As winter is generally the best time of the year to prune shrubs and trees, we usually wait for the leaves to fall from the trees before getting out our clean sharp secateurs and loppers.

Pruning leads to healthy new growth, encourages the formation of fruit or flower buds and re-shapes plants that look unbalanced or have been damaged by bad weather.

Techniques needed to prune different species of trees and shrubs are many and varied but you can bear in mind a few basic rules. 

Roses are regularly voted the nation's favourite plant. With such a fantastic variety of colour, scent, size and habit, it's no wonder that there's a rose to suit every garden. 

Cultivated for hundreds of years there is now a huge choice of over 4000 varieties, consisting of may types – old fashioned, Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Shrub, Climber, Patio etc. Unless you are a total perfectionist, roses are no more difficult to grow than the average shrub. 

The beauty of one particular Clematis has enchanted David Hall for many years, Clematis sieboldii or “Florida Bi-Colour” is his queen of the climbers and here he explains why it captivated him.

There are keen gardeners who like to cultivate many different variants of the same species, rose growers are an obvious example, but much as I love all clematis, there's only one that captured my imagination long ago and it is still the only one for me even now.

Gardening really is good for you. Whether this is backed up by research findings or a fact that you intuitively know is true, there's no doubt that even only a few hours a week in the garden is beneficial for both mind and body.

Stress levels, in a world that's as busy and demanding as our own, are probably at an all time high but just thirty minutes of gardening a day has been shown to lower your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.

At this time of the year everything in the garden should be flourishing, including unfortunately weeds. Here we consider the options on how to prevent and remove these unwanted intruders.

Weeds compete with your ornamental plants and vegetables for moisture, light and nutrients. They are uninvited guests that need to be removed as they certainly won't leave of their own accord. 

Hanging baskets are such a quintessential part of the British summer, bright and colourful they really light up the landscape with natural vibrancy. We have got a few suggestions on the most effective planting techniques.

To create a substantial display you need a large deep basket that can be planted on top and through the sides to create a colourful ball of flowers, these are usually made from wire mesh.

Choosing the correct compost is important as its make-up must reflect the needs of different plants at various stages of their life cycle. This is our guide to the various composts that match a plant's individual requirements.

Different composts are designed to give optimum results in a variety of situations from sowing seed to bedding, containers and house plants.

King Canute discovered that you can’t hold back time and tide, and, when the clocks go back, however much you want the summer to continue, you realise that autumn is upon us.

It’s not all bad news, there’s nothing to match walking through woods, a chill in the air with golden brown leaves gliding to the ground around you.

To collect these fallen leaves you might want to invest in an Autumn Garden Care Kit.

You may well have received a citrus plant as a present at Christmas or the New Year. We share our knowledge on how best to look after these attractive plants that will bear fruit if provided with ideal environment.

To avoid disappointment make sure that your plant is a named cultivar from a reliable retailer. Remember that plants grown from pips will not flower, you need a grafted plant for successful fruiting.