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Sometimes looking after your garden is just a matter of harnessing the power of Mother Nature. Biological&nbsp;controls do away with damaging artificial pesticides by fighting garden pests with their natural predators,&nbsp;keeping your plants protected the way Nature intended.
They're surprisingly easy to use: some, such as the slug nematode Phasmarhabditis, mix with water to&nbsp;sprinkle on the ground; others, like the whitefly control Encarsia formosa arrive on cards to hang in the&nbsp;greenhouse.
Follow three main rules to make your biological control programme a success:
apply at the right time: greenhouse biological controls need at least 10°C at night to work, while&nbsp;outdoor controls such as slug nematodes are active above 5°C.
choose the right control: we have biological controls available for all sorts of pests in our garden&nbsp;centre, but each one only attacks one type of pest - so be sure what you're tackling first.
be patient: predators take several weeks to build up numbers before they start making a dent in&nbsp;your pest problem, so introduce them as soon as you notice the first signs of infestation. .
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about biological controls to use in&nbsp;your garden.

Keeping pests away naturally

Once you start using cloches you'll wonder how you ever did without them. These mini-greenhouses were&nbsp;invented by the Victorians but a century later are still earning their keep in the garden.
The simplest cloches are clear polythene stretched over wire hoops, available in various sizes in our garden&nbsp;centre. Pop one over a row of seedlings and you create a microclimate, protected from chill winds and&nbsp;concentrating sunshine. Under their protection it's possible to start sowing in February with early peas,&nbsp;carrots and salad leaves.
Exotic crops like sweet potatoes are also possible even in the UK with their help: plant tubers through black&nbsp;polythene, then cover with cloches for the tropical conditions they need.
Individual bell cloches protect against birds, slugs and light frosts - courgette plants grow fast and slug-free&nbsp;under them, while in damp winters they give alpines the dry but cool conditions they need.
For the ultimate in style, glass Victorian lantern cloches make handsome features in their own right. Move&nbsp;them around as you want to cover vulnerable plants: pop one over dahlia tubers to fend off slugs while they&nbsp;establish.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% &nbsp;for more information and advice about which cloches are best&nbsp;suited to your needs.

Get canny with cloches

Just as you put on a coat or hat to keep off the weather or troublesome insects, plants need extra layers&nbsp;when conditions turn tough. In our garden centre you'll find everything from horticultural fleece to UV-stabilised polythene to protect plants all year round.
Place clear polythene sheets or cloches over the soil in early spring a few weeks before sowing to warm it&nbsp;and speed up germination. Seedlings grow without a check under polythene cloches, though remove covers&nbsp;once the plants are big and sturdy. In autumn, late sowings under cloches keep you picking through winter.&nbsp;Sow chard, beetroot and winter salads under polythene in September to crop till spring.
Netting fends off pigeons and cabbage white butterflies from vulnerable cabbages or broccoli. The finer&nbsp;weave of insect-proof mesh, also available in our garden centre, keeps out even aphids and mealybugs.
Keep horticultural fleece handy for emergencies: when late frosts threaten, throw a double layer over&nbsp;emerging new potato foliage to prevent damage. And coax exotic palms, bananas or tree ferns through&nbsp;winter by packing them with straw and swaddling in layers of fleece.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about plant protection and how it&nbsp;can help in your garden.

Plant protection

Public enemy number one in the garden needs no introduction. There can be few pests hated as heartily as&nbsp;slugs and snails: anyone who's found hostas eaten to lacy doilies, or lettuces munched to a stump will know&nbsp;the heartbreak these slimy menaces cause.
We've got an armoury of weapons you can use against them available in our garden centre. Use a&nbsp;combination of barriers, baits and traps to keep your plants slug-free.
Barriers are laid thickly around individual plants or beds. Copper rings give slugs a small electric shock, and&nbsp;a thick layer of grit is really hard for slugs and snails to slime across - they hate added garlic even more. Top&nbsp;grit barriers up regularly to keep them effective.
Trap slugs using milk or beer in a purpose-built slug trap available in our garden centre. Place the trap near&nbsp;the plants you want to protect: slugs are irresistibly drawn to the liquid, fall in and drown.
Slug pellets are also available, now as wildlife-friendly ferrous phosphate - scatter sparingly and water in to&nbsp;make them more effective. Replenish regularly to keep your plants well protected.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about slug deterrents suitable for&nbsp;your garden.

Tackling slugs and snails

Alongside pests and diseases, weeds are the enemies we gardeners love to hate. Weeds steal water and&nbsp;nutrients from garden plants and sometimes get so rampant they take over - so stay vigilant from the start.
The key to defeating weeds is to make it as difficult as possible for them to grow. Make it part of your&nbsp;gardening routine to prevent them arriving in the first place, then promptly remove any that do.
Mulching smothers the ground, preventing annual weed seeds from germinating. The range of mulching&nbsp;materials available in our garden centre includes chipped bark and well-rotted stable manure, which feeds&nbsp;the soil as it rots down.
Weekly hoeing slices off new growth just below the soil's surface before it even gets going. Choose from&nbsp;a selection of hoes in our garden centre, from wide-bladed Dutch hoes to smaller-bladed ones for fiddly&nbsp;corners.
Hoeing helps keep persistent weeds such as bindweed and ground elder at bay, but to get rid of them a&nbsp;glyphosate-based weedkiller, available in our garden centre, is often the only option. Spray on a calm, dry&nbsp;day, following packet instructions carefully.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about how to tackle the weeds in&nbsp;your garden.

Weed wisdom

A little protection for your plants in extreme weather or when pests and diseases threaten can be the&nbsp;difference between success and abject failure. There&#39;s a comprehensive armoury of defences against the&nbsp;main threats to your plants available in our garden centre.

Frosty weather: in our garden centre you&#39;ll find horticultural fleece both on the roll and in handy packets.&nbsp;Throwing a couple of layers over tender plants like potatoes when frost threatens can be enough to see them&nbsp;through. We also stock hessian sheets to tuck around thick straw for protecting tender palms, gingers and&nbsp;bananas.

Gales and rain: polythene cloches, available off the peg in our garden centre, prevent your plants from&nbsp;getting waterlogged or shredded by wind. Our easy-to-construct cold frames also keep the weather off&nbsp;vulnerable young plants and seedlings.

Pests: stretch fine-gauge netting, also available in our garden centre, over a framework to keep birds from&nbsp;stealing your berries. Netting cloches over cabbages and sprouts also keep pigeons at bay. There are a&nbsp;range of other options for warding off all sorts of pests in our garden centre, from biological controls to slug&nbsp;barriers and insecticidal sprays.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;&nbsp;for more information and advice about protecting your crops.

Protection

Plants need three main nutrients to do well: nitrogen for leafy growth, phosphorus to produce strong roots,&nbsp;and potassium, for flowers and fruit. If your plants go short, they'll grow poorly, fail to flower or fruit, and&nbsp;develop sickly, yellowing foliage.
If your soil is in good heart, all you'll need to kick start the year is a spring dose of slow-release fertiliser such&nbsp;as bonemeal or pelleted chicken manure, both available in our garden centre. Repeat in mid summer for&nbsp;greedy plants like vegetables, sweet peas, clematis and roses. Stop fertilising by late summer, though, as&nbsp;new growth after that point is more vulnerable to frost damage.
Plants in containers rely on you for nutrients. Balanced liquid seaweed added to your watering can once&nbsp;a week keeps them healthy. In our garden centre you'll also find controlled release fertilisers, available as&nbsp;granules or handy pellets to insert into the compost, releasing nutrients for up to 12 months.
Big heavy-fruiting greenhouse plants also benefit from some extra help: give them weekly feeds of&nbsp;potassium-rich tomato feed, also available in our garden centre, as soon as they start flowering.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about choosing fertilisers for your&nbsp;garden.

