamboos all thrive in large containers. For container cottage gardens, plant small-flowered geraniums at the&nbsp;feet of container-grown apple trees. Architectural palms, bamboos and echeverias create a minimalist, clean&nbsp;look. All are available, plus many more, in our garden centre.
Mood management: Clashing colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel such as purple and yellow&nbsp;create vibrant, exciting moods, as do hot colours: red salvias, yellow chrysanthemums and orange daylilies,&nbsp;for example. Harmonious colours – blues, purples, reds – are soothing and calming: pastel shades and white&nbsp;also turn the pressure right down.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about creating containers for&nbsp;special effects in your garden.

Container moods

Whatever size your garden, containers are likely to feature. Tulips packed into big oak barrels look fabulous&nbsp;even among rolling acres: and if all you have is a handkerchief-sized yard, pots are your garden in %locations%.
Choose with care from the extensive range in our garden centre so the right pot is in the right place. Here&nbsp;are a few tips:
A few larger pots are better than lots of little ones: large pots make a great statement and have a greater&nbsp;volume of compost so need less watering.
Choose the pot to suit your situation: lightweight plastic is more sensible than weighty terracotta on roof&nbsp;gardens; and match pots to their environment. Modernist planters sit uncomfortably in a rural idyll.
Theme your containers: decide your style from the start: modernist metal, or traditional terracotta? Painted&nbsp;ceramic or warm wood? If all your containers follow a single theme it pulls your display together.
Choose the container to fit your plants: Shallow-rooted salads, herbs and flowers thrive in as little as&nbsp;15cm of soil, so are happy in trays, windowboxes and troughs. Save big, roomy pots for hefty bananas or&nbsp;container-grown fruit trees.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing containers for your&nbsp;garden.

Right pot, right place

Most plants will grow quite happily in containers and you can make just as fabulous a display using plants in&nbsp;containers as you can in the garden - great news if you're short on outdoor space. In our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you'll&nbsp;find a container for every plant: just match your plants to the pot that suits it best for instant success.
Pots come in a huge range of styles and materials from ceramic to terracotta, stainless steel and stone. Let&nbsp;your imagination run riot creating mixed displays of perennials and shrubs in larger pots for instant impact.
Troughs and grow spaces work brilliantly for growing vegetables on the patio. Place troughs against a wall&nbsp;to grow climbing beans, or divide a grow space as small as 1m x 1m into squares for planting a surprisingly&nbsp;wide variety of fruit and veg.
Hanging baskets brighten up the dingiest of entrance ways with brilliant scarlet pelargoniums or, for&nbsp;something different, tumbling tomatoes or chillies. In our garden centre you'll find not only the baskets but&nbsp;also liners and water-retaining gel to mix into the compost to hold on to moisture for longer.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing containers.

Combining plants in containers to make a display that looks good all year round is something of an art. It's fairly easy to create a fabulous display in summer: simply choose from the vibrantly colourful bedding plants available in our garden centre from late spring and have the best garden in %locations%.
But what if you want colour from the same container in March, as well as autumn fireworks and some winter colour too?
Here are some great combinations of plants you can find in our garden centre to put together in a roomy container, giving you a potted display that looks good from January to December.
Container 1: Green and gold for shade 
Shopping list: Hosta 'Gold Standard' (or any green and gold variegated variety), Carex oshimensis 'Evergold', Saxifraga x urbium. 
Central to the display in this container is a broad-leaved hosta with striking golden-edged leaves; filigree leaves of evergreen Carex make a contrasting fountain of gold. Underneath the small, frilly leaves of London Pride are topped with summer flowers.
Container 2: Red, red, red 
Shopping list: Cordyline australis 'Torbay Red', scarlet pelargoniums, Oxalis triangularis, Tulipa praestans. 
The evergreen purple spears of Cordyline erupt like a firework from a sea of scarlet in summer, with the deepest purple, clover-like leaves and pink flowers of the oxalis at their feet. Early-flowering tulips start the flaming reds from spring onwards.
Container 3: Fabulous foliage 
Shopping list: Cryptomeria 'Compressa', Heuchera 'Amber Waves', Heuchera 'Plum Pudding', bronze chrysanthemum. 
This container relies on colourful, evergreen heuchera leaves for its impact, though the star of the show in autumn is the low-growing conifer, Cryptomeria, which turns fabulous bronze. Choose a red-bronze variety of chrysanthemum to complement the other colours.
Container 4: Black and white 
Shopping list: Phormium 'Platts Black', Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', Galanthus nivalis, Tulipa 'Purissima', white chrysanthemum. 
Find a super-modern container in matt black for this fabulous combination of white snowdrops and tulips against evergreen near-black foliage of New Zealand flax and black, grass-like lilyturf. A pure white chrysanthemum keeps the contrasts going into autumn.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about planting containers that look good all year.

Year-round containers

Grow bags are incredibly useful throughout the garden: just pop them anywhere you want to grow plants but don't have soil, like the edge of a patio or outside the back door. They give you an instant growing space for sweet peas, annual climbers like morning glory, or productive herbs, vegetables or even fruit.
We stock grow bags in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre all year round, as well as useful accessories like frames that clip over them to support your plants as they grow and covers to help them blend more easily into the garden. Here are some top tips to make sure you get the best from your grow bags throughout the year.
<ul>
<li>Fluff up before planting: When you get your grow bags home, plump them up like a pillow before you use them. This breaks up the compost inside where it's become compacted in the stack, letting in air and making it easier for your plants' roots to penetrate.</li>
<li>
Stack several together: If you're growing big plants like tomatoes, consider stacking two or even three grow bags on top of each other to give your plants a better root run. Cut out a long rectangle from the first grow bag, then put another on the top, cutting squares from the underside to let the roots through.
</li>
<li>Feed regularly: Plants in grow bags rely on you for feed and water, so make sure your plants never go short. A weekly general-purpose liquid seaweed feed keeps most plants going; switch to high-phosphate tomato feed once they start flowering. You'll find both in our garden centre.</li>
<li>
Use a second time for salads: Once your peppers and cucumbers have finished, don't throw out your grow bag. Top up with compost if necessary (you may need to cut a longer rectangle from the top) and re-sow with baby-leaf salads to see you through autumn.
</li>
<li>Recycle the compost: When you've finally finished with your grow bag, empty the spent compost on your compost heap or just straight onto your flower beds as a soil-improving mulch.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing in grow bags.

Greenhouse grow bags

Containers

You too can grow fruit – even if you don't have a garden. Almost all fruit trees and bushes can be grown in&nbsp;containers, and more exotic fruits, like peaches and nectarines, do better in a pot as they can be protected&nbsp;more easily. Here are our top tips for growing fruit in pots:
Which container? Choose terracotta or plastic planters about 7cm larger than the plant's rootball from the&nbsp;range available in our garden centre. Re-pot into larger containers each year.
Which compost? Soil-based composts such as John Innes no 3 are available in our garden centre and are&nbsp;ideal for fruit as they hold on to nutrients for longer. Don't use garden soil as it doesn't drain well enough.
Which stake? Most container-grown trees need staking. Sturdy tree stakes and bamboo canes 8cm in&nbsp;diameter are available in our garden centre: sink to the bottom of the pot and tie in loosely.
Which feed? We have specialist feeds for potted fruit, such as citrus feed for lemon trees, in our garden&nbsp;centre, and also slow-release fertilisers such as Osmocote and pelleted chicken manure for other fruit trees.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing fruit in containers.

Container fruit

Fruit trees are usually grafted – that is, the top, fruiting part of the tree is attached to roots which control the&nbsp;size and other factors like disease resistance. These are known as rootstocks, and it's important to choose&nbsp;a tree with the right rootstock for what you want to do. Here's a quick guide to those you'll find at our %locations%&nbsp;garden&nbsp;centre:
Apples: 
M27: very dwarfing, growing to 1.8m: the best choice for decorative 'stepover' apples.
M9: dwarfing, to about 2m: the best choice for cordons.
M26: general-purpose dwarf rootstock, to about 3m: great for minarettes, cordons and espaliers.
MM106: grows up to 5m and ideal for full-sized trees.
Pears: 
Quince C is usually the only rootstock for pears as it's suitable for almost anything. Grows to about 5m.
Plums and damsons: 
Pixy: dwarf roostock suitable for fans and cordons, with a height of 3m
St Julien 'A': the most useful for garden trees, and more vigorous than Pixy at about 5m
Cherries: 
Gisela 5 and Tabel: Dwarfing, growing to about 2m, and ideal for fans
Colt: produces a full-sized bush tree to about 5m tall
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing the right rootstock&nbsp;for your fruit trees.

Rootstocks made simple

Squeezing fruit trees into a small garden isn't as impossible as it seems. Train fruit against fences and you'll&nbsp;not only fit in one tree – you can choose several from the mouthwatering range in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre. Here&nbsp;are some great ideas for fitting fruit into the smallest of gardens:
Minarettes: Vertical upright stems laden with fruit on short spurs. Great for growing in containers or for pretty&nbsp;vertical accents in your garden. Use for: apples, pears, plums and cherries.
Cordons: Also single-stemmed, but trained at 45º to encourage more fruit. Spaced 75cm apart you'll fit four&nbsp;varieties into just 3m. Use for: apples, pears, redcurrants, gooseberries
Espaliers: vertical stems with tiers of horizontal branches trained out at 30cm intervals along wires. A&nbsp;beautiful way to cover walls and fences. Use for: apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches
Fans: branches are splayed out from two arms at the base in an even fan across the wall. Use for: plums,&nbsp;cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots
Stepovers: like cordons but bent at right angles and trained horizontally to a wire at 45cm above the ground.&nbsp;They make wonderful edging. Use for: apples
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing fruit trees in small&nbsp;spaces.

