Whatever the weather, there’s always a garden job to tick off.
Last weekend, I zipped up my raincoat to plant the last of my bare-root roses (I opted for David Austin’s Emma Bridgewater variety), pruned rambling wisteria and sowed sweet peas indoors, ready for spring planting.
But there’s a common gardening job that slipped my list – and something unexpected happened.
Outside our front door, my green-fingered husband propagated a pink hydrangea that has been happily growing for the past few years. Every summer, it bursts into bloom, its big, blowsy heads swaying in the warm wind. Neighbours stop to stare, bees settle into the petals.
Like other plants in my small garden, I’d planned to prune the hydrangea bush back, but noticed new spring buds already forming (the wilted heads had fallen off in a recent storm). I was ready to chop back and trim, but the surprise buds show that nature takes care of itself; sometimes it doesn’t need our help.
Kristina Pokaluk//Getty Images
I asked Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres, whether hydrangeas bloom best with less interference. “Resist the urge to ‘tidy’ them too hard,” he told me. “They’ll usually reward you with more flowers, not fewer.”
If you want to prune yours, Julian advises: “Hydrangeas don’t need a hard chop to get going in late winter and early spring. Many varieties form their flower buds on stems that grew last year, then go through winter before swelling into visible buds in late winter and early spring.
“By leaving the shrub alone, you’ve actually protected those pre-formed buds rather than cutting them off, which is why you’re seeing buds now, even though you haven’t been near it with secateurs.”
Catherine McQueen//Getty Images
Arit Anderson agrees. In an interview with the TV presenter last September, Arit credited garden neglect as the secret to her blooming rose bush. Instead of pruning, she left it alone.
“I allowed things to meander and decided not to prune the roses every year,” she told Country Living. “Now, I’ve got this huge prolific rose bush that grows without hardly any human intervention. It might get black spot, but if it does, then I don’t stress. It disappears the following year.
“It was upsetting at first, but then I allowed things to meander and decided not to prune the roses every year.”
While this isn’t the case for every plant (some of mine will definitely need pruning in March), it serves as a gentle reminder that our gardens move to their own rhythm. Our well-meaning interference is not always needed.
16 great books for gardening and indoor plant inspiration
Garden book
RHS How to Create your Garden: Ideas and Advice for Transforming your Outdoor Space
Now 48% Off
Credit: Amazon
Adam Frost’s practical, no-nonsense approach will help you plan and build a garden that works for you. The Gardeners’ World presenter takes you step by step through the whole process, from simple garden design ideas to a full garden makeover.
Garden book
Modern Container Gardening: How to Create a Stylish Small-Space Garden AnywhereCredit: Amazon
Isabelle Palmer shows you how to make the most of every little space with a series of projects for small gardens, singular containers and window boxes, that can be completed in a day or weekend. Perfect for novice gardeners, Modern Container Gardening offers beautiful photography and clear step-by-step instructions.
Garden book
National Trust School of Gardening: Practical Advice from the ExpertsCredit: Amazon
The National Trust employs over 500 gardeners with an extraordinary wealth of expertise. And now, in this in-depth guide, they pass on their wisdom and provide the answers any new and seasoned gardener is looking for. This book is intended to give you inspiration and confidence to make the most of your garden, without being overwhelmed with unnecessary technical detail.
Garden book
Veg in One Bed: How to Grow an Abundance of Food in One Raised Bed, Month by Month
Now 41% Off
Veg In One Bed explains how to build your bed and grow from seed, as well advice on planting, feeding, and harvesting. YouTube gardening star Huw Richards shows how to guarantee early success by starting off young plants on a windowsill and suggests what to grow in each part of the bed.
Garden book
DK The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of GardeningCredit: Amazon
Monty Don offers straightforward gardening advice in this book, revealing the secrets of growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs, while respecting the needs of the environment by gardening organically. You can also enjoy a tour of his Herefordshire garden, including his flower garden, herb garden, kitchen garden, and more.
Plants book
DK RHS Practical House Plant Book
Now 20% Off
Credit: Amazon
The Practical House Plant Book by the RHS contains a dozen step-by-step projects to help you assemble an eye-catching terrarium, create a floating kokedama ‘string garden’, or propagate succulents. Complete with 175 in-depth plant profiles, this is an essential practical guide for indoor gardeners.