To fertilise... or not to fertilise?

With such a wide selection of different garden composts available in our garden centre it's sometimes difficult&nbsp;to know which to choose. Don't worry, it's simple: just ask yourself these three questions.
Is my plant growing in a border or in a container? Soil improvers such as well-rotted farmyard manure&nbsp;boost nutrients in the open garden, so that's what you should use added to the planting hole for new shrubs,&nbsp;trees and perennials.
Annuals and bedding in containers enjoy multi-purpose compost, but for longer-lasting displays of shrubs,&nbsp;perennials or grasses mix this 50:50 with a soil-based compost like John Innes no. 3 which holds on to&nbsp;nutrients for longer.
Is my plant acid-loving? Ericaceous or acid-loving plants, including rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and&nbsp;blueberries, only grow well in soils with a pH (acidity) of less than 6.5. If your soil isn't naturally acidic, grow&nbsp;them in containers of special ericaceous compost, also available in our garden centre.
Do I want compost for propagating seeds or cuttings? Seeds germinate best in soil-based seed compost&nbsp;such as John Innes Seed. Later, young seedlings can be potted up into multi-purpose compost.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing the right composts&nbsp;for your plants.

Compost choices

Feed your soil, not your plants is a good piece of advice for any gardener: a well-cultivated soil is like deep&nbsp;brown breadcrumbs, rich and hearty and able to provide everything your plants could need.
Healthy soils have an open structure, so water drains through easily. They're also moisture-retentive, with&nbsp;sponge-like particles which absorb water and hold onto it until plants need it. Open soils also teem with&nbsp;micro-organisms, making it easier for roots to absorb nutrients and generally helping your plants to thrive.
Getting goodness into your soil is straightforward: all you need is plenty of organic matter. Well-rotted&nbsp;farmyard manure, available by the bag in our garden centre, works deep into the soil through the season&nbsp;releasing nutrients as it goes. Dig in to the top layer of the soil at half a wheelbarrow load per square metre.
Slow release fertilisers such as bonemeal and pelleted chicken manure, also available in our garden centre,&nbsp;increase nutrient levels gradually over the season too: apply in March and again in late June. Follow with a&nbsp;mulch of more well-rotted organic matter and your plants will be in heaven.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about soil improvers for your&nbsp;garden.

Feeding your soil

For some plants, ordinary feed just isn't enough. Orchids, for example, need magnesium and other trace&nbsp;elements; even fuchsias are particularly greedy feeders which need more potash than the average soil can&nbsp;provide while they're flowering in late summer and autumn.
For plants like these, buying a feed that's specially formatted to suit their needs is a shrewd move. You'll&nbsp;ensure that those nutrients which your soil can't provide are there when your plant needs them.
As well as specialist orchid and fuchsia feeds, in our garden centre we have fertilisers formulated for acid-&nbsp;lovers like rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, full of the iron and magnesium they need to avoid leaf&nbsp;yellowing and produce those explosions of flower in late spring.
Citrus like lemons, limes and calamondin oranges enjoy a high-nitrogen food in summer, when they're in full&nbsp;growth, but like to switch to a more balanced feed in winter, to help keep them healthy and avoid premature&nbsp;leaf fall.
Also available in our garden centre are high-phosphate feed for free-flowering African violets, root-&nbsp;strengthening potash rich feeds for bonsai trees and low nitrogen feeds for slower-growing cacti. Please ask&nbsp;the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about specialist feeds for your plants.

Special feeds for special plants

The soil beneath your feet is your most precious resource in the garden: look after it, and your plants thrive.&nbsp;There&#39;s a huge range of bagged composts, soil improvers and fertilisers in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to keep&nbsp;container plants happy and your soil in tip-top health.

Multipurpose compost is perfect for container-grown bedding, cuttings and potting on. In our garden centre&nbsp;you&#39;ll find environmentally-friendly peat-free and peat-reduced composts, and composts with added fertiliser&nbsp;and water-retaining gels - great for thirsty hanging baskets.

Specialist composts are tailor-made for the needs of plants from citrus to roses. You&#39;ll also find soil-based&nbsp;composts in our garden centre for permanent container planting, ericaceous composts for lime-hating plants&nbsp;and fine-grade seed composts for sowing.

Soil improvers like farmyard manure and composted bark beef up poorer soils to keep plants growing&nbsp;strongly. Mix with your soil when planting and use to mulch the surface to suppress weeds and hold in&nbsp;moisture.

Fertilisers include liquid feeds such as liquid seaweed and tomato feed to encourage flowering and fruiting.&nbsp;Add slow-release fertilisers such as bonemeal to planting holes and mix granular feeds into potting composts&nbsp;for feed-and-go convenience.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about composts and fertilisers.

Soil and fertilisers

There are times when you just can't be there for your plants. When you're on holiday, or if you're out at work&nbsp;all day, you'll need alternative arrangements so they don't go short of water - especially in a hot, dry spell.
Automatic watering systems take the stress out of looking after your plants, so you can leave them happy in&nbsp;the knowledge their needs will be met. We have all kinds of automatic system in our garden centre.
There are systems to suit every set-up and every budget. If you don't have mains water available, gravity&nbsp;fed kits feed water from your water butt through leaky hoses or drippers. Pod systems keep containers going&nbsp;nicely, with an individual dripper for each pot keeping up to ten containers watered without you lifting a finger&nbsp;– they work brilliantly in greenhouses, too.
For larger areas outside, lay a leaky hose around your plants and connect it to the tap via a battery powered&nbsp;timer. You can set the timer to water at certain times of day, and for a set length of time, leaving you free to&nbsp;sit back and enjoy your garden at its best.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in&nbsp;%locations%&nbsp;for more information about which automatic watering system is right&nbsp;for you.

Automatic watering

Your trusty watering can is such an everyday piece of equipment around the garden that you'd be forgiven&nbsp;for taking it for granted. But it's precisely because it's used so often, and for so many different watering tasks&nbsp;in the garden, that your choice of watering can is so crucial.
Watering fragile little seedlings, only just emerged from the earth, is a job for an equally delicate watering&nbsp;can. In our garden centre we have seedling watering cans which carry about a litre of water, with long,&nbsp;slender spouts – perfect for trickling in between tiny stems. They're just the right size for houseplants, too.
Outdoor watering cans come in many different sizes. Five-litre cans are a good general-purpose size, but&nbsp;where you're doing a lot of watering a ten-litre can lasts longer between refills.
A detachable rose helps you choose between gently sprinkling smaller plants, or directing a jet of water at&nbsp;their feet. There's a great choice of different designs in our garden centre, from practical lightweight plastic in&nbsp;a variety of colours, to traditional galvanised metal cans which look beautiful and last forever, too.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in&nbsp;%locations%&nbsp;for more information about choosing the watering can that's right for&nbsp;you.

Watering can wisdom

There are dozens of different kinds of hoses to choose from in our garden centre, from ultra-light to heavy&nbsp;duty, with added anti-kink technology and automatic rewind reels.
But don't stop there. Once you're set up with your basic hose, there's so much more you can do.
Adding extra fittings to your hose turn it from simple watering tool to all singing, all dancing garden gizmo.&nbsp;There's a wide selection in our garden centre, whether you're looking for a simple improvement to your&nbsp;hose's performance or something altogether more high-tech.
A simple nozzle allows you to switch the jet from high-pressure jetwash to a spray fine enough to water&nbsp;seedlings. Go one step further with a trigger spray gun to give yourself total control.
Long reach spray guns are a godsend if you're keen on hanging baskets: look for angled heads, allowing you&nbsp;to direct the spray better, and telescopic handles.
With sprinklers you don't even have to stand there while you water. A basic round sprinkler set on a spike&nbsp;waters circles up to 15m: alternatively, oscillating sprinklers work the spray slowly back and forth, watering a&nbsp;rectangular area of up to 180 square metres – and all while you sit and enjoy a cup of tea.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre&nbsp;in&nbsp;%locations% for more information about attachments available for your garden&nbsp;hose.