Fruit trees for small spaces

Healthy and supremely tasty, fresh-picked fruit from the garden is one of the real luxuries of growing your&nbsp;own. A British climate is perfect for growing so many different types from tart rhubarb in early spring to sweet&nbsp;summer strawberries and crunchy autumn apples.
We stock a huge fruit range in our garden centre in %locations%: look out for container-grown bushes and trees to buy all&nbsp;year round, or in winter bare-root plants which establish in double-quick time.
Fruit trees to enjoy in your garden include traditional apples, pears and plums – we stock many traditional&nbsp;heritage varieties with outstanding flavour and fascinating histories. Look out for unusual fruits, too, like&nbsp;mulberries, quinces and medlars in our garden centre.
Berries and currants are superb value, producing years of plentiful harvests from just a few plants.&nbsp;Gooseberries are first, fruiting from May, while currants (black, white and red) take over in summer.
Bare-root stock gives you a great choice of varieties. In our garden centre from November onwards, you'll&nbsp;find bundles of raspberry canes, fruit trees and strawberry crowns sold this way to plant as soon as you get&nbsp;them home.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing fruit.

Of all the fruit you can grow in the garden, a grapevine is among the most productive and beautiful. All you need is a sunny wall, fence or pergola for it to scramble up and it'll cheerfully cover the whole thing with big elegant leaves turning brilliant colours in autumn, and of course fat clusters of fruit dripping with sweetness.
There are dozens of varieties of grapevine and we've got a great selection in our %locations% garden centre. For sweet fruit for the table, go for a dessert variety: 'Brandt' has small but very sweet dark-skinned grapes (and spectacular autumn colour) while 'Phoenix' is a reliable modern variety good for both eating and winemaking.
If it's a vineyard you're after, there's an even wider choice. 'Seyval' makes a light, fruity wine; while 'Pinot Noir' ripens well in a good summer for a classic deep red claret.
Here are our top tips for growing successful grapevines:
<ul>
<li>Choose a sunny site, ideally a south- or southwest facing wall and sheltered from the wind. Vines do best in free-draining soil like sand or chalk: if you're gardening on clay dig in a barrowload of grit before planting.</li>
<li>
Add well-rotted farmyard manure (found in our garden centre) to improve soil before planting, as grapevines are in the ground a long time.
</li>
<li>Add a handful of slow-release fertiliser like pelleted chicken manure or bonemeal to keep your plant happy all season.</li>
<li>
Plant when vines are dormant – from late autumn till early spring, as long as the ground isn't waterlogged or frozen.
</li>
<li>Put up a sturdy training system before you plant: stretch wires 30cm apart up a fence, or attach trellis. You'll find all you need in our garden centre.</li>
<li>
Water thoroughly in dry weather: if grapevines get parched at the roots they're more likely to suffer from mildew, ruining your crop.
</li>
<li>Prune each winter once the vine has dropped all its leaves and is completely dormant to remove some of the year's vigorous growth and keep the plant productive and healthy.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing grapevines.

Growing grapevines

'One generation plants the tree, another gets the shade' – so goes the Chinese proverb. The fruit trees you plant today will grow for many decades into the future, though luckily you don't have to wait till your kids take over to enjoy the fruit.
Once you've selected your tree – traditional apples and pears, or perhaps cherries, apricots or a fig, all available from our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre – give it the best possible start to its long life by getting the planting right. Here's how:
<ul>
<li>Choose the site carefully: some fruit trees, such as cherries, will fruit in partial shade but most need a sunny spot that's reasonably sheltered. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Dig your hole: the size is important so your tree grows at the right height in the soil. Make your hole a third wider than the rootball, and the same depth as the container the tree is growing in (if your tree is bare-root, look for the 'soil mark' just where the roots meet the stem). 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Use a garden fork to lightly loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole to let the roots get through easily. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Bang a sturdy tree stake, available in our garden centre, into the bottom of the hole at 45° to vertical, pointing into the prevailing wind. It should cross the trunk about halfway up. 
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<li>Now place the tree in the hole next to the stake, spreading out the roots evenly if it's bare-root. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Back-fill the hole with soil, treading it in gently as you go so the tree is well anchored in the soil. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Water thoroughly, so the moisture sinks right down into the root zone, and top with a nice deep mulch of well-rotted farmyard manure, pulled back from the trunk so it doesn't encourage rotting. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Finish by tying the tree to the stake with a specialist rubber tree tie. You'll find these in our garden centre: they work in a figure-eight between tree and stake to prevent rubbing and allow the tree trunk to expand.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about planting fruit trees.

Planting a fruit tree

Flowers and foliage are often the first thing gardeners think about when choosing plants for the garden, but many plants have another explosion of colour that's every bit as spectacular as blossom or elegant leaves. Berries can smother a tree or shrub in a good year, often in late autumn and early winter when there's not much in the way of other colour around.
Visit our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;in autumn and you'll find dozens of plants in full berry, and it's quite a sight. Here are our top picks for a spectacular autumn display.
<ul>
<li>Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is a really easy to grow shrub that just keeps on giving. Covered in pale straw-coloured flowers in spring, it follows with brilliant red berries and orange foliage in autumn. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Cotoneaster come in all shapes and sizes, from horizontalis, with herringbone branches which can be trained against a wall, to serotinus, an arching shrub to 1.5m tall. All are smothered in berries in autumn. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Firethorn (Pyracantha) comes with red, orange or yellow berries: plant all three for a firework display of densely-clustered berries in autumn, and train against a wall for a sculptural garden feature. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Holly (Ilex aquifolium) only has berries if you plant a male and a female plant: if you haven't room, there's a self-fertile variety called 'JC Van Tol'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Rowans (Sorbus) are small trees whose berries are much loved by birds. Sorbus cashmiriana has pearly white berries, while 'Joseph Rock' fruits buttery yellow. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Beauty berry (Callicarpa bodinieri) has perhaps the most extraordinary autumn berries of them all: in an iridescent, jewel-like violet purple there's nothing else quite like them in the plant world. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Elder (Sambucus nigra) follows its frothy dinner-plate flowerheads with striking sprays of black berries: pick them as soon as they're ripe and you can make elderberry wine. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Species roses are the ones which produce ornamental hips in autumn to follow a riot of summer flowers. The hips of Rosa moyesii are sealing-wax red and waisted, like flagons of wine, while R. spinosissima has fat, spherical black hips.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about plants with good autumn berries.

Autumn berries

No garden should be without a tree: they add height, structure and a feeling of permanence and timelessness. But if you have a small garden in %locations%, it's hard to imagine shoehorning in a tree as well.
Well: that depends on what kind of tree it is. Of course if you plant large trees in small gardens they swamp the space and make it difficult to grow anything else – but there are dozens of smaller trees which never get much more than 7m (25ft) high and behave themselves perfectly.
You'll find a superb selection of smaller trees in our garden centre: to help you choose, here are our top ten favourites.
<ul>
<li>Japanese maples are all fabulous choices. Acer griseum has curling cinnamon bark, A.&nbsp; palmatum var. dissectum has filigree leaves that turn scarlet in autumn, and low-growing A. shirasawanum 'Aureum' has broad, graceful leaves in brilliant yellow. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Silver birch (Betula utilis var jacquemontii) has pure white bark that shines out in a winter border: grow a multistemmed specimen for maximum impact. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Crabapple (Malus x robusta) has the bonus of a heavy crop of edible fruit in autumn for making delicious crabapple jelly. 'Sentinel' is brilliant red, while M. x zumi 'Golden Hornet' has yellow fruit. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is the one to choose if you don't have enough room for the big magnolias: it stays to a compact 1.5m tall and still has big, pure white whirligig flowers in spring. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) gets its name from the fat red fruits it produces in autumn. It's great value, with glossy evergreen foliage and small bell-like white or pink flowers in spring. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is an easy-to-grow small tree about 5m (16ft) tall. It looks good most of the year, with white blossom in spring, good autumn colour and vibrant red berries. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier lamarckii) is another hard-working tree, with delicate white blossoms arriving at the same time as the coppery young foliage in spring, followed by spectacular autumn colour.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about choosing trees for small gardens.

Small garden trees

Fruit

Sometimes the little gifts mean the most and are a great way to show you care.&nbsp;

We&#39;ve got a big selection of small gifts to suit every want and need.&nbsp;

With practical items such as gardening gloves, tool sets and gift vouchers, to animal related products like the ones shown below.&nbsp;

Talk to staff for more information.&nbsp;

<img alt="" height="700" src="https://www.elmwoodgardencentre.co.uk/files/images/DSC04691.jpg" style="width: 469px; height: 700px;" width="469" />

Little Gifts

Need to show someone how much you care and get them something they&#39;ll love? Why not take a look at our range of big outdoor ornaments and statues.&nbsp;

We&#39;ve got a big range of gifts to suit every preference and taste, with animals such as household pets, birds, horses and even some smaller insects. We&#39;ve even got planes for the budding pilot!