Garden book
Ten Speed Press Small Garden Style: A Design Guide for Outdoor Rooms and ContainersCredit: Amazon
A small garden space – an urban patio, a tiny backyard, or even just a pot by your door – doesn’t have to sacrifice style. In Small Garden Style, garden designer Isa Hendry Eaton and lifestyle writer Jennifer Blaise Kramer show you how to use good design to create a joyful, elegant, and exciting yet compact outdoor living space.
Garden book
No Dig Garden Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening: From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly: Course 1Credit: Amazon
Charles Dowding, innovator of no dig, teaches you everything you need to know about this method of organic gardening. With 19 chapters, you’ll learn how to use no dig on different soil types, recognise and massively reduce the different types of weeds, know the difference between soil and types of compost, and grow an abundance of vegetables using the no dig method.
Plants book
Kyle Books In Bloom: Growing, harvesting and arranging flowers all year round
Now 52% Off
Credit: Amazon
Get all the inspiration you need for planting cut flowers, and fill your home with colour and the gorgeous scent of the garden year-round with In Bloom. Clare Nolan reveals her secrets for growing a bountiful harvest as well as styling spectacular homegrown displays in this beautifully designed book.
Garden book
DK RHS Complete Gardener’s Manual
Now 43% Off
The RHS’ Complete Gardener’s Manual will help you choose plants that will thrive in your space, design a border for year-round colour, grasp different pruning techniques, discover how to protect your veg patch from pests, and make the best compost.
Garden book
Bloomsbury Wildlife Wildlife Gardening: For Everyone and Everything
Now 14% Off
Credit: Amazon
Do you want to attract more bees, birds, frogs and hedgehogs into your garden? In Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything, Kate Bradbury teams up with the Wildlife Trusts and the RHS to help you discover how you can make your garden, balcony, doorstep or patio a haven for garden wildlife. You’ll find handy charts, practical projects and fact files.
Plants book
DK My House Plant Changed My Life: Green wellbeing for the great indoors
Now 23% Off
Credit: Amazon
Gardener and TV presenter David Domoney is a firm believer that indoor plants can make ‘a practical and emotional contribution to our wellbeing’. In this book, David explains the hard science behind the positive effect of the humble houseplant on wellness, and provides expert tips on how to keep your plants thriving, plus shares his top 50 life-enhancing houseplants.
Garden book
DK RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design: Planning, Building and Planting Your Perfect Outdoor Space
Now 33% Off
Credit: Amazon
If you’re looking for new garden ideas, the RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design will guide you from planning to planting, such as choosing the correct materials for your structures and assessing your drainage, to laying patios, making ponds, and planting perennials.
Garden book
Lorenz Books How to Create an Eco Garden: The practical guide to sustainable and greener gardeningCredit: Amazon
This planet-friendly book is filled with ideas for creating your own eco garden on any scale, from a small courtyard to a large garden or allotment. Discover organic techniques that improve biodiversity, learn the value of using recycled and reclaimed materials for landscaping, and take on simple projects such as making a pond and a wildlife hotel.
Plants book
DK RHS Encyclopedia Of Plants and Flowers
Now 32% Off
Credit: Amazon
Drawing on expert advice from the RHS, this best-selling reference book – organised by colour, size, and type, rather than as an A-Z directory – will help you select the right varieties for your outdoor space.
Garden book
Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd Build a Better Vegetable Garden: 30 DIY Projects to Improve your HarvestCredit: Amazon
Joyce and Ben Russell have devised 30 kitchen garden projects, devised to either extend the season, protect crops from pests or improve yields. These projects transform your vegetable plot into somewhere more productive, more attractive and more secure.
Deputy Daily Editor, Country Living and House Beautiful
Lisa Joyner is the Deputy Daily Editor at House Beautiful UK and Country Living UK, where she’s busy writing about home and interiors, gardening, dog breeds, pets, health and wellbeing, countryside news, small space inspiration, and the hottest properties on the market. Previously, she has written for Conde Nast Traveller, House & Garden and Marie Claire magazine. Lisa studied at University For The Creative Arts, where she completed a BA in Fashion Journalism.
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