Winter gardens

10:53am Friday 12th December 2008

Val Bourne reveals why trees are vital to the structure of our gardens — and the local wildlife — especially in the cold and sometimes bleak months of the year

Typicaly tropical

1:38pm Wednesday 6th August 2008

Val Bourne gets a taste for the exotic on a trip to Norfolk

Down among the daisies

3:26pm Friday 11th July 2008

If there is one plant designed to please the insects and the bees it is the traditional daisy with its dense middle of tiny flowers surrounded by showy ray petals. The hundreds of tiny flowers packed into the central disc produce nectar over a period of many days or weeks.

Keep off the grass!

11:28am Friday 30th May 2008

I t has started already. The first truly spring day and I heard the drone of several lawnmowers starting out on their quest to keep lawns, verges and paths a millimetre high. Within a few days the village mowing man was out and freshly mown grass lay everywhere. He will reappear every week until late October.

Tulips from Amsterdam

5:18pm Friday 28th March 2008

Val Bourne enjoys a spring extravaganza in the home of Holland’s world-famous flower

Signs of spring

4:31pm Wednesday 5th March 2008

Val Bourne reveals how to give your bulbs a warm welcome

Time to branch out?

11:16am Tuesday 12th February 2008

February is the perfect month to see how trees can add visual impact to your garden, writes Val Bourne

Gardening heritage blooms at Waterperry

2:33pm Monday 11th February 2008

Val Bourne visits the gardens at Waterperry House, near Oxford

Hip, hip Hooray!

4:58pm Friday 21st December 2007

Val Bourne celebrates the simple roses that produce a bird-friendly winter crop

Enjoy your winter garden

10:50am Monday 3rd December 2007

Don’t go down the ‘scorched earth’ route this winter, says Val Bourne