Ask staff in store for guidance on choosing the best one for you or your loved one.&nbsp;

<img alt="" height="469" src="https://www.elmwoodgardencentre.co.uk/files/images/DSC04700.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 469px;" width="700" />

<img alt="" height="468" src="https://www.elmwoodgardencentre.co.uk/files/images/DSC04684.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 468px;" width="700" />

Big Gifts

Gardeners tend to have firm ideas about what should be in their Christmas stockings. Don't worry: we know&nbsp;exactly what they'll love. Here's a selection of gifts from our garden centre to delight the gardener in your life:
Terracotta rhubarb forcers: every gardener covets one of these elegant Victorian clay pots, even if they&nbsp;don't grow rhubarb, as they look so gorgeous.
Wooden plant labels: perfect stocking fillers, plants will never be named so handsomely. Natural-looking,&nbsp;they blend unobtrusively into the background.
Seeds: Choose a selection from mouthwatering heritage vegetables to pretty annuals in our garden centre,&nbsp;and add a handsome vintage seedbox to keep them in.
Garden planners: Gardeners are always coming up with new ideas and making notes. Handy folders and&nbsp;journals keep it all in one place.
Something for a rainy day: When winter weather forces a gardener to down tools, a good gardening book&nbsp;makes up for the disappointment. All this year's new gardening books are here in our garden centre.
Toasty feet: Welly socks stay up, and keep your toes warm and dry even when you're trudging through wind&nbsp;and rain to the compost heap.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about perfect Christmas presents&nbsp;for gardeners.

A gardener's Christmas wishlist

Last time you gave someone a bunch of flowers, did you stop to wonder what you were telling them?
It's not just the 'I love you' of red roses: flowers have a whole language of their own. Refined Victorian&nbsp;gentlemen would give their lady loves a 'tussie-mussie' (posy) full of cryptic messages to tell her what&nbsp;politeness wouldn't allow him to say out loud, from primroses ('eternal love') to the striped carnation of&nbsp;rejection.
There are dozens of floral gifts to choose from in our garden centre, from small posies to larger floral&nbsp;arrangements, as well as plants whose flowers have secret meanings. So when you next pick a floral gift,&nbsp;give some thought to the hidden messages you could send:
For a wedding: Camellias for devotion, sunflowers for loyalty and adoration, and red poppies for eternal love&nbsp;and affection
For a friend's birthday: buttercups for riches, celandine for joys to come, and pear blossom for lasting&nbsp;friendship
To say sorry: broom for humility, a peony for shame and rue for regret.
For a bereavement: Campanulas – 'thinking of you'; borage for courage, and cypress for sorrow.
Please ask the staff in our&nbsp;%locations% Garden Centre for more information.&nbsp;

The language of flowers

Gifts for people who love their garden are everywhere in our garden centre and you&#39;re sure to find inspiration&nbsp;from our range of products to enhance your garden.

Garden ornaments you&#39;ll find in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;include lovely animal themed centre pieces, among others.

Little gifts&nbsp;are a good way to show you care and our selection includes animal themes and more.&nbsp;

Practical presents are always useful when you&#39;re out in the garden come rain or shine. We&#39;ve got a selection of tools and gloves to choose from!

Plants are always a delight to gardeners. You&#39;ll find seasonal plants including pots of forced hyacinths and&nbsp;spring bulbs, fragrant winter shrubs or poinsettias for Christmas in our garden centre: another great gift idea&nbsp;is a rose named for an anniversary.

For gardeners who like to choose for themselves we have gift vouchers in attractive presentation cards,&nbsp;suitable for every occasion.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about gifts for gardeners.

Gifts

Pick the right tool for the right job, and you'll find things magically become easier. Specialist garden tools&nbsp;have been designed for every gardening task, and if you invest in the tool that's made for the activity you&nbsp;have planned, work becomes a pleasure.
Here are just some of the specialist gardening tools you can find in our garden centre:
Bulb planter: slice through the ground to remove a perfect cone of earth for planting your spring bulbs
Dibber: use the tip for making indentations in compost for seeds, or go deeper for transplanting seedlings
Edging knife: neaten up the tricky bits between flower border and lawn with an easy-to-use half moon edger
Draw hoe: pull up earth around potatoes to protect from frost and encourage lots of tasty tubers
Garden line: sowing in a straight line is a doddle when you mark out your drill with a simple garden line
Pruning knife: sharp, efficient, and small enough to slip into your back pocket: essential kit at cuttings time
Shears: specialist topiary shears clip tight corners, while general-purpose types keep hedges in good shape.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about which gardening tools to choose.

Special tools for the specialist gardener

There's a huge range of gardening tools nowadays – you'll find most of them on display in our garden centre.&nbsp;Though they're all great to have, there are some you'll use every time you go in the garden. All these are&nbsp;available in our garden centre in %locations%.
Digging spade: makes heavy-duty soil turning jobs easy. Lightweight, easy-clean stainless steel blades are&nbsp;best.
Garden fork: great for digging stony soils, mixing in a layer of compost, or weeding larger areas.
Hand trowel: essential for transplanting seedlings and planting bulbs: blades marked with measurements&nbsp;make judging planting distances easy
Weeding fork: careful weeding among established plants needs an easy-to-manoeuvre hand fork.
Secateurs: back-pocket essentials for all gardeners at pruning time, but also for dead-heading and taking&nbsp;cuttings
Watering can: from one-litre seedling cans to 10-litre behemoths, a watering can makes sure plants never&nbsp;go short
Wheelbarrow: the garden workhorse, whether you're pruning roses, barrowing muck or clearing a patch of&nbsp;weeds
Dutch hoe: hoe off weed seedlings once a week and you'll always have a pristine plot
Rake: use for raking spring seedbeds, levelling soil in summer, or gathering autumn leaves to make leaf&nbsp;mould soil conditioner.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information about choosing the tools which are right for&nbsp;you.

Must-have gardening tools

We're all different shapes and sizes as gardeners, so you wouldn't expect to feel comfortable using the same&nbsp;tools as your taller-than-average neighbour.
That's why it's important to choose tools that fit. It makes your gardening life more comfortable, and it's better&nbsp;for your health. If you work stooped over a fork that's too short, or struggle with a rake that's too tall, it's a&nbsp;recipe for a bad back and muscle problems. You should be able to work standing as straight and upright as&nbsp;possible, without straining your arms or shoulders.
Fortunately in our garden centre we have tools in a wide range of lengths and weights, so you can choose&nbsp;the one that suits you best.
Lift the tool as you would in the garden: is it the right weight, and not too heavy (or too light)? Grip the&nbsp;handle, too, to test it's a comfortable width.
Then stand it next to you. For an average height the length of handle is around 72cm, but we have longer&nbsp;and shorter in our garden centre.
We also have tools for gardeners with particular needs: left-handed secateurs, for example, or long-handled&nbsp;trowels for those who find it difficult to bend down.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information about how to make sure you choose tools&nbsp;which are right for you.

Choosing tools that fit

The centrepiece of every well-kept garden, an emerald green lawn sets off your plants to perfection and&nbsp;gives you a beautiful, soft space to sit and soak up the atmosphere.
Keeping your lawn in tip-top condition is easy when you've got the right tools, and luckily we've got just what&nbsp;you need right here in our garden centre. Here are a few essentials to get you started:
Lawnmower: the number one requirement for trim lawns, choose a mower to fit your garden. Push mowers&nbsp;are practical and environmentally friendly for tiny lawns: electric or petrol make short work of anything larger.
Half-moon edger: straightforward and comfortable to use, the half-moon blade slices those hairy, overgrown&nbsp;edges into a crisp, pleasing finish
Wire rake: rake up autumn leaves to make leafmould, then give your lawn (and yourself!) a workout by&nbsp;scarifying – raking out the old thatch to let the grass breathe
Garden fork: perfect for aerating lawns, punching drainage holes through the surface to let water flow away&nbsp;from the surface and down to the roots where it's needed.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about which tools to choose and how to use&nbsp;them.

Look after your lawn

Pruning is one of the most enjoyable jobs in the garden, whether you're sorting out tangled climbing roses,&nbsp;thinning blackcurrants or removing damaged tree branches.
Using the right tools for each cut helps you work more efficiently and the plant stays healthy - ragged cuts&nbsp;invite infection to set in.
We have a wide range of pruning tools to choose from in our garden centre. Here's what you need to get&nbsp;started:
Secateurs: used for branches up to 2cm diameter. Bypass secateur blades cut like scissors and are handy&nbsp;in tight corners; anvil secateurs are useful for hard, woody stems.
Loppers: for thicker branches, up to 5cm across. They're like giant secateurs, some with extendable&nbsp;handles and ratchet actions for extra cutting power.
Pruning saws: for medium-sized branches. Folding saws have hinged blades which pack away into the&nbsp;handle; larger fixed-handle blades eat through major jobs.
Bow saws: for large tree work. Lightweight 'D' shaped saws with a hacksaw-type blade for tricky corners.
Overhead pruners: when a branch is out of reach, this telescopic handle with both a lopper blade and&nbsp;pruning saw on the end is perfect.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about choosing pruning tools for the job you&nbsp;need them for.

Cutting edge tools

Tools are a gardener&#39;s best friend &ndash; and top of the list come your trusty hand tools, pressed into daily service&nbsp;for everything from pruning to digging to sowing to weeding.

In our garden centre you&#39;ll find the basic kit for starting out: border spades and forks to turn your soil, hand&nbsp;tools for close-up weeding and secateurs for pruning, trimming and dead-heading.

For trickier jobs there&#39;s a huge variety of more specialist tools in our garden centre. We have hoes to suit&nbsp;every purpose, whether it&#39;s earthing up potatoes or more delicate weeding; and our range of rakes make&nbsp;short work of levelling seedbeds, collecting autumn leaves or clearing up debris.

Pruning tools are an essential part of a gardener&#39;s armoury: in our garden centre you&#39;ll find loppers for&nbsp;thicker branches. Plus we have&nbsp;specialist weeding tools for winkling weeds out of the toughest corners.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about the range of hand tools we&nbsp;have in stock.