Hose attachments

Two words to strike fear into the heart of any gardener are 'hosepipe' and 'ban'. But if you're unlucky enough&nbsp;to be in an area where a ban is announced, it needn't be the end of your gardening fun.
Each water area's rules for hosepipe bans are different, so check your local company's website to make&nbsp;sure you know what's allowed and what's not. Generally, watering your garden using an ordinary hosepipe&nbsp;is forbidden: so is cleaning paths and patios with a hose, or filling swimming pools, paddling pools or ponds&nbsp;unless you're using containers filled from a tap.
However many water companies now allow leaky hoses – those pipes with tiny holes in them, laid along the&nbsp;ground to drip water right by your plants so hardly any evaporates. You'll find leaky hoses and the kit to set&nbsp;them up on automatic timers in our garden centre.
We've also got plenty of water butts to choose from to help you save rain to use during times of drought, and&nbsp;of course you can stock up on watering cans from our extensive range. Our garden centre in&nbsp;%locations%&nbsp;staff can help with&nbsp;other water-saving measures you can take to beat the ban, so feel free to ask their advice.

Hosepipe bans: what you need to know

Drought is a fact of life these days in summer, and for the gardener that's a double whammy: water&nbsp;restrictions at a time when your plants are at their thirstiest.
There's no need to get caught short though: with forward planning you can save rainwater at times when&nbsp;there's a bit too much, to use when there's not quite enough. If your water supply is metered you'll also save&nbsp;money by using the free stuff that comes from the sky instead.
Water butts connected in to a down pipe save rainwater from the roof of the house, shed or greenhouse.&nbsp;We've got a wide variety in all sizes, shapes and colours in our garden centre, so take your pick. Buy the&nbsp;largest one you have room for, and link multiple water butts together with connector kits.
Use what water you have wisely: only water young plants and seedlings, containers and really thirsty plants&nbsp;like courgettes and pumpkins. You can avoid watering altogether if you garden with drought-tolerant plants.&nbsp;Those with silvery leaves often manage well with no water at all, and they include some beautiful and classy&nbsp;plants such as lavender, artemisia and olives.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in&nbsp;%locations%&nbsp;for more information about measures you can take to save water in&nbsp;the garden.

Saving water

In these days of unpredictable weather a drought is never far away, so kit yourself out to keep your plants&nbsp;going through even the driest summer from the wide range of watering equipment in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre.&nbsp;Here&#39;s what you&#39;ll need to make sure your plants need never go thirsty again.

Watering cans are useful all year, but especially if you&#39;re in an area subject to a hosepipe ban. Larger 10-&nbsp;litre and 5-litre cans keep the garden going, while small 1-litre cans are ideal for seedlings and houseplants.

Water butts store rainwater so you don&#39;t have to use up precious tap water. These days they come in a wide&nbsp;range of designs: connect them together to double your storage capacity.

Hoses and attachments make watering easy, with everything from spray guns to sprinklers in our range.&nbsp;Leaky hoses conserve water, too: lay them alongside your plants to deliver water where it&#39;s needed.

Automated watering systems free you from watering chores to enjoy your garden. Connect dripper&nbsp;systems via a hose to a timer, set to water whenever you want without you having to lift a finger.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about your watering needs.

Watering

Protecting your hands while gardening is essential in so many jobs, from weeding viciously spiny brambles&nbsp;to picking caterpillars off your cabbages. Luckily in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;we have gloves for every occasion, so&nbsp;you can choose the right pair for the job. Here's what to look for:
Heavy-duty: pruning roses and spiny shrubs like berberis, tackling brambles&nbsp;Gauntlets are essential for avoiding injury with these most difficult of gardening job. In our garden centre&nbsp;you'll find thick canvas or leather gauntlets with long cuffs to protect your wrists and lower arms.
General purpose gloves: general weeding, pruning and planting out.&nbsp;With various waterproof coatings from foam Latex or warm Neoprene to soft, pliable grain leather, these&nbsp;snugly-fitting gloves are good all-rounders. Reinforced palms prevent wear and tear from spade handles,&nbsp;and breathable fabrics avoid sweaty hands. Look for Thinsulate thermal linings for winter.
Gloves for fine work: delicate weeding jobs, transplanting seedlings, dead-heading&nbsp;Usually made of stretchy nylon Spandex, many have Nitrile coating for a waterproof coating to palms and&nbsp;fingertips. They're superbly thin, fitting like a second skin and allowing maximum feeling while still protecting.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing the gloves that are&nbsp;right for you.

Gloved up

For sheer convenience, there's not much that beats pulling on a pair of good old Wellington boots, so make&nbsp;sure yours are the best you can buy. We have a wide range to choose from in our garden centre, so here are&nbsp;a few tips for choosing a pair you'll love to wear.
fitting: wear thick socks while you're trying on your wellies to allow for winter wear. You can choose&nbsp;from ankle-height 'clogs', convenient for short trips outside, three-quarter height wellies for those with&nbsp;shorter calves, and full-height boots.
soles: thicker moulded soles, with multi-directional lugs, help you grip better in slippery conditions.&nbsp;Reinforced soles and steel toecaps give extra protection while digging but are heavy, so thinner,&nbsp;lighter soles may be better for everyday wear.
linings: Neoprene lined boots are warm and cosy; Bamboo Carbon linings give a natural finish. For&nbsp;the ultimate in luxury there's leather lining, with full-length zips for easy access.
finishes: for classic style there are plain green, black or brown, but for a funkier look choose one of&nbsp;the many patterns from flowery to psychedelic
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing the wellies that are&nbsp;right for you.
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Wellie wisdom

There&#39;s no such thing as bad weather &ndash; only the wrong clothes. So goes the old gardener&#39;s saying, and&nbsp;it&#39;s certainly true that if you&#39;re not properly dressed you quickly get uncomfortable, making gardening a&nbsp;miserable experience.

You&#39;ll find a fantastic range of gardener&#39;s clothing in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to kit yourself out whatever the&nbsp;weather.

Feet: boots are an essential part of the gardener&#39;s armour: choose from practical, easy-to-use wellies, sturdy&nbsp;lace-up gardening boots or classy leather calf-length boots, all available in our garden centre.

We also stock a full range of children&#39;s size wellies, perfect for your budding gardners.

Hands: good gardening gloves take the sting out of pruning roses and keep your hands clean and dry. In our&nbsp;garden centre you&#39;ll find second-skin lighter use gloves to thick gauntlets for those really prickly jobs.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about clothing for gardeners.

Wellies & Gloves

Cats are among the most persistent of garden pests. Even if you love your pet cat to bits, it's no fun&nbsp;discovering they've been using your garden as a toilet. If it's your neighbour's cat it's downright infuriating.
Luckily cats are fastidious creatures and it's relatively easy to make your garden into a no-go zone they'll&nbsp;prefer to avoid. Here's how.
Get a dog: perhaps not always practical, but cats will avoid your garden like the plague.
Avoid patches of bare, dry soil: these have 'cat litter tray' written all over them. After sowing seeds, poke&nbsp;prickly rose, holly or hawthorn prunings into the ground every 15cm or so to keep cats clear.
Use large-grade gravel: small chippings on pathways and drives are inviting to cats, so use larger stones&nbsp;instead: there's a good choice in our garden centre.
Hang citrus peel among your plants: cats hate oranges and lemons, so hang fresh peel among vulnerable&nbsp;plants.
Motion sensor sprinklers and ultrasonic cat deterrents: the high-tech option, available in our garden&nbsp;centre, these emit unpleasant noises only cats can hear or spray them with water each time they come past.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about keeping cats off your&nbsp;garden.

