Garden Answers

Garden Answers is a vibrant and inspiring gardening magazine filled with ingenious design ideas and exciting plant combinations guaranteed to make your garden beautiful.

Welcome

Meet the Contributors • “This month in the garden I’ll be…”

BRILLIANT BORDER TAPESTRY • This eclectic mixed planting is a reminder of how a diversity of fresh foliage and abundant flowers can work together to make a dream border

Be inspired by Plants, books, events & buys for the month

Strawberry bliss • As the fruits begin to ripen, embrace early summer with strawberry-themed gems

GARDEN MOVES TO BRISTOL ZOO

GREEN SHEDS GET THE GREEN LIGHT!

Wish list • Hardy geraniums are busy adding finesse and old fashioned cottage garden charm to sunny or semi-shaded spots in the border this month

WIN A CHESTER & COOKE SEED BOX AND TOOL RACK!

What’s on…

Dazzling delphiniums • These elegant spires make a commanding spectacle in early summer borders, but can you name the following cultivars? Answers on p12

FLOWER SHOW PEAT BAN PUT ON HOLD BY THE RHS FOR 2025

30-minute makes • An old colander makes a great lightweight hanging basket for growing succulents in and it comes complete with its own drainage holes. The holes can also be used to feed key rings through, which can be used to hang a chain. Or, for a more rustic look, strong string can be tied around the handles.

Book of the month

Celebrate tree peonies EPHEMERAL BEAUTY • The impermanent beauty of plants such as the tree peony, whose display of flowers is fleeting, captures the imagination of gardeners. Louise Curley explores their timeless charm

MUST-HAVE TREE PEONIES

Herbalicious THE POWER OF HERBS • Finding more room for herbs will give a boost to our health, our gardens and vital pollinators. Olga Grieves shows you how to do it

IT’S ALL IN THE TASTEBUDS

HERBS FOR EVERY SPACE

IMPORTANT HERBS IN WORLD HISTORY

PRESERVING AND STORING

Attention-seeking ORIENTAL POPPIES • Create a magificent colour explosion in early summer borders with these flamboyant perennial poppies, says Sue Fisher

Expert notes

How to grow

OUR PICK OF THE BEST

June • Now summer is underway, there’s plenty to do in the garden. We suggest some key jobs to keep it looking gorgeous

SOW BIENNIALS • Once annuals are safely planted out, you’ll gain plenty of growing space on windowsills and in greenhouses. It’s the perfect time to sow biennials such as forget-me-nots, campanula, sweet rocket and sweet William for colour that you can enjoy next spring and summer.

PLANT FLOWERING SHRUBS • Add structure, colour and foliage interest with pretty summer-blooming shrubs

USE WATER WISELY

LOOK AFTER ROSES

Don’t forget…

Give borders a SUMMER BOOST • Get displays off to a good start with these timely jobs

Create a romantic SUMMER BORDER • Use a palette of palest pastels for this jostling, flower-filled midsummer scheme, says Helen Billiald

HOW TO PLANT • Dig out any weeds and add plenty of well-rotted organic matter. On heavy soils, add some gravel as well to lighten it and improve drainage, especially if you intend growing the bearded iris.

Delighting in DIVERSITY • Adrian Thomas celebrates the sheer variety of life that accompanies us in our gardens

Hidden wonders • Here is a quick guide to some of the lesser-known groups of wildlife to be found in gardens (with, in brackets, the number of species that Jennifer Owen found in her garden).

The art of looking

WHAT MAKES A GARDEN BIODIVERSE?

WILDLIFE GARDEN JOBS FOR JUNE

The secret heart of the hills • Tucked away beneath Ilkley...