Your tools are your best friends in the garden. They'll stand by you through thick and thin: they're the first things you reach for at times of trouble, and your companions through your greatest triumphs.
Well-made, good-quality tools like those you'll find in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre can last you a lifetime if you take good care of them. So make it a part of your annual routine to spend an hour or two at the end of the season getting them in good shape before storing them away for the winter. Here's how:
<ul>
<li>Give them a clean: let your stainless steel spades and forks dry for a few days so the mud is easier to brush off with a stiff-bristled hand brush. Get every last bit off including the mud wedged in to the neck of the tool head.</li>
<li>
Repair any breakages: bent fork tines can be straightened with a piece of hollow metal piping: just slot it over the end of the tine and pull. Replacement wooden handles are available in our garden centre, and you'll also find spare watering can roses to replace the one you lost, and new blades for pruning saws.
</li>
<li>Oil non-steel tools to prevent them rusting in damp weather. This can be as easy as wiping them over with a rag soaked in paraffin, or alternatively fill a bucket with sand and mix in some oil; then dig your tools into the sand to clean and oil them at the same time.</li>
<li>
Hang everything up out of the way so they won't fall over into a hopeless tangle which you'll have to sort out before you can use them.. Hang spades, hoes, forks and rakes blade-upwards, on double nails banged into the wall, and add some single nails to hold hand trowels, forks, and shears.
</li>
<li>Get powered tools serviced at a reputable garden machine company once a year, to change the oil, sharpen blades and generally give them the once over before they're back in regular use again.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about looking after your garden tools.

Looking after garden tools

Gardeners demand a lot of pruning tools, especially in winter when there are roses, clematis, apple trees and fruit bushes to do. There are other cutting tools in regular use, too: hedging and topiary shears, and blades you might not think of as blades like hoes and border spades, both of which need sharp edges to cut&nbsp; through the earth.
Keeping your tools razor-sharp is key to efficient working. Blunt tools take more effort to use, and worse, they can tear at branches rather than cutting them cleanly, causing snags and ragged edges that invite rots and other infections to set in. Hoes and spades, too, are far more effective if they're sharp enough to cut through obstacles rather than bludgeoning them with brute force.
You'll find all you need to keep your tools honed to perfection in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre, from sharpening stones to specialist sharpening tools for curved blades such as secateurs. To use them well and get your tools cutting cleanly, follow our top tips:
<ul>
<li>Work out which side has the flat cutting surface: for bypass secateurs, this is the curving blade that scissors past the 'anvil' one. This is the edge you need to keep sharp. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Work at an angle of about 30° to the blade and run the sharpening stone along the angled side – if you look at the blade sideways on you'll find out which that is. Work from hinge to tip, always moving the stone away from you to avoid hurting yourself. Keep doing this for a few minutes and you'll find you have a rough edge forming on the underside as tiny shards of metal shear off. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Use a circular motion to gently remove this burr from the other side of the blade, though working flat to the blade this time as you don't want to take the edge off again. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Consider a professional tool-sharpening service for larger-bladed items like hedging shears or petrol-driven hedge trimmers. These only need doing around once a year and it's easier to get the professionals in.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about sharpening gardening tools.

Keeping tools sharp

Hand tools

Cats are among the most persistent of garden pests. Even if you love your pet cat to bits, it's no fun&nbsp;discovering they've been using your garden as a toilet. If it's your neighbour's cat it's downright infuriating.
Luckily cats are fastidious creatures and it's relatively easy to make your garden into a no-go zone they'll&nbsp;prefer to avoid. Here's how.
Get a dog: perhaps not always practical, but cats will avoid your garden like the plague.
Avoid patches of bare, dry soil: these have 'cat litter tray' written all over them. After sowing seeds, poke&nbsp;prickly rose, holly or hawthorn prunings into the ground every 15cm or so to keep cats clear.
Use large-grade gravel: small chippings on pathways and drives are inviting to cats, so use larger stones&nbsp;instead: there's a good choice in our garden centre.
Hang citrus peel among your plants: cats hate oranges and lemons, so hang fresh peel among vulnerable&nbsp;plants.
Motion sensor sprinklers and ultrasonic cat deterrents: the high-tech option, available in our garden&nbsp;centre, these emit unpleasant noises only cats can hear or spray them with water each time they come past.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about keeping cats off your&nbsp;garden.

Averting cat-astrophes

Four-legged friends can be wonderful companions in the garden: there's something comforting about having&nbsp;a friendly dog snuffling nearby while you weed.
But let's face it - sometimes they can be one of the worst of all garden pests. It is possible to have both a dog&nbsp;and a nice garden, as long as you take precautions.
Choose plants wisely: more robust plants easily withstand doggy rough and tumble, and there's a wide&nbsp;range in our garden centre. They include lavender, potentilla, and sturdy geraniums and Astrantia.
Follow your dog: watch your dog's route through the garden: they're creatures of habit and usually follow&nbsp;the same path. Avoid planting where he runs, and consider converting his routes into your paths.
Protect plants: Sturdy metal supports placed strategically around more delicate plants steer the dog clear of&nbsp;accidents - there's a good range to choose from in our garden centre.
Provide a digging spot: Dogs who love to dig can be persuaded to use a dedicated earth box: try burying&nbsp;his favourite toys for him to find so he's encouraged to use it instead of your borders.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about adapting your garden to&nbsp;accommodate your dog.

Dog-friendly gardening

Tiny, velvety, almost completely blind, moles are among the most secretive garden creatures. You might live&nbsp;with one for years and never see it. But you'll notice what it's been up to.
Moles live underground, tunnelling in search of earthworms to eat. Their habit of throwing up excess soil&nbsp;onto the surface of a lawn as molehills is maddening enough, but their tunnels also undermine the lawn's&nbsp;surface, and moles can disturb roots of young plants as they move around.
You'll find several options for controlling moles available in our garden centre:
Trapping: set the trap in a tunnel, about 10cm below the surface. Check live-capture traps twice a day,&nbsp;releasing any moles at least a mile away. It's likely another mole will move in - so repeat as necessary.
Sonic devices and repellents: these use buzzing noises or unpleasant odours to drive moles away,&nbsp;although they can re-invade other parts of the garden.
Mole-repelling plants: You'll find caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), daffodils, tall and stately Fritillaria&nbsp;imperialis (crown imperial) and yellow Allium moly in our garden centre: all are said to be unpleasant to&nbsp;moles.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about managing moles in your&nbsp;garden.

Managing moles

After you've taken the trouble to stock your pond with fish, or encourage lots of frogs, toads, newts and&nbsp;dragonflies, the arrival of a voracious predator to gobble them all up again is both upsetting and infuriating.
<div>Grey herons are among the worst offenders: once a heron finds your pond you can lose your fish, and your&nbsp;frogs, in a single night. Cats looking for a quick snack, foxes and even dogs wanting a swim can also be&nbsp;devastating to the life in your pond.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Netting is a quick and easy way to protect your pondlife - sturdy pond netting is available on the roll or in&nbsp;handy packs in our garden centre. However it's sometimes not practical, especially if you have mature pond&nbsp;plants.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>In this case a fence of canes strung with netting or fishing line around the edge keeps most things away.&nbsp;Herons are also put off by tinfoil plates hung off canes to flash and clatter in the wind.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>There are also high-tech options available in our garden centre, from trip-wire activated scarers to audio&nbsp;devices or water jets triggered by motion sensors.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about keeping your pond safe from&nbsp;predators.</div>

Pond predators

Early in the year, wasps are welcome visitors: they gobble up aphids and caterpillars by the dozen to feed to&nbsp;their young, leaving your plants pest-free.
By summer, though, they become a nuisance, eating holes in ripening fruit and swarming over picnics,&nbsp;making outdoor life almost impossible and occasionally downright painful.
You don't have to destroy wasp nests unless it's posing a risk to you or your family. But it's wise to keep the&nbsp;insects at bay using a combination of deterrents and traps.
Wasp traps can be as simple as a jar with some sugary water in the bottom to lure them in, or a device which&nbsp;fits into the top of a plastic drinks bottle, allowing them to crawl in but not escape again. There's a good&nbsp;selection to choose from in our garden centre. Always place traps well away from seating and play areas.
Effective deterrents include imitation wasp nests, taking advantage of a wasp's natural behaviour to keep&nbsp;them away. Wasps are very territorial and won't re-use old nests, so if you hang an imitation nest near your&nbsp;patio or seating area they'll go elsewhere.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about controlling wasps in your&nbsp;garden.

Wasps wasted

In the battle against all the creepy crawlies which would like to enjoy your plants as much as you do, it's a&nbsp;good idea to be well-armed. You'll find everything you need to fight the good fight in our garden centre in %locations%: keep&nbsp;these essentials in the garden shed and you'll be prepared at all times.
Sprays: insecticidal soap takes care of sap-sucking aphids on everything from roses to cabbages: you'll find&nbsp;handy spray guns in our garden centre. We also stock tree washes for getting rid of overwintering larvae and&nbsp;eggs on fruit trees and bushes.
Barriers: keep pests at bay without having to kill them: a screen of horticultural fleece around carrots keeps&nbsp;carrot fly away, while garlic granules, grit and copper rings deter slugs. Insect-proof mesh available off the&nbsp;roll or as a ready-to-use cloche keeps caterpillars and other pests off crops.
Organic deterrents: in our garden centre you'll find a range of organic methods for tackling pests, from&nbsp;super-effective wildlife friendly slug pellets to biological controls. We also stock a range of pheromone traps&nbsp;to hang among your plants for catching codling moth and other flying pests.
Please ask the staff in our %locations% garden centre for more information and advice about dealing with garden pests.