Averting cat-astrophes

Four-legged friends can be wonderful companions in the garden: there's something comforting about having&nbsp;a friendly dog snuffling nearby while you weed.
But let's face it - sometimes they can be one of the worst of all garden pests. It is possible to have both a dog&nbsp;and a nice garden, as long as you take precautions.
Choose plants wisely: more robust plants easily withstand doggy rough and tumble, and there's a wide&nbsp;range in our garden centre. They include lavender, potentilla, and sturdy geraniums and Astrantia.
Follow your dog: watch your dog's route through the garden: they're creatures of habit and usually follow&nbsp;the same path. Avoid planting where he runs, and consider converting his routes into your paths.
Protect plants: Sturdy metal supports placed strategically around more delicate plants steer the dog clear of&nbsp;accidents - there's a good range to choose from in our garden centre.
Provide a digging spot: Dogs who love to dig can be persuaded to use a dedicated earth box: try burying&nbsp;his favourite toys for him to find so he's encouraged to use it instead of your borders.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about adapting your garden to&nbsp;accommodate your dog.

Dog-friendly gardening

Tiny, velvety, almost completely blind, moles are among the most secretive garden creatures. You might live&nbsp;with one for years and never see it. But you'll notice what it's been up to.
Moles live underground, tunnelling in search of earthworms to eat. Their habit of throwing up excess soil&nbsp;onto the surface of a lawn as molehills is maddening enough, but their tunnels also undermine the lawn's&nbsp;surface, and moles can disturb roots of young plants as they move around.
You'll find several options for controlling moles available in our garden centre:
Trapping: set the trap in a tunnel, about 10cm below the surface. Check live-capture traps twice a day,&nbsp;releasing any moles at least a mile away. It's likely another mole will move in - so repeat as necessary.
Sonic devices and repellents: these use buzzing noises or unpleasant odours to drive moles away,&nbsp;although they can re-invade other parts of the garden.
Mole-repelling plants: You'll find caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), daffodils, tall and stately Fritillaria&nbsp;imperialis (crown imperial) and yellow Allium moly in our garden centre: all are said to be unpleasant to&nbsp;moles.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about managing moles in your&nbsp;garden.

Managing moles

After you've taken the trouble to stock your pond with fish, or encourage lots of frogs, toads, newts and&nbsp;dragonflies, the arrival of a voracious predator to gobble them all up again is both upsetting and infuriating.
<div>Grey herons are among the worst offenders: once a heron finds your pond you can lose your fish, and your&nbsp;frogs, in a single night. Cats looking for a quick snack, foxes and even dogs wanting a swim can also be&nbsp;devastating to the life in your pond.</div>
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<div>Netting is a quick and easy way to protect your pondlife - sturdy pond netting is available on the roll or in&nbsp;handy packs in our garden centre. However it's sometimes not practical, especially if you have mature pond&nbsp;plants.</div>
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<div>In this case a fence of canes strung with netting or fishing line around the edge keeps most things away.&nbsp;Herons are also put off by tinfoil plates hung off canes to flash and clatter in the wind.</div>
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<div>There are also high-tech options available in our garden centre, from trip-wire activated scarers to audio&nbsp;devices or water jets triggered by motion sensors.</div>
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<div>Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about keeping your pond safe from&nbsp;predators.</div>

Pond predators

Early in the year, wasps are welcome visitors: they gobble up aphids and caterpillars by the dozen to feed to&nbsp;their young, leaving your plants pest-free.
By summer, though, they become a nuisance, eating holes in ripening fruit and swarming over picnics,&nbsp;making outdoor life almost impossible and occasionally downright painful.
You don't have to destroy wasp nests unless it's posing a risk to you or your family. But it's wise to keep the&nbsp;insects at bay using a combination of deterrents and traps.
Wasp traps can be as simple as a jar with some sugary water in the bottom to lure them in, or a device which&nbsp;fits into the top of a plastic drinks bottle, allowing them to crawl in but not escape again. There's a good&nbsp;selection to choose from in our garden centre. Always place traps well away from seating and play areas.
Effective deterrents include imitation wasp nests, taking advantage of a wasp's natural behaviour to keep&nbsp;them away. Wasps are very territorial and won't re-use old nests, so if you hang an imitation nest near your&nbsp;patio or seating area they'll go elsewhere.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about controlling wasps in your&nbsp;garden.

Wasps wasted

In the battle against all the creepy crawlies which would like to enjoy your plants as much as you do, it&#39;s a&nbsp;good idea to be well-armed. You&#39;ll find everything you need to fight the good fight in our garden centre in %locations%: keep&nbsp;these essentials in the garden shed and you&#39;ll be prepared at all times.

Sprays: insecticidal soap takes care of sap-sucking aphids on everything from roses to cabbages: you&#39;ll find&nbsp;handy spray guns in our garden centre. We also stock tree washes for getting rid of overwintering larvae and&nbsp;eggs on fruit trees and bushes.

Barriers: keep pests at bay without having to kill them: a screen of horticultural fleece around carrots keeps&nbsp;carrot fly away, while garlic granules, grit and copper rings deter slugs. Insect-proof mesh available off the&nbsp;roll or as a ready-to-use cloche keeps caterpillars and other pests off crops.

Organic deterrents: in our garden centre you&#39;ll find a range of organic methods for tackling pests, from&nbsp;super-effective wildlife friendly slug pellets to biological controls. We also stock a range of pheromone traps&nbsp;to hang among your plants for catching codling moth and other flying pests.

Please ask the staff in our %locations% garden centre for more information and advice about dealing with garden pests.

Garden pests

Garden furniture

Outdoor Living

Healthy and supremely tasty, fresh-picked fruit from the garden is one of the real luxuries of growing your&nbsp;own. A British climate is perfect for growing so many different types from tart rhubarb in early spring to sweet&nbsp;summer strawberries and crunchy autumn apples.

We stock a huge fruit range in our garden centre in %locations%: look out for container-grown bushes and trees to buy all&nbsp;year round, or in winter bare-root plants which establish in double-quick time.

Fruit trees to enjoy in your garden include traditional apples, pears and plums &ndash; we stock many traditional&nbsp;heritage varieties with outstanding flavour and fascinating histories. Look out for unusual fruits, too, like&nbsp;mulberries, quinces and medlars in our garden centre.

Berries and currants are superb value, producing years of plentiful harvests from just a few plants.&nbsp;Gooseberries are first, fruiting from May, while currants (black, white and red) take over in summer.

Bare-root stock gives you a great choice of varieties. In our garden centre from November onwards, you&#39;ll&nbsp;find bundles of raspberry canes, fruit trees and strawberry crowns sold this way to plant as soon as you get&nbsp;them home.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing fruit.

Fruit

Every garden should have a tree: they&#39;re not only beautiful plants in their own right, they also cast soothing&nbsp;shade, provide valuable privacy and often give you flowers, fruit and spectacular autumn leaf colour too.

Choose trees and shrubs from the range in our garden centre to build the architectural backbone of your&nbsp;garden. In summer when other plants are showing off, trees and shrubs melt into the background, but they&nbsp;all have a moment when it&#39;s their turn to shine &ndash; often in the depths of winter when there&#39;s little else around.

