Gardening articles

30 practical guides written for UK gardens — how to read your soil and light, plant well, prune with confidence and solve the problems every garden throws up. Every article is researched, reviewed and dated.

Soil & site

How to assess sunlight in your garden

What full sun, part shade and full shade actually mean, how aspect works in the UK, and how to map the light you really have before buying plants.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Understanding soil pH — and how to change it

Why pH decides which nutrients your plants can reach, how to test it properly, and the honest limits of trying to change it.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Choosing plants for clay soil

Clay is fertile but unforgiving. How to improve its structure without making it worse, and the shrubs, perennials and trees that genuinely thrive in it.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Gardening on sandy soil: how to improve it and what to grow

Free-draining and hungry — how to build sandy soil up with organic matter, water it sensibly, and choose plants that prefer it that way.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How to improve lawn drainage

Diagnosing why a lawn stays wet — compaction, thatch or water table — and fixing it with aeration, top-dressing and timing, before resorting to drains.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Understanding UK hardiness ratings (RHS H1–H7)

What the H1–H7 scale means in real temperatures, how it differs from USDA zones, and why winter wet and pots change the answer.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How to make compost

Greens, browns, bins and turning — a practical route to good compost, what to leave out, and how to fix a heap that has gone slimy or stalled.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Planting & propagation

When and how to divide perennials

Division keeps clumps vigorous and gives you free plants. Which perennials to split in spring, which in autumn, and how to do it without losses.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How to take cuttings: softwood, semi-ripe and hardwood

The three cutting types, the months each belongs to, and step-by-step technique — plus the common reasons cuttings fail.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Sowing seeds indoors: a beginner’s guide

Timing from your last frost, avoiding leggy seedlings, pricking out and hardening off — the fundamentals that decide whether seed-raising works.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How to plant a bare-root hedge

Bare-root season runs November to March and is the cheapest way to plant a hedge. Species choice, spacing, planting technique and first-year care.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Planting spring bulbs: what, when and how deep

Depth rules, why tulips wait until November, layered pots, naturalising in grass, and what to do with the leaves after flowering.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Choosing and planting fruit trees in a small garden

Rootstocks, pollination groups and trained forms explained — how to fit productive apples, pears and plums into a small space.

8 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Care & maintenance

A beginner’s guide to pruning

The rules that make pruning simple: flowering time, the three Ds, where to cut, and why most pruning mistakes cost you a year of flowers, not the plant.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How and when to prune hydrangeas

Mopheads flower on old wood, paniculatas on new — get the type right and hydrangea pruning becomes easy. Includes renovating overgrown shrubs.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Lawn care through the year: a UK calendar

Month by month: first cut, feeding, summer mowing heights, autumn renovation and what moss is really telling you.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Mulching: what it does and how to do it properly

The single most useful job in the garden — materials compared, how deep to lay it, when, and the mistakes that undo the benefit.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Watering wisely: how to water less and grow more

Deep and infrequent beats little and often. What actually needs watering, what doesn’t, and how to keep pots alive through a dry spell.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Feeding plants: fertilisers explained

N, P and K in plain English, which feed for which job, and the many situations where feeding does nothing — or harm.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Container gardening: compost, watering and plant choice

Pot sizes and materials, working with peat-free compost, feeding schedules and getting containers through winter.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Houseplant care: the fundamentals most people get wrong

Overwatering, dim rooms and humidity myths — the handful of principles that keep houseplants alive, and how to read their symptoms.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Choosing plants

Plants for north-facing gardens

A north aspect is cool and shady, not hopeless. Shrubs, perennials and climbers that prefer it, and design tricks that lift low light.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How to create a pollinator border

Nectar from March to November, single flowers over doubles, and a sample planting plan — a border that feeds bees, butterflies and moths.

5 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Evergreen screening for small gardens

Privacy without a Leyland hedge: better hedge species, pleached trees, clumping bamboo and evergreen climbers — with realistic sizes.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Drought-tolerant plants for a changing climate

What drought-tolerance looks like, why establishment still needs water, and the plants that shrug off dry summers — if the winter drainage is right.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Plants for dry shade: the hardest spot in the garden

Under trees and beside walls, root competition meets rain shadow. Honest preparation, honest limits, and the plants tough enough to cope.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Problem solving

Dealing with slugs and snails without wrecking your garden’s ecology

Which controls actually work — nematodes, ferric phosphate, predators — which barriers disappoint, and the plants slugs mostly leave alone.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Common rose problems: black spot, mildew, rust and aphids

Identify the big four rose ailments, reduce them with hygiene and airflow, and why resistant varieties are the real long-term answer.

6 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Growing food

Growing tomatoes outdoors in the UK

A short season and blight pressure make outdoor tomatoes a challenge — variety choice, timing, watering and training that stack the odds your way.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

Herbs for a kitchen garden

Mediterranean drainage-lovers versus moisture-lovers, why mint lives in a pot, and how to harvest so plants keep producing.

7 min read Reviewed 24 July 2026

How this advice is written

Articles are written by the GardenDecoded editorial team, checked against authoritative horticultural sources, and each carries the date it was last reviewed. Guidance assumes UK conditions unless it says otherwise. Read our editorial policy for how we research, review and correct what we publish.