Weeds, so the saying goes, are just plants in the wrong place. The trouble is, there are so many of them. However much you might think dandelions are pretty, or ground elder has elegant leaves, if you stop to admire them too long you (and your plants) will quickly be overrun.
You'll probably never be completely free of weeds, but it's quite possible to keep them well under control. In our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre you'll find all you need from weedkillers for persistent thugs, to hoes to deal with tiny annual weed seedlings before they get their heads too far above ground.
For a really effective anti-weed strategy, tailor your approach to the weed you're tackling: here's how.
<ul>
<li>Annual weeds: the easiest to tackle as long as you have a routine. Every week without fail, whether it looks like it needs it or not, use a Dutch hoe to slice through emerging seedlings just below the surface. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Deep-rooted dandelions and docks: these can regenerate from the tip of the root left in the ground, so dig down deep enough to get the whole thing out, or spot-treat with a glyphosate-based weedkiller. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Smothering bindweed: The twining stems of bindweed are a menace in the garden, strangling your plants and smothering everything, Hand-weeding rarely controls it properly: in our garden centre you'll find hand-held glyphosate gel weedkiller treatments to paint on the leaves without endangering nearby plants. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Persistent ground elder and couch grass: These won't kill your plants but they do compete with them for water and nutrients. Their long, brittle roots mean they often survive digging out by hand. Spray with glyphosate-based weedkiller, or keep them out with thick weed-control fabric, available in our garden centre. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Thuggish brambles:&nbsp; Often a problem on neglected ground, brambles colonise large areas by arching stems which root where they touch the ground. Don a thick pair of gauntlets and wade in with loppers to cut them back, then dig out rootstocks one by one, or paint the stumps with a brushkiller treatment like SBK.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about dealing with weeds in your garden.

Keeping down weeds

Garden pests

Sometimes looking after your garden is just a matter of harnessing the power of Mother Nature. Biological&nbsp;controls do away with damaging artificial pesticides by fighting garden pests with their natural predators,&nbsp;keeping your plants protected the way Nature intended.
They're surprisingly easy to use: some, such as the slug nematode Phasmarhabditis, mix with water to&nbsp;sprinkle on the ground; others, like the whitefly control Encarsia formosa arrive on cards to hang in the&nbsp;greenhouse.
Follow three main rules to make your biological control programme a success:
apply at the right time: greenhouse biological controls need at least 10°C at night to work, while&nbsp;outdoor controls such as slug nematodes are active above 5°C.
choose the right control: we have biological controls available for all sorts of pests in our garden&nbsp;centre, but each one only attacks one type of pest - so be sure what you're tackling first.
be patient: predators take several weeks to build up numbers before they start making a dent in&nbsp;your pest problem, so introduce them as soon as you notice the first signs of infestation. .
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about biological controls to use in&nbsp;your garden.

Keeping pests away naturally

Just as you put on a coat or hat to keep off the weather or troublesome insects, plants need extra layers&nbsp;when conditions turn tough. In our garden centre you'll find everything from horticultural fleece to UV-stabilised polythene to protect plants all year round.
Place clear polythene sheets or cloches over the soil in early spring a few weeks before sowing to warm it&nbsp;and speed up germination. Seedlings grow without a check under polythene cloches, though remove covers&nbsp;once the plants are big and sturdy. In autumn, late sowings under cloches keep you picking through winter.&nbsp;Sow chard, beetroot and winter salads under polythene in September to crop till spring.
Netting fends off pigeons and cabbage white butterflies from vulnerable cabbages or broccoli. The finer&nbsp;weave of insect-proof mesh, also available in our garden centre, keeps out even aphids and mealybugs.
Keep horticultural fleece handy for emergencies: when late frosts threaten, throw a double layer over&nbsp;emerging new potato foliage to prevent damage. And coax exotic palms, bananas or tree ferns through&nbsp;winter by packing them with straw and swaddling in layers of fleece.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about plant protection and how it&nbsp;can help in your garden.

Plant protection

Public enemy number one in the garden needs no introduction. There can be few pests hated as heartily as&nbsp;slugs and snails: anyone who's found hostas eaten to lacy doilies, or lettuces munched to a stump will know&nbsp;the heartbreak these slimy menaces cause.
We've got an armoury of weapons you can use against them available in our garden centre. Use a&nbsp;combination of barriers, baits and traps to keep your plants slug-free.
Barriers are laid thickly around individual plants or beds. Copper rings give slugs a small electric shock, and&nbsp;a thick layer of grit is really hard for slugs and snails to slime across - they hate added garlic even more. Top&nbsp;grit barriers up regularly to keep them effective.
Trap slugs using milk or beer in a purpose-built slug trap available in our garden centre. Place the trap near&nbsp;the plants you want to protect: slugs are irresistibly drawn to the liquid, fall in and drown.
Slug pellets are also available, now as wildlife-friendly ferrous phosphate - scatter sparingly and water in to&nbsp;make them more effective. Replenish regularly to keep your plants well protected.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about slug deterrents suitable for&nbsp;your garden.

Tackling slugs and snails

Alongside pests and diseases, weeds are the enemies we gardeners love to hate. Weeds steal water and&nbsp;nutrients from garden plants and sometimes get so rampant they take over - so stay vigilant from the start.
The key to defeating weeds is to make it as difficult as possible for them to grow. Make it part of your&nbsp;gardening routine to prevent them arriving in the first place, then promptly remove any that do.
Mulching smothers the ground, preventing annual weed seeds from germinating. The range of mulching&nbsp;materials available in our garden centre includes chipped bark and well-rotted stable manure, which feeds&nbsp;the soil as it rots down.
Weekly hoeing slices off new growth just below the soil's surface before it even gets going. Choose from&nbsp;a selection of hoes in our garden centre, from wide-bladed Dutch hoes to smaller-bladed ones for fiddly&nbsp;corners.
Hoeing helps keep persistent weeds such as bindweed and ground elder at bay, but to get rid of them a&nbsp;glyphosate-based weedkiller, available in our garden centre, is often the only option. Spray on a calm, dry&nbsp;day, following packet instructions carefully.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about how to tackle the weeds in&nbsp;your garden.

Weed wisdom

A little protection for your plants in extreme weather or when pests and diseases threaten can be the&nbsp;difference between success and abject failure. There's a comprehensive armoury of defences against the&nbsp;main threats to your plants available in our garden centre.
Frosty weather: in our garden centre you'll find horticultural fleece both on the roll and in handy packets.&nbsp;Throwing a couple of layers over tender plants like potatoes when frost threatens can be enough to see them&nbsp;through. We also stock hessian sheets to tuck around thick straw for protecting tender palms, gingers and&nbsp;bananas.
Gales and rain: polythene cloches, available off the peg in our garden centre, prevent your plants from&nbsp;getting waterlogged or shredded by wind. Our easy-to-construct cold frames also keep the weather off&nbsp;vulnerable young plants and seedlings.
Pests: stretch fine-gauge netting, also available in our garden centre, over a framework to keep birds from&nbsp;stealing your berries. Netting cloches over cabbages and sprouts also keep pigeons at bay. There are a&nbsp;range of other options for warding off all sorts of pests in our garden centre, from biological controls to slug&nbsp;barriers and insecticidal sprays.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;&nbsp;for more information and advice about protecting your crops.

Protection - Elmwood

Protection

Look at the back of any seed packet from the range in our garden centre and you'll find a lot of very useful&nbsp;information - not only what the plant looks like, but also how to sow and grow it.
But some of the terms used can be baffling if you're just starting out in gardening. So here's our jargon buster&nbsp;to help you translate:
F1 Hybrid: a variety produced by crossing two pure strains to produce a completely reliable new plant
Under glass: the seed is sown with some protection, usually in a greenhouse or coldframe
Drill: shallow V-shaped groove in the ground to sow the seed into. Use the corner of a rake or the tip of a&nbsp;trowel to make the drill.
Flat-bottomed drill: flat-bottomed trench, U-shaped and often used for peas and broad beans
Prick out: lift young plants out of the seed tray and replant them into pots of compost
Transplant: transfer the plant from pot to its final growing position, usually outdoors in the garden
Harden off: acclimatise young plants gradually to outdoor conditions, usually over a couple of weeks
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about the terminology used on&nbsp;seed packets.

Seedy sayings

It's all too easy to get carried away when you see rack upon rack of tempting packets like those in our&nbsp;garden centre: you just want them all. Here's how to make those tough decisions:
Make a desert-island list of flowers, veg and herbs you wouldn't want to be without. This is your initial&nbsp;shopping list: at this stage, it'll probably be too long.
Draw up a plan of your garden to scale, sketching in the areas where you want to sow flowers or&nbsp;vegetables. This gives you a realistic idea of how much space you've got.
Prune your shopping list to fit your plan. This involves some agonising choices – but think how you'd feel if&nbsp;those extra seeds went to waste. And there's always next year...
Decide how much you need: a few annual cosmos scattered through your border won't require many&nbsp;seeds, but if you're planning a big bed of mixed varieties you'll need more.
Strengthen your willpower and armed with your list, come to the garden centre and fill your basket. Add&nbsp;plant labels, seed trays and seed compost, and you're ready to sow. 
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about how to choose which seeds&nbsp;to sow.