Start your garden&#39;s design off on the right foot with specimen trees from the range in our garden&nbsp;centre. In small gardens, trees with year-round interest like the autumn-flowering cherry (Prunus x&nbsp;subhirtella &#39;Autumnalis&#39;) really earn their keep, and evergreen conifers are a sturdy, reliable presence&nbsp;throughout the seasons.

Shrubs provide a framework for your garden: evergreen shrubs in particular are a constant backdrop to&nbsp;other plants, giving weight and depth to your design. Extend the season with winter-flowering witch hazels or&nbsp;Christmas box, and add explosions of summer flowers with roses, hydrangeas or flowering quince.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about choosing and growing trees&nbsp;and shrubs.

Trees and shrubs

A rose in full bloom stops you in your tracks. It steals your heart with its paper-delicate petals and lures you&nbsp;in with its heady, romantic scent. Once you&#39;re truly captivated it&#39;s hard to resist filling your garden with the&nbsp;sumptuous butter yellows, sugar-spun pink, graceful white and blood red petals of this queen of flowers.

We&#39;re in love with roses too, so we&#39;ve got a variety in our garden centre to grace every spot in your garden.

Climbers and ramblers like &#39;New Dawn&#39; and cream &#39;Alberic Barbier&#39; scramble boisterously up trellises and&nbsp;wire supports to clothe walls in swathes of colour.

Shrub roses make striking centrepieces to a border: free-flowering and highly perfumed, they&#39;ll bloom from&nbsp;June till September. Apricot &#39;Buff Beauty&#39; or deep pink &#39;Comte de Chambord&#39; are good choices.

Patio roses like pale pink &#39;Gentle Touch&#39; or pure white &#39;Diamond&#39; are dainty, smaller shrubs bred for their&nbsp;ability to thrive in containers. Smothered in blooms, they&#39;re long-flowering and brilliantly colourful.

Ground cover roses spread out in low, graceful arches to cover the ground in dense foliage and flowers.&nbsp;The &#39;Flower Carpet&#39; series come in gold, pink, white and scarlet.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing roses.

Roses

Annual plants are here-today, gone-tomorrow party girls. They may have just one season in the sun, but what a season: they flower for an incredibly long time and are invariably so spectacularly beautiful you&#39;ll lose your heart to them.

We stock two kinds of annual in our garden centre in %locations%: hardy annuals to sow direct from March onwards, and half-hardies to sow under cover as they don&#39;t like frost. Here are just some you&#39;ll find in our garden centre.

Hardy annuals: 
Ammi majus: lacy white flowers over feathery foliage 
Poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii): cheery yellow-and-white flowers 
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena): starry blue or white flowers followed by architectural seedpods 
Ladybird poppies (Papaver communtatum &#39;Ladybird&#39;): scarlet papery petals each with a black blotch 
Nasturtiums: abundant red, orange or creamy flowers over rounded leaves

Half-hardy annuals: 
Cosmos &#39;Purity&#39;: clear white daisies with yellow centres on long stems 
Zinnias: pompom flowers in brilliant scarlets, yellows and purples 
Swan river daisy: profuse mauve daisies tumbling over pots and baskets 
Nemesia: another perfect container plant with pretty, delicate blooms 
Tobacco plant (Nicotiana): charming open flowers in pink, cream and green over big leafy rosettes

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about choosing and growing annuals.

Annuals

Growing your plants in containers opens up a whole new world in which you can experiment with different&nbsp;combinations, ring the changes or totally overhaul your planting at the drop of a hat. A huge variety of plants&nbsp;from our garden centre grow happily in containers, giving you potted colour from January to December.

Spring: Tulips arrive in our garden centre from autumn: pack shoulder-to-shoulder into large containers for a&nbsp;cracking display. Other spring bulbs to try in pots include crocuses, daffodils and snowdrops.

Summer: Fill your containers to overflowing with dazzling bedding plants - in our garden centre from spring&nbsp;onwards. Container-grown veg are a great option when space is limited: we stock plug plants to make&nbsp;planting even more straightforward.

Autumn: Many shrubs look beautiful framed in a large container and many have spectacular autumn&nbsp;displays. In our garden centre look out for graceful deep purple acers, brilliantly berried skimmia and pretty&nbsp;variegated hollies.

Winter: Combine heathers chosen from the range in our garden centre with white-berried gaultherias or red-twigged dogwood and the large, leathery evergreen leaves of bergenia for winter cheer just outside your&nbsp;door.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about plants for containers.

Container plants

The real heart-stopping, breathtaking beauty of a garden comes from that most easy-going of all the plant&nbsp;groups: the perennials, generous, free-flowering plants which die down each winter only to bubble up again&nbsp;from spring, peaking in midsummer with a fireworks display of flowers.

Pack your garden in %locations%&nbsp;with perennials from the huge selection in our garden centre and you&#39;ll have something in&nbsp;flower for every week of the year. Here are a few tips to help you choose:

Visit the garden centre often as we have different perennials in stock according to the season. Choose whatever takes your fancy each month for really long-lasting display.

Cut perennials back after flowering and they&#39;ll often give you a second flush of flowers. You&#39;ll find&nbsp;secateurs for the job in our garden centre.

Plant the right plant in the right place: there are perennials for every spot in your garden, whether it&#39;s&nbsp;shady, sunny, dry or damp. Ask our garden centre staff for help if you&#39;re not sure which to choose.

Plant in threes or fives for greatest impact: drifts or groups of the same plant really catch your eye and&nbsp;demand to be noticed.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing perennials.

Perennials

When you&#39;ve crammed every inch of space on the ground with plants, the only way is up. Clothe your walls&nbsp;in greenery and smother your sheds in flowers to double your planting space and turn your garden into a&nbsp;green sanctuary from the outside world in sunny %locations%.

<div>Climbers are one of the most versatile groups of plants in our garden centre and we&#39;ve got a great selection&nbsp;for you to choose from. Here are our favourites:</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Clematis come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiny starry flowers of &#39;Pixie&#39; to big, blowsy &#39;Rouge Cardinal&#39;.&nbsp;Winter-flowering clematis have pretty seedheads while Clematis montana is a froth of flowers in April.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Wisteria is the ultimate in show-off climbers with its head-turning racemes of headily scented flowers in early&nbsp;summer.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) covers the uprights of pergolas and arches with glossy&nbsp;evergreen leaves and scented white flowers and never outstays its welcome.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Honeysuckles are the perfect backdrop to a cottage garden, smothered in tubular flowers all summer and&nbsp;filling the garden with scent and punch-drunk bumblebees.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Passionflowers are far hardier than they look, especially the stop-you-in-your-tracks purple fringed&nbsp;whirligigs of Passiflora caerulea.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing climbers.</div>

Climbers

Harvesting vegetables from your garden is hugely satisfying, and you&#39;ll revolutionise your tastebuds:&nbsp;food picked just minutes before it&#39;s on your plate has a colour, flavour and crunchiness that have to be&nbsp;experienced to be believed.

We have everything in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre to turn your garden into a haven of productivity: here&#39;s a selection&nbsp;to get you started.

Seeds: most veg are grown from seeds, from tomatoes to carrots and lettuces. Take your pick from the huge&nbsp;range in our garden centre; we&#39;ve also got ready-spaced seed tapes and delicious heritage vegetables for&nbsp;you to try.

Sets and seed potatoes: from early spring we stock seed potatoes, plus onions, shallots and garlic from&nbsp;sets &ndash; easy-to-handle baby bulbs to plant straight into the ground.

