
Adding plants to a grave is very personal way we can remember our loved ones. Smaller spaces such as grave plots can often seem to be more difficult however there are quite a few plants that fit the bill. In this article I have 10 great looking, low maintenance, well behaved plants and some bulbs and all of which are suitable for a grave plot.

Whilst contemplating the futility of a particular gardening task recently my mind started wondering about the plants I would never ever plant in my garden. There were plenty of candidates to add to that list but I thought I should keep it simple and concentrate on my top five. So, here are the five plants I would never plant in my garden and why.

Summer has officially arrived (at last) and with it comes the prospect of warmer drier weather which gives you the chance to get out there and do a bit of work but also take a moment or two (but no more!) to enjoy the fruits of your labours from earlier in the year. Keep an eye on the watering and the weeds both of which will need plenty of attention at this month.

At last May is here which is one of my favourite months for gardening – flowers starting to burst and there is the lush green of new leaves everywhere. Oh and two bank holidays of course! There is plenty to do around the garden and a little work now will pay dividends in spadefuls when summer arrives.

One of the heralds that spring is on its way are the daffodils and their cheerful chatter but once they have done their bit they do look a sorry lot and so it is time to get dead-heading. It may seem a bit daunting if you have hundreds of the little mites to deal with but there is a quick and easy way to dead-head daffodils and in no time at all you are helping them concentrate on the show for next year.

A patch of daffodils never fails to cheer us up but when they are starting to fade, oh such a sorry sight. So, should you deadhead daffodils? Given that patches in the verges do not get deadheaded and yet return year on year in a blaze of glory the answer should surely be no. This was the question put to the Gardener’s Question Time panel recently and so I thought I would explore this further and see what the consensus is.

Yey, it is April again and you now need to be shifting yourself up a gear as spring starts to find its stride. The frosts are few and far between, the temperatures are slowly rising and the ground is nice and soft – perfect for weeds so time to get ahead of the little rascals and set out your stall for the season.

“What three things would you give to a new professional gardener” was a question posed earlier in the month to my fellow pro gardeners. Not all made it the final list and I did some consult some other folk for their thoughts. So here we have 21 things that might be worth giving a new (or possibly experienced?) professional gardener.

Sometimes, finding the answer to what seems a simple question is very difficult (whether it is gardening or really any other aspect of life). So my simple question was, why did I keep finding metal watering cans with bowed out, distorted bottoms? The answer it seems is equally simple and logical when you think about it… ice.

Are you looking out of the window at the gloomy sky and the cold, wet weather and wondering what to do? Really? This is no time for lounging around – there is work to be done people! OK, things do start to become a bit challenging but November is a really great time (when dodging the showers) to invest a bit of your time that will pay dividends next year.

We won’t talk about the rain but three things from my week. First up, recycling of compost/soil etc. bags which is something which definitely gets me hot under the collar. Then…, gardening students… lovely people but trainers really don’t prepare folk for what the realities are. Finally, cake… sorry slugs & snails… Greg Foot’s investigation into our one footed foe is well worth a listen