Seedy strategies

You'll find hundreds of different types of seed in our garden centre, from annual and biennial flowers to herbs&nbsp;and vegetables. It's like being let loose in a gardener's sweetshop. But once you've got your seeds home,&nbsp;how do you store them? Here are our top tips:
Use seed as fresh as possible: seeds like parsnips and carrots don't live long in storage so buy fresh each&nbsp;year. Other seed can be kept up to two years before it starts deteriorating.
Keep seeds in their original packets: that way you'll know what you've got, and you'll also have sowing&nbsp;instructions ready to hand next time you need them.
Keep them all together: look out for handsome seed boxes in our garden centre, ideal for holding your&nbsp;seed packets and keeping them neat and tidy till you need them
Close the packet properly: squeeze out as much air as you can, fold down the top and seal with a&nbsp;paperclip or elastic band.
Choose somewhere dark and cool: seeds store best somewhere unheated, reasonably dry, free of mice&nbsp;and at a more-or-less constant temperature. The fridge is ideal.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about storing your seeds.

Storing seeds

Watching a seed germinate and grow is a hugely exciting part of your gardening year: you hardly dare&nbsp;believe it's going to work, yet invariably that tiny kernel sends up a sturdy green sprout. The plants you raise&nbsp;from seed are always a bit special, so this year try raising something new from the hundreds of varieties from&nbsp;our garden centre.
Annuals: hardy annuals like love-in-a-mist, marigolds and nasturtiums are easiest of all and provide&nbsp;incredibly long seasons of colour from a few seeds scattered direct into the ground in spring.
Half-hardy annuals include all the bedding plants: in our garden centre you'll find seed to sow under cover&nbsp;in spring for colourful containers all summer long including pelargoniums, petunias, surfinias and nemesia.
Perennials: several perennials are very easy from seed, flowering in their first year and coming back again&nbsp;and again. Try echinacea, rudbeckia, grasses like deschampsia and hardy geraniums from our range.
Vegetable seeds: our largest selection of seeds is reserved for the grow-your-own enthusiast, with every&nbsp;veg from cucumbers to swede. Our heritage ranges boast superb flavour, or for something completely&nbsp;different try exotic veg like tamarilloes.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about the seeds in our range.

The record for the biggest pumpkin in the world is a holy grail for giant vegetable growers: these days you need a forklift truck just to get your pumpkin to the showground for weighing.
Most of us can't manage pumpkins quite that big, but it's fun to see how big a monster you can manage. A pumpkin growing competition is also a great way to get the kids involved in gardening.
In our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you'll find all you need for your crack at conquering the giant pumpkin world: just follow our easy steps to success.
<ul>
<li>Choose the right seed: 'Atlantic Giant' is a recognised monster pumpkin, but other varieties to try include 'Hundredweight' and 'Mammoth'. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sow seed: in April sow one seed to a 10cm pot and keep in a frost-free greenhouse, heated propagator or on a sunny windowsill. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Keep the plants warm: cold will set back growth so bring your pumpkin indoors if nights are cold. Pot on into larger containers as it grows. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Dig a pumpkin pit: in late May, dig a hole in the garden about 1 metre wide and deep. Fill with a 50:50 mix of compost and well-rotted farmyard manure, and add slow-release fertiliser. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Plant out: Plant your young pumpkin plant into the pit once all threat of frost has passed, and cover with a lantern cloche until the plant grows too big. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Feed and water: Make sure your pumpkin never goes short of water, and feed weekly with liquid seaweed. When it starts flowering, switch to tomato food to encourage fruits. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Pinch out surplus flowers: After three fruits have formed, pinch out others as they appear. Eventually, select the biggest one and remove the rest so the plant puts its energy into just one fruit. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Lift the fruit: raising your pumpkin off the ground onto a pallet or straw helps get the air underneath it, ripening the skin and avoiding rotting. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Hire that forklift truck! Once your pumpkin has mellowed to a rich orange in around October, it's time to harvest.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing giant vegetables in your garden.

Giant pumpkins

It's one of the most exciting moments in a gardener's year: you go into your greenhouse or peek at your windowsill to find the seeds you sowed a week ago shyly poking out little green sprouts.
Seed-sowing is hugely satisfying and an economic way to fill your garden in %locations%&nbsp;with colourful annuals, herbs and vegetables. Just choose what you want from the many packets you'll find in our garden centre.
To make sure you get those little plants off to the best start, follow our tips for seed-sowing success.
Sowing direct:
<ul>
<li>Hold off till it's warm enough as seed sown in chilly soil sulks and rots. A constant soil temperature of about 7°C is a green light for most hardy varieties.</li>
<li>
Prepare the ground well so seedlings can get their heads out easily. Remove weeds and stones, and rake soil into the texture of breadcrumbs.
</li>
<li>Sow sparingly to save the trouble of thinning out, and to avoid diseases spreading among overcrowded seedlings.</li>
<li>
Don't sow too deep – about 1/2 cm is enough for tiny seeds; larger seeds can go in at 1cm deep. Sink really large seeds like broad beans to twice their depth.
</li>
<li>Sow in lines and then when your seedlings come up you'll recognise them. Weed seedlings growing between the lines are easily removed.</li>
</ul>
Sowing under cover:
<ul>
<li>Use specialist seed compost as it's sterilised and fine-textured: soil-based John Innes seed compost, available in our garden centre, is ideal.</li>
<li>
Sow in modules to avoid root disturbance and you can transplant seedlings without checking growth. Sow one or two seeds to each module and pot on once the roots fill the space.
</li>
<li>Water from the bottom to avoid disturbing the seed: half fill a tray with water and stand the seed tray in it till the surface turns damp.</li>
<li>
Use tap water rather than saved rainwater as many fungal diseases are water-borne: tap water is relatively clean, keeping seedlings safer.
</li>
<li>Keep them cosy especially if they're tender: bring indoors at night, or heat your greenhouse to about three degrees above zero.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about success in sowing seeds.

Seed sowing success

Planting a veg garden really kicks off the year. By the end of March you'll have bought new potatoes and onion sets from our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre and tucked them into their new homes, and with a bit of luck you'll be getting out those seed packets you chose from our extensive range of fruit and veg to sow the first hardy crops like carrots, peas, cabbages and beetroot.
But what happens when that first flush of productivity is over? Once you've harvested those new potatoes it's still only June, there's half the growing year left but you've got bare patches opening up all over the place.
Planting for a continuous harvest throughout the year is one of the holy grails of veg gardening. With a little planning and some tricks of the trade you too can avoid boom and bust, evening out your harvest so there's always something to pick somewhere on the plot. Here's how:
<ul>
<li>Successional sowing: Fast-growing veg like baby-leaf salads and carrots are ready within weeks, so repeat sow just half a row at a time every month through the season to keep them coming. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Intercropping: use every inch of space by sowing quick-growing carrots, spinach or beetroot among slower-growing brassicas: that way while they're growing, you get an extra harvest from the same space. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Plug plants: in our garden centre you'll find a huge range of young vegetable plants, ideal for dropping into gaps opened up by harvesting lettuces, cabbages or leeks for a near-instant second harvest. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sow different varieties: many types of veg, like carrots, calabrese and sprouts, have early, mid-season and late varieties: sow all three and they'll mature at different rates, extending your harvesting time. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Remember winter: you won't feel like sowing crops for winter while it's still spring, but if you don't your harvest will stop dead in October. Plant purple-sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage, leeks and parsnips in March to keep the veg garden pumping out the harvest through the chill.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about keeping a continuous harvest from your vegetable garden throughout the year.

Keeping up the harvest

Most vegetables are raised from seed, making them fantastic value – for the price of a single lettuce bought in the shops, you can buy a packet of seed to grow 1000. That's reason enough to grow your own: but you'll find sowing seed is also hugely satisfying as the first tiny sprouts appear, with their promise of bumper crops to come.
Growing from seed is straightforward but there are a few things to remember as you crack open that first packet and get sowing in %locations%. Here are our top tips for seed-sowing success:
<ul>
<li>Use good-quality seed compost: you'll find sterilised (so disease-free) and finely-textured John Innes formula seed composts in our garden centre.</li>
<li>Prepare seedbeds well if you're sowing direct outside: remove weeds and large stones and rake soil thoroughly so it's the texture of breadcrumbs.</li>
<li>Don't sow too thickly: overcrowded seedlings are more prone to fungal disease and struggle to compete for water and nutrients, so space seed well apart.</li>
<li>Sow at the right depth: as a rule, bury seeds to twice their diameter – for small seeds, that's a light sprinkling of compost.</li>
<li>Follow the instructions on the seed packet: they're mines of information, with handy tips and guidance on spacing, sowing depth and germination temperatures.</li>
<li>Cover pots and trays after sowing so the seeds never dry out: clear polythene secured with an elastic band or a clear propagator cover does nicely.</li>
<li>Water drills before sowing: if the weather is dry, really drench the drill before you sow, so seeds are sitting on damp soil from the start.</li>
<li>Wait till it's warm enough as seeds have specific temperature ranges within which they germinate. Most need at least 10°C though carrots and lettuce come up a little cooler, at 7°C</li>
<li>Use tap water for seedlings under cover, as saved rainwater often carries water-borne fungal diseases.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about tips for sowing vegetables.