Plug plants: for the ultimate in convenience we also stock plug plants -baby veg plants ready to go straight&nbsp;into containers or out into the garden.

Perennial vegetables: great value for money, these include some real delicacies: in our garden centre you&#39;ll&nbsp;find asparagus crowns, able to crop for 20 years, and stately globe artichokes looking as good as they taste.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing vegetables.

Vegetables

Herbs have been grown in gardens for hundreds of years: most have a long history, handed down from&nbsp;generation to generation, with uses from medicine to cosmetics and beauty products to flavouring cooking.

They&#39;re easy-going plants which can be tucked into almost any corner of the garden, but to plunge yourself&nbsp;into their fascinating world dedicate a sunny spot to a herb garden. You&#39;ll find it&#39;s full of fragrance and flowers&nbsp;all summer: and best of all, it&#39;ll quickly become part of your daily routine to pick peppermint for your tea,&nbsp;marigolds to brew up some face cream, or a bay leaf or two for the evening meal.

To start you off, here are some essential herbs for your herb garden from the wide selection in our garden&nbsp;centre in&nbsp;%locations%:

Culinary: Mediterranean herbs to give your cooking flavour and colour, these include rosemary, bay, thyme,&nbsp;marjoram and parsley.

Medicinal: make teas and tisanes to boost your health and well-being with peppermint, chamomile,&nbsp;echinacea and lemon balm.

Cosmetic: moisturising cream, hair dye and face packs are all possible from herbs grown in your garden: try&nbsp;marigolds, soapwort (Saponaria), catmint and witch hazel.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs.

Herbs

Watching a seed germinate and grow is a hugely exciting part of your gardening year: you hardly dare&nbsp;believe it&#39;s going to work, yet invariably that tiny kernel sends up a sturdy green sprout. The plants you raise&nbsp;from seed are always a bit special, so this year try raising something new from the hundreds of varieties from&nbsp;our garden centre.

Annuals: hardy annuals like love-in-a-mist, marigolds and nasturtiums are easiest of all and provide&nbsp;incredibly long seasons of colour from a few seeds scattered direct into the ground in spring.

Half-hardy annuals include all the bedding plants: in our garden centre you&#39;ll find seed to sow under cover&nbsp;in spring for colourful containers all summer long including pelargoniums, petunias, surfinias and nemesia.

Perennials: several perennials are very easy from seed, flowering in their first year and coming back again&nbsp;and again. Try echinacea, rudbeckia, grasses like deschampsia and hardy geraniums from our range.

Vegetable seeds: our largest selection of seeds is reserved for the grow-your-own enthusiast, with every&nbsp;veg from cucumbers to swede. Our heritage ranges boast superb flavour, or for something completely&nbsp;different try exotic veg like tamarilloes.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about the seeds in our range.

Seeds

Bulbs aren&#39;t just for spring: you can have flowering bulbs in your garden all year round with a little planning.&nbsp;In our garden centre we stock bulbs seasonally, so you&#39;ll find spring and summer bulbs on sale in autumn,&nbsp;and late-season bulbs on our shelves in %locations%&nbsp;from spring. Choose bulbs for every season to enjoy colour from&nbsp;January till December:

Spring: bulbs are first on the scene with a splash of colour so don&#39;t stint on quantity: fill your garden with&nbsp;crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips from the fantastic range in our garden centre, and double your&nbsp;display by packing them into pots, too.

Summer: it&#39;s the turn of the real showstoppers in summer, and in our garden centre you&#39;ll find brilliantly-coloured dahlias, flamboyant lilies, sophisticated bearded irises and easy-going pompom allium bulbs.

Autumn: plant lipstick-pink nerines for a brilliant splash of colour in September: other autumn bulbs we stock&nbsp;include autumn-flowering saffron crocus, exotic-looking Gladiolus murielae and brilliant yellow Sternbergia.

Winter: tiny pink Cyclamen coum nod among the earliest snowdrops, while winter aconites and tiny, delicate&nbsp;winter-flowering irises like Iris danfordiae provide a cheery December splash of yellow.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about using bulbs in your garden.

Bulbs

Plants

Plants, Seeds & Bulbs

Pick the right tool for the right job, and you'll find things magically become easier. Specialist garden tools&nbsp;have been designed for every gardening task, and if you invest in the tool that's made for the activity you&nbsp;have planned, work becomes a pleasure.
Here are just some of the specialist gardening tools you can find in our garden centre:
Bulb planter: slice through the ground to remove a perfect cone of earth for planting your spring bulbs
Dibber: use the tip for making indentations in compost for seeds, or go deeper for transplanting seedlings
Edging knife: neaten up the tricky bits between flower border and lawn with an easy-to-use half moon edger
Draw hoe: pull up earth around potatoes to protect from frost and encourage lots of tasty tubers
Garden line: sowing in a straight line is a doddle when you mark out your drill with a simple garden line
Pruning knife: sharp, efficient, and small enough to slip into your back pocket: essential kit at cuttings time
Shears: specialist topiary shears clip tight corners, while general-purpose types keep hedges in good shape.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about which gardening tools to choose.

Special tools for the specialist gardener

There's a huge range of gardening tools nowadays – you'll find most of them on display in our garden centre.&nbsp;Though they're all great to have, there are some you'll use every time you go in the garden. All these are&nbsp;available in our garden centre in %locations%.
Digging spade: makes heavy-duty soil turning jobs easy. Lightweight, easy-clean stainless steel blades are&nbsp;best.
Garden fork: great for digging stony soils, mixing in a layer of compost, or weeding larger areas.
Hand trowel: essential for transplanting seedlings and planting bulbs: blades marked with measurements&nbsp;make judging planting distances easy
Weeding fork: careful weeding among established plants needs an easy-to-manoeuvre hand fork.
Secateurs: back-pocket essentials for all gardeners at pruning time, but also for dead-heading and taking&nbsp;cuttings
Watering can: from one-litre seedling cans to 10-litre behemoths, a watering can makes sure plants never&nbsp;go short
Wheelbarrow: the garden workhorse, whether you're pruning roses, barrowing muck or clearing a patch of&nbsp;weeds
Dutch hoe: hoe off weed seedlings once a week and you'll always have a pristine plot
Rake: use for raking spring seedbeds, levelling soil in summer, or gathering autumn leaves to make leaf&nbsp;mould soil conditioner.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information about choosing the tools which are right for&nbsp;you.

Must-have gardening tools

We're all different shapes and sizes as gardeners, so you wouldn't expect to feel comfortable using the same&nbsp;tools as your taller-than-average neighbour.
That's why it's important to choose tools that fit. It makes your gardening life more comfortable, and it's better&nbsp;for your health. If you work stooped over a fork that's too short, or struggle with a rake that's too tall, it's a&nbsp;recipe for a bad back and muscle problems. You should be able to work standing as straight and upright as&nbsp;possible, without straining your arms or shoulders.
Fortunately in our garden centre we have tools in a wide range of lengths and weights, so you can choose&nbsp;the one that suits you best.
Lift the tool as you would in the garden: is it the right weight, and not too heavy (or too light)? Grip the&nbsp;handle, too, to test it's a comfortable width.
Then stand it next to you. For an average height the length of handle is around 72cm, but we have longer&nbsp;and shorter in our garden centre.
We also have tools for gardeners with particular needs: left-handed secateurs, for example, or long-handled&nbsp;trowels for those who find it difficult to bend down.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information about how to make sure you choose tools&nbsp;which are right for you.