Top tips for sowing vegetables

​One of the real skills of good vegetable growing is the ability to time the cycle of sowing, growing and harvesting so you always have a steady stream of goodies to pick fresh from your garden in %locations%.
It takes good planning and a few canny tricks to make sure you always have just the right amount to pick, ready when you want it, every month of the year. Here are our top tips to help you keep the crops coming.
<ul>
<li>Sow often: sow everything at once and you'll have loads to pick in a few weeks' time – but once you've finished, your veg-growing year is over.</li>
<li>You can sow seed successfully from March until July, so make the most of it and stagger your sowings, putting in a new batch every three to four weeks right across the season. That way you always have some crops ready to pick, some growing on and some just sown, and you'll extend your harvest right into autumn.</li>
<li>Don't sow too much: sow a whole row of lettuces, and they'll all be ready at the same time – and that's a lot of lettuce. Plant six lettuces every three weeks, though, and you'll have two lettuces to eat every week for as long as you want them, as your next crop is ready just as you finish eating the first.</li>
<li>And there's no rule that says you have to sow a whole row, either: half a row of carrots, beetroot or salad leaves, sown direct every three or four weeks, gives you a much more manageable quantity.</li>
<li>Sow different varieties: many vegetables come in early, mid-season and late varieties, meaning they mature at different rates. That's a gift for you when you're trying to spread your harvest over a long time. Early carrots like 'Nantes 2', for example, crop in about eight weeks. Plant one row of these plus one row of a maincrop variety like 'Autumn King' – ready in 10 weeks – and you'll be picking carrots for an extra fortnight. The same technique works for potatoes, beetroot, potatoes, calabrese and sprouts.</li>
<li>Grow long-cropping vegetables: choose your veg types carefully, making the most of veg which give you pickings over a long period.</li>
<li>Cut-and-come-again lettuces, like 'Salad Bowl', are invaluable: you pick them leaf by leaf and they just keep giving for months on end. Calabrese, too, is a great long-cropping vegetable: once you've cut the main central head, the stem keeps producing smaller sideshoots giving you a second and third harvest.</li>
<li>Use your spare spots: when a spot comes free in the garden, plant it up right away. Plug plants are ideal for this: either grow your own or buy them ready-to-plant from your favourite garden centre.</li>
<li>You can make the most of the space underneath larger, slower-growing plants like big, hefty Brussels sprouts, too. Sow a row of baby-leaf salads between your newly-planted sprouts plants and you can pick and eat them long before the Brussels get big, doubling the harvest from the same space.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about keep the crops coming.

Keeping the crops coming

GROWING FROM CUTTINGS 
 
Cuttings fall into three main groups, but whichever method you use it is essential that cuttings are taken from healthy plants:
<ul>
<li>&nbsp;hardwood</li>
<li>&nbsp;softwood</li>
<li>&nbsp;semi-ripe</li>
</ul>
HARDWOOD CUTTINGS
<ul>
<li>Taking hardwood cuttings is one of the easiest ways to produce new plants of Salix (willow),</li>
<li>Deutzia and many other woody shrubs, and only needs secateurs.</li>
<li>From autumn to early spring, select shoots produced the pre-vious spring and summer. Only select strong growth and remove near its base or point of origin.</li>
<li>These shoots – about the thick-ness of a pencil and 23–25cm long – should be cut square below a bud to form a base, at an angle of 35 degrees.</li>
</ul>
Rooting:
<ul>
<li>Treat the bottom 3cm of each cutting with rooting hormone.</li>
<li>Insert the prepared cuttings into a 12–15cm trench made in well dug garden soil with a 5cm layer of sharp sand for drainage.</li>
<li>Alternatively plant three or four cuttings in a pot of multi-purpose or cutting compost and place in a cold frame or sheltered part of the garden. The following autumn the rooted cuttings can be carefully planted out in their final growing positions.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
SOFTWOOD CUTTINGS
<ul>
<li>These are taken in early to late spring to grow many semi-ten-der plants such as pelargoniums and fuchsias, herbaceous plants and some alpines. Young growth on shrubs such as Rosmarinus (rosemary), Artemisia (worm-wood) and Lavandula (lavender) may also respond well.</li>
<li>In spring, remove shoots from the parent plant once they are firm enough to handle and not too soft to lose their rigidity.</li>
<li>Using a sharp knife or secateurs, prepare the cutting by making a cut at an angle of 35 degrees at the base of the chosen shoot.</li>
<li>Cuttings should be 5–10cm long according to plant variety. If the leaves are alternate on the shoot, make the upper cut four leaf joints above the first cut.</li>
<li>If the leaves are opposite, make the cut above the second pair of leaves. In both cases make cuts from the buds in the leaf joint.</li>
<li>Gently remove the lower leaves.&nbsp;If the remaining leaves are more than 3cm long, halve them with a knife, to cut down moisture loss during the pre-rooting period.</li>
</ul>
Rooting:
<ul>
<li>Dip the bottom 3cm of the pre-pared cutting into water. Shake&nbsp;off the surplus then roll the bottom 2.5cm in rooting hormone.</li>
<li>Insert cuttings into seed trays or pots containing sharp sand.</li>
<li>Place the tray or pot into a propagator – preferably one with a heating control.</li>
<li>Close all vents and shade the cover with a newspaper. After 7–10 days, open the vents and remove the shading.</li>
<li>Once the cuttings make new shoots at the leaf joints, this is a good indication that rooting has taken place. Remove the tray or pot from the propagator.</li>
<li>When new growth on the rooted cuttings reaches more than 3cm long, pot them into individual pots of general potting compost.</li>
<li>In four to six weeks they should be large enough to plant in their final growing positions, provided all risk of frost has passed.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
SEMI-RIPE CUTTINGS
<ul>
<li>Semi-ripe cuttings of many shrubs and climbers can be taken in late spring to midsummer. Success is not guaranteed but it’s worth a try.</li>
<li>The method or preparation is the same as for softwood cuttings, but use shoots from the current season’s growth that have begun to firm.</li>
<li>The use of a propagator is more important and the availability of controllable heat will enhance the success rate. Rooting is slower than softwood cuttings but once new growth has reached 3cm the cuttings can be potted on into individual pots.</li>
<li>Grow young plants on in a frost free light-protected environment such as a greenhouse or garden frame with no additional heat. Plant out in the garden or into larger pots the following spring or autumn.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.the-hta.org.uk/page.php?pageid=248" target="_blank">Thanks to the HTA</a>

Seeds & Cuttings

Seeds

Shrubs with brilliantly-coloured berries are a real asset to the winter garden. They'll shine from the border&nbsp;when there's little else around, and their generous loads of fruit bring in birds from miles around.
Here are our top five berrying shrubs from the range in our garden centre:
Beauty bush (Callicarpa bodinieri): clusters of downy lilac flowers in mid-summer are followed by dense&nbsp;clusters of jewel-like violet blue berries. Grows to about 2m.
Skimmia japonica: sprays of frothy white flowers in late spring are only followed by 8mm bright red berries if you've got both female and male plants. 50cm x 50cm
Firethorn (Pyracantha): comes with red, orange or yellow berries and much-loved by birds, pyracantha can&nbsp;be trained in tiers against a wall for a colourful and architectural winter feature. To 1.5m tall.
Pheasant berry (Leycesteria formosa): bamboo-like green canes and tassels of claret-coloured blooms&nbsp;give way to glossy purple berries ripening in late autumn. Height is 1.8m.
Spindle (Euonymus alatus): one of our most spectacular native shrubs, the curious corky winged bark&nbsp;carries reddish-purple four-lobed fruits, opening to reveal brilliant orange seeds. Grows to about 2m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing shrubs which have&nbsp;berries.

Berrying shrubs

Evergreen and reliable, conifers are elegant trees with sculptural foliage, beautiful cones and sometimes&nbsp;autumn colour, too. Several are compact enough to fit into a smaller garden: here are five of our favourites&nbsp;from the range available in our garden centre.
Korean fir (Abies koreana): Startling steel-blue needles make this fir stand out: it's a low, wide-spreading&nbsp;tree, and the cones are purplish blue too. Grows, slowly, to about 3m.
Cryptomeria japonica: Very handsome upright tree with sweeping blue-green branches ('Elegans Aurea' is&nbsp;yellow-green) which flush bronze in late autumn. Grows between five and 10m tall depending on variety.
Picea pungens 'Globosa': Low-growing spruce which gradually forms a spreading dome of sharp, stiff grey-&nbsp;green needles. The height and spread are just one metre.
Columnar yew (Taxus baccata 'Standishii'): Evergreen yews are great in small gardens as they're easily&nbsp;clipped into shape. 'Standishii' does it all by itself, forming a golden column 1m tall and just 18cm wide.
Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba): The conifer that doesn't look like a conifer: ginkgos are airy trees with&nbsp;delicate-looking fan-shaped leaves which turn butter-yellow before falling in autumn. Reaches 5-10m tall.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing conifers suitable&nbsp;for small gardens.

Conifers for small gardens

Any colour in the depths of winter is doubly valuable. But with scented flowers and jewel-like berries to enjoy&nbsp;too, you'll want to spend as much time outside during the colder months of the year as you do in summer.
We've picked five of the best shrubs to plant in your winter garden from the range in our garden centre.
Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn': Clusters of sweetly-scented pink-tinged flowers open from early winter to&nbsp;early spring. Grows to about 2m.
Daphne mezereum: Incredibly sweet-scented reddish-pink flowers are borne in small clusters along bare&nbsp;stems in late winter, followed by sumptuous shiny red berries. Height 1.2m.
Winter-flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima): The powerfully fragrant creamy-yellow blooms&nbsp;of this loose-growing shrub fill the air with perfume through winter. Reaches about 2m tall.
Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa): The creamy flowers of shiny evergreen Christmas box are tiny, but&nbsp;they pack a huge punch in the perfume department in midwinter. Grows to 1m tall.
Mahonia x media 'Charity': Sculptural evergreen leaves like giant holly are topped with sweetly-fragrant&nbsp;yellow flower spikes, at their best in late autumn to winter. Grows to around 3m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing shrubs which look&nbsp;good in winter.