Choosing tools that fit

The centrepiece of every well-kept garden, an emerald green lawn sets off your plants to perfection and&nbsp;gives you a beautiful, soft space to sit and soak up the atmosphere.
Keeping your lawn in tip-top condition is easy when you've got the right tools, and luckily we've got just what&nbsp;you need right here in our garden centre. Here are a few essentials to get you started:
Lawnmower: the number one requirement for trim lawns, choose a mower to fit your garden. Push mowers&nbsp;are practical and environmentally friendly for tiny lawns: electric or petrol make short work of anything larger.
Half-moon edger: straightforward and comfortable to use, the half-moon blade slices those hairy, overgrown&nbsp;edges into a crisp, pleasing finish
Wire rake: rake up autumn leaves to make leafmould, then give your lawn (and yourself!) a workout by&nbsp;scarifying – raking out the old thatch to let the grass breathe
Garden fork: perfect for aerating lawns, punching drainage holes through the surface to let water flow away&nbsp;from the surface and down to the roots where it's needed.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about which tools to choose and how to use&nbsp;them.

Look after your lawn

Pruning is one of the most enjoyable jobs in the garden, whether you're sorting out tangled climbing roses,&nbsp;thinning blackcurrants or removing damaged tree branches.
Using the right tools for each cut helps you work more efficiently and the plant stays healthy - ragged cuts&nbsp;invite infection to set in.
We have a wide range of pruning tools to choose from in our garden centre. Here's what you need to get&nbsp;started:
Secateurs: used for branches up to 2cm diameter. Bypass secateur blades cut like scissors and are handy&nbsp;in tight corners; anvil secateurs are useful for hard, woody stems.
Loppers: for thicker branches, up to 5cm across. They're like giant secateurs, some with extendable&nbsp;handles and ratchet actions for extra cutting power.
Pruning saws: for medium-sized branches. Folding saws have hinged blades which pack away into the&nbsp;handle; larger fixed-handle blades eat through major jobs.
Bow saws: for large tree work. Lightweight 'D' shaped saws with a hacksaw-type blade for tricky corners.
Overhead pruners: when a branch is out of reach, this telescopic handle with both a lopper blade and&nbsp;pruning saw on the end is perfect.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information about choosing pruning tools for the job you&nbsp;need them for.

Cutting edge tools

Tools are a gardener&#39;s best friend &ndash; and top of the list come your trusty hand tools, pressed into daily service&nbsp;for everything from pruning to digging to sowing to weeding.

In our garden centre you&#39;ll find the basic kit for starting out: border spades and forks to turn your soil, hand&nbsp;tools for close-up weeding and secateurs for pruning, trimming and dead-heading.

For trickier jobs there&#39;s a huge variety of more specialist tools in our garden centre. We have hoes to suit&nbsp;every purpose, whether it&#39;s earthing up potatoes or more delicate weeding; and our range of rakes make&nbsp;short work of levelling seedbeds, collecting autumn leaves or clearing up debris.

Pruning tools are an essential part of a gardener&#39;s armoury: in our garden centre you&#39;ll find loppers for&nbsp;thicker branches or if you&#39;re really getting stuck in, pruning saws and bowsaws for the big jobs. Plus we have&nbsp;specialist weeding tools for winkling weeds out of the toughest corners; garden knives for everything from&nbsp;cutting string to taking cuttings; and everything you could need by way of dibbers, brooms and bulb planters.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about the range of hand tools we&nbsp;have in stock.

Hand tools

Wicker baskets from the range available in our garden centre make a wonderfully natural setting for bulbs, pansies and primulas. But for a display as productive as it is beautiful, plant your basket with a selection of herbs. It makes a charming gift – and it's perfect for spoiling yourself, too.
Pick out a style and colour that catches your eye, in the largest size you can afford: larger baskets hold more&nbsp;compost, so don't need watering as often, and you can include a wider range of herbs.
If the basket doesn't already have a liner, cut polythene to fit and punch holes in it for drainage. This holds in&nbsp;moisture, and also protects the wicker. Then add a layer of gravel for drainage.
Fill your basket with multipurpose compost mixed with a handful or two of horticultural grit - both are&nbsp;available in our garden centre. Then get planting!
Shrubby herbs like rosemary and thyme are fragrant and last years. But leave space for some annuals, too,&nbsp;like spicy basil or French tarragon. You'll find all these herbs and more to choose from in our garden centre.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing baskets and herbs&nbsp;for your display.
&nbsp;

Herb baskets

There's a huge choice of containers available in our garden centre in %locations%, but two types remain most popular: clay&nbsp;terracotta, or versatile plastic. So which is best for you?
Terracotta has the look of a richly organic traditional material, yet you'll find angular modern designs among&nbsp;the traditional clay in our garden centre.
Terracotta pots are heavier, and also have porous sides, allowing air and water to pass through and letting&nbsp;plants' roots 'breathe'. This means you'll need to water more often: lining the inside with plastic (punched with&nbsp;drainage holes) helps. You'll find pots in our garden centre are labelled 'frost resistant' so they won't flake or&nbsp;crack in the cold: putting them up on pot 'feet' also helps prevent frost damage.
Plastic is light and lasts ages, and there's a dazzling range in our garden centre. Modern plastic finishes can&nbsp;look almost identical to terracotta, so you can still get the traditional look.
They hold on to water more easily, needing less watering and a perfect environment for plants like&nbsp;blueberries which like to sit in damper compost. Drought-lovers like Mediterranean herbs, though, prefer&nbsp;terracotta.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing between plastic or&nbsp;terracotta containers for your garden.

Plastic vs terracotta

Containers are brilliantly versatile, and you can use them to create whatever mood you want in your garden in %locations%&nbsp;– whether it's lushly tropical, or funky and stylish. Here's how:
Container colour: Paint raised garden boxes or wooden containers – both available in our garden centre –&nbsp;to create quirky colour-themed container gardens. Oil-based stains are low-key and tasteful; or try waterproof&nbsp;marine paints in vibrant colours. Echo stem or flower colours for a really striking effect.
Plant style: For the jungly look, pick big plants with lush-looking leaves: phormiums, hardy gingers and&nbsp;bamboos all thrive in large containers. For container cottage gardens, plant small-flowered geraniums at the&nbsp;feet of container-grown apple trees. Architectural palms, bamboos and echeverias create a minimalist, clean&nbsp;look. All are available, plus many more, in our garden centre.
Mood management: Clashing colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel such as purple and yellow&nbsp;create vibrant, exciting moods, as do hot colours: red salvias, yellow chrysanthemums and orange daylilies,&nbsp;for example. Harmonious colours – blues, purples, reds – are soothing and calming: pastel shades and white&nbsp;also turn the pressure right down.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about creating containers for&nbsp;special effects in your garden.

Container moods

Whatever size your garden, containers are likely to feature. Tulips packed into big oak barrels look fabulous&nbsp;even among rolling acres: and if all you have is a handkerchief-sized yard, pots are your garden in %locations%.
Choose with care from the extensive range in our garden centre so the right pot is in the right place. Here&nbsp;are a few tips:
A few larger pots are better than lots of little ones: large pots make a great statement and have a greater&nbsp;volume of compost so need less watering.
Choose the pot to suit your situation: lightweight plastic is more sensible than weighty terracotta on roof&nbsp;gardens; and match pots to their environment. Modernist planters sit uncomfortably in a rural idyll.
Theme your containers: decide your style from the start: modernist metal, or traditional terracotta? Painted&nbsp;ceramic or warm wood? If all your containers follow a single theme it pulls your display together.
Choose the container to fit your plants: Shallow-rooted salads, herbs and flowers thrive in as little as&nbsp;15cm of soil, so are happy in trays, windowboxes and troughs. Save big, roomy pots for hefty bananas or&nbsp;container-grown fruit trees.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing containers for your&nbsp;garden.