Best winter shrubs

In smaller gardens, every plant has to earn its keep, and that's particularly true for trees. Luckily plenty of&nbsp;trees look good in every season: here's our pick of the best from the range in our garden centre.
Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier lamarckii): pearly white blossom in spring with coppery young foliage,&nbsp;followed by little black berries and brilliant autumn colour. Reaches about 10m tall.
Willows (Salix spp): look for varieties with brilliantly coloured red, green or purple bark: also has furry&nbsp;pussywillow buds in winter and deep green foliage. Grows to 10m.
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp): cascades of scented spring blossom are followed by brilliant red berries and a&nbsp;firework display of autumn colour. Anything from 5m to 8m tall, depending on species.
Autumn-flowering cherry (Prunus x subhirtella): the pale pink flowers appear in little bursts from&nbsp;November throughout the winter, with leaves turning fiery orange in autumn. Grows to 9m tall.
Rowan (Sorbus spp): clusters of white flowers in spring are followed by heavy crops of berries in red, white&nbsp;or yellow. Leaves turn brilliant shades in autumn. Grows to 7m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing trees for year-&nbsp;round colour.

Trees for year-round colour

Every garden should have a tree: they're not only beautiful plants in their own right, they also cast soothing&nbsp;shade, provide valuable privacy and often give you flowers, fruit and spectacular autumn leaf colour too.
Choose trees and shrubs from the range in our garden centre to build the architectural backbone of your&nbsp;garden. In summer when other plants are showing off, trees and shrubs melt into the background, but they&nbsp;all have a moment when it's their turn to shine – often in the depths of winter when there's little else around.
Start your garden's design off on the right foot with specimen trees from the range in our garden&nbsp;centre. In small gardens, trees with year-round interest like the autumn-flowering cherry (Prunus x&nbsp;subhirtella 'Autumnalis') really earn their keep, and evergreen conifers are a sturdy, reliable presence&nbsp;throughout the seasons.
Shrubs provide a framework for your garden: evergreen shrubs in particular are a constant backdrop to&nbsp;other plants, giving weight and depth to your design. Extend the season with winter-flowering witch hazels or&nbsp;Christmas box, and add explosions of summer flowers with roses, hydrangeas or flowering quince.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about choosing and growing trees&nbsp;and shrubs.

Britain's best-loved flower, roses are found in almost every garden in the country especially in %locations%. And it's little wonder: they're elegant, stately plants that just take your breath away as soon as they flower, with those heartbreakingly beautiful petals and perfume to fill the garden and beyond.
They're also amazingly versatile. Among the roses you'll find in our garden centre are tiny patio roses for pots and ground-cover roses to scramble at the feet of your other shrubs. There are climbers and ramblers to smother fences, and species roses with sculptural autumn hips.
The way you grow your roses is limited only by your imagination. Here are a few ideas:
<ul>
<li>Over pergolas: Tie a rambling rose in to each upright of a pergola and it'll quickly scramble up and over the top, meeting the rose on the other side and forming a bower of flowers you'll love to wander through. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Trained round an obelisk: Choose a moderate-vigour climber like the scarlet 'Dublin Bay' and tie it in at a 45° angle so it winds round the obelisk in a spiral to the top, clothing it in colour. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>In sinks and troughs: Patio roses like buttery 'Sweet Memories' are very happy in containers: plant two or three in a sink or trough, and they'll froth over the top in a riot of colour and perfume. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>On swags: Drill holes through tall, sturdy posts and thread with rope at least 24mm thick to make swags to hold climbing or rambling roses. Tie them in as they grow and they'll knit together into elegantly romantic garden dividers. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>As a hedge: Rose hedges are great for security, as the prickles keep would-be intruders well away, and they look wonderful in full flower. Hedging roses include the dog rose and Rosa rugosa 'Hansa', with fat reddish-orange hips. 
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Scrambling up into a tree: If you've got plenty of space, there's nothing more beautiful than a big tree exploding with the colour and scent of summer roses. Large ramblers like 'Rambling Rector' and 'Kiftsgate' are spectacular grown like this.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about ways to grow roses.

Ways with roses

Trees and shrubs

The ultimate in warp-speed gardening, annual climbers shoot up fences and walls like rockets, smothering&nbsp;them in brilliantly-coloured flowers. They're easy to grow from seed – choose from the wide selection in our&nbsp;garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;– and let you create a new display every year, each one more colourful than the last. Here are&nbsp;our favourites:
<div>Spanish flag (Ipomoea lobata): brilliantly tropical-looking relative of morning glory, but with pennants of&nbsp;tubular flowers in flaming shades from red through orange to yellow.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus): the easiest of all the annual climbers, sow pretty, fragrant sweet peas&nbsp;direct at the foot of a wigwam or in pots in October to overwinter for earlier flowers next season.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Purple bell vine (Rhodochiton atrosanguineus): heart shaped green leaves covered with large deep red-purple flowers all summer.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata): masses of simple, open flowers in all sorts of colours from brick red&nbsp;to bright orange, all with a perky black eye.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Cup and saucer vine (Cobaea scandens): large inky purple flowers like bells with a frill of green behind are&nbsp;held on stems long enough to cut for flower arranging</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing annual climbers in&nbsp;your garden.</div>

Annual climbers

One of our best-loved climbers is the deliciously frothy clematis, at its best scrambling through roses or&nbsp;smothering a fence with an ocean of flowers. You'll find a clematis for every month of the year in our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%, but there's often confusion over when to prune them.
Don't worry: it's actually quite simple. All you need to know is roughly when your clematis flowers, and then&nbsp;you can follow our straightforward guide.
Don't prune:early-flowering clematis like C. alpina, C. armandii, C. cirrhosa, C. montana
If they're getting too big and need trimming back, do it just after they finish flowering in late spring:&nbsp;otherwise, don't touch
Prune in February: 
large-flowered clematis flowering in May and June, like 'Barbara Jackman' and 'Nelly Moser'&nbsp;light pruning to remove dead or weak stems down to a strong pair of healthy buds. If your plants are&nbsp;getting too big, cut them back harder late summer, after they've finished flowering&nbsp;and clematis that flower late, such as 'Etoile Violette', 'Gravetye Beauty' and C. viticella&nbsp;cut hard back to about 15cm above ground level, always cutting to just above a healthy bud.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about how to prune clematis.

Clematis pruning made simple

When space is tight, you'll want to use every inch you can to grow crops. And when you've run out of room&nbsp;on the ground, sometimes the only way is up.
Edible climbers do everything ornamental plants do - lush foliage, spectacular flowers, and often good&nbsp;autumn colour – but with the added bonus of a generous harvest. Here's a selection of the best from the&nbsp;range in our garden centre in %locations%.
Runner beans are straightforward to grow and incredibly generous, producing several pounds of long beans&nbsp;from every plant. 'Painted Lady' has bicoloured red-and-white flowers.
Loganberries are loose-stemmed shrubs, easily trained against a fence. The sweet, juicy berries look like&nbsp;oversized raspberries.
Grapevines drip with fruit when trained over arches: 'Boskoop Glory' has sweet, smoky purple dessert&nbsp;grapes, and its leaves turn brilliant scarlet in autumn.
Lablab beans are a recent arrival but are fast catching on for their handsome purple leaves and plum-&nbsp;coloured beans: sow from seed in May in a sunny spot.
Kiwi fruit are very hardy, despite their exotic-looking fruit with brown fuzzy skins and succulent bright green&nbsp;flesh. Choose a self-fertile variety like 'Jenny' or 'Solo'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing edible climbers.

Edible climbers

Grapevines make wonderful climbers to scramble over a wall or clothe a shed in green. In our garden centre&nbsp;you'll find varieties for sweet dessert grapes straight off the vine, and others for making deliciously fruity&nbsp;wine. Growing a grapevine outside in the garden isn't difficult: here's how.
Planting: dig plenty of organic matter into the soil, as grapevines are vigorous plants. Plant 15cm from the&nbsp;wall, to avoid the dry area at the base, and tie in loosely to a stake. Backfill, adding a handful of slow-release&nbsp;fertiliser, and water in well.
Pruning: grapes are pruned in December, when they're dormant, as they 'bleed' sap if pruned in summer.&nbsp;Leave your vine to grow for a year or two, then choose one shoot to train as the leader and snip back&nbsp;sideshoots to five or six leaves to encourage plenty of fruit.
Problems: powdery mildew covers leaves and fruit with a white, dusty coating and is most common when&nbsp;grapes go short of water. Prevent it by keeping your grape well watered and mulching the ground thickly to&nbsp;lock water into the soil, and look out for resistant varieties like 'Phoenix'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing grapevines.

When you've crammed every inch of space on the ground with plants, the only way is up. Clothe your walls&nbsp;in greenery and smother your sheds in flowers to double your planting space and turn your garden into a&nbsp;green sanctuary from the outside world in sunny %locations%.
<div>Climbers are one of the most versatile groups of plants in our garden centre and we've got a great selection&nbsp;for you to choose from. Here are our favourites:</div>
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<div>Clematis come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiny starry flowers of 'Pixie' to big, blowsy 'Rouge Cardinal'.&nbsp;Winter-flowering clematis have pretty seedheads while Clematis montana is a froth of flowers in April.</div>
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<div>Wisteria is the ultimate in show-off climbers with its head-turning racemes of headily scented flowers in early&nbsp;summer.</div>
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<div>Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) covers the uprights of pergolas and arches with glossy&nbsp;evergreen leaves and scented white flowers and never outstays its welcome.</div>
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<div>Honeysuckles are the perfect backdrop to a cottage garden, smothered in tubular flowers all summer and&nbsp;filling the garden with scent and punch-drunk bumblebees.</div>
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<div>Passionflowers are far hardier than they look, especially the stop-you-in-your-tracks purple fringed&nbsp;whirligigs of Passiflora caerulea.</div>
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<div>Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing climbers.</div>