Right pot, right place

Most plants will grow quite happily in containers and you can make just as fabulous a display using plants in&nbsp;containers as you can in the garden - great news if you&#39;re short on outdoor space. In our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you&#39;ll&nbsp;find a container for every plant: just match your plants to the pot that suits it best for instant success.

Pots come in a huge range of styles and materials from ceramic to terracotta, stainless steel and stone. Let&nbsp;your imagination run riot creating mixed displays of perennials and shrubs in larger pots for instant impact.

Troughs and grow spaces work brilliantly for growing vegetables on the patio. Place troughs against a wall&nbsp;to grow climbing beans, or divide a grow space as small as 1m x 1m into squares for planting a surprisingly&nbsp;wide variety of fruit and veg.

Hanging baskets brighten up the dingiest of entrance ways with brilliant scarlet pelargoniums or, for&nbsp;something different, tumbling tomatoes or chillies. In our garden centre you&#39;ll find not only the baskets but&nbsp;also liners and water-retaining gel to mix into the compost to hold on to moisture for longer.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing containers.

Containers

Garden & Outdoor

gardening accessories

When all you want is a comfy place to sit and hang out with your friends, sometimes there's nothing better&nbsp;than a big pile of squashy beanbags. Until recently that's only been an option for indoors – but now there's a&nbsp;fantastic range of weatherproof outdoor beanbags and oversized cushions available in our garden centre in %locations%.
Mix and match: choose different colours to suit your mood, from zingy blues, purples or yellows to make&nbsp;your party go with a swing, to cool white or black for a more stylish soirée. There are even shaped beanbag&nbsp;outdoor armchairs and sofas.
Great for children: kids love child-sized picture beanbags, and they're super-practical: the waterproof&nbsp;polyester covers are also wipe-clean, so sticky finger marks and spills disappear in seconds. Teenagers love&nbsp;funky coloured beanbags, too: they might even venture out into the garden from time to time.
Style statement: Scatter a few beanbags over a deck, and use them to pick out a few of the colours in&nbsp;surrounding plants to really pull your design together: slatey purple to match heuchera leaves, perhaps, or&nbsp;bright scarlet to echo crocosmia flowers.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about outdoor cushions and&nbsp;beanbags for your garden.

Make yourself comfortable

&#39;What is life, if full of care we have no time to stand and stare?&#39; So said Welsh poet W H Davies &ndash; and it&#39;s a&nbsp;good motto for gardeners. Take time out to simply enjoy being in the garden you&#39;ve so lovingly created.

Seating in the garden in %locations%&nbsp;slows the pace, providing a spot to pause and take in the view, and there&#39;s a great&nbsp;range of benches and chairs in our garden centre. Here are just some of the designs.

Formal wooden seats: including the ever-popular Lutyens bench, these well-crafted early 20th century&nbsp;designs look fabulous in country gardens.

Wrought-iron: a Gothic design popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with ornate backs and&nbsp;scrolled arms, these look wonderful in Victorian-style gardens.

Contemporary style: clean lines, minimalist shapes and cool colours mark out modernist benches and&nbsp;chairs in sleek wood or moulded plastic - perfect for chic city gardens.

Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing chairs and&nbsp;benches for your garden.

Sitting pretty

Hanging chairs are the very latest in gardening style: not only beautiful sculptural pieces that make your&nbsp;garden bang on trend, but also incredibly comfortable. These are chairs you sink into, enveloping you in a&nbsp;little cocoon of luxury. The range of styles is amazing, and we have several for you to choose from in our&nbsp;garden centre in %locations%.
A cool, modern option is a hand-crafted wooden spiral in birch ply, folding flat when not in use (great for &nbsp;city gardens). 'Nest' style baskets like pods come in wicker or simple cotton: fill with cushions and curl up&nbsp;inside with a book. Shell chairs in patterned metal or wicker make sleek, sophisticated statements under the&nbsp;dappled shade of a tree, while hammock chairs made from high quality cotton are great for more informal&nbsp;gardens.
To suspend your chair, one practical and flexible option is a free-standing frame. But you can also hang&nbsp;them from a strong tree branch, the rafter of a pergola or a bracket attached to the house or an arch: just&nbsp;make sure your chosen support is strong enough to take your weight and that of the chair.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about hanging seats for your&nbsp;garden.

Hanging around

The moment the sun comes out, everyone in Britain heads outside to enjoy the garden. Whether it's a spot&nbsp;of sunbathing, or an al fresco dinner party, furnishing your outdoor space comfortably makes those precious&nbsp;summer moments go with a swing.
We have outdoor furniture in dozens of styles in our garden centre in %locations%: to help you choose, ask yourself these&nbsp;questions first.
Wooden, metal or plastic? Wooden furniture is warm to sit on; coat regularly with teak oil to keep it looking&nbsp;good. Metal is an elegant choice: add cushions for comfort. Plastic is economic and very durable.
How much room have I got? Making the best use of the space you've got by measuring the area&nbsp;accurately and plotting on graph paper what size of furniture would fit best.
Is the style right? Blend your furniture with the wider garden's design: for minimalist city spaces, choose&nbsp;funky modern styles, while traditional wood or metal suit rural country gardens.
What about storage? If you've got a garage or shed, folding furniture packs away easily for winter. If not&nbsp;protective covers, available in our garden centre, keep furniture in tip-top condition.
Please ask the staff in our %locations% garden centre for more information and advice about choosing furniture for your&nbsp;garden.

A room outside

Once colder weather arrives and the nights draw in, you'll want to retreat indoors and cosy up to a roaring&nbsp;fire rather than braving the elements outdoors. But before closing the back door behind you, take some time&nbsp;to tuck your garden furniture up for winter in %locations%.
Plastic and canvas fade and discolour left outdoors, so bring chairs, parasols and cushions in to a dry shed&nbsp;or garage. Folding canvas chairs, available in our garden centre, are ideal for easy storage.
Wood can be left outdoors but a quick once-over with teak oil keeps it supple (only apply when the wood is&nbsp;dry). Follow up by soaking each leg in pots of wood preservative overnight.
Metal furniture is treated with anti-rust agent and coated against the damp, but if the surface has been&nbsp;damaged touch it up straight away using matching car or metal paint.
Covers are available in our garden centre so you can leave garden furniture outside yet safely out of the&nbsp;weather. Made from weather-proof fabric, they're fitted in minutes – though make sure your furniture is dry&nbsp;before putting them on.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about how to care for your garden&nbsp;furniture over winter.

Winter care for garden furniture

You too can grow fruit – even if you don't have a garden. Almost all fruit trees and bushes can be grown in&nbsp;containers, and more exotic fruits, like peaches and nectarines, do better in a pot as they can be protected&nbsp;more easily. Here are our top tips for growing fruit in pots:
Which container? Choose terracotta or plastic planters about 7cm larger than the plant's rootball from the&nbsp;range available in our garden centre. Re-pot into larger containers each year.
Which compost? Soil-based composts such as John Innes no 3 are available in our garden centre and are&nbsp;ideal for fruit as they hold on to nutrients for longer. Don't use garden soil as it doesn't drain well enough.
Which stake? Most container-grown trees need staking. Sturdy tree stakes and bamboo canes 8cm in&nbsp;diameter are available in our garden centre: sink to the bottom of the pot and tie in loosely.
Which feed? We have specialist feeds for potted fruit, such as citrus feed for lemon trees, in our garden&nbsp;centre, and also slow-release fertilisers such as Osmocote and pelleted chicken manure for other fruit trees.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing fruit in containers.

Container fruit

Fruit trees are usually grafted – that is, the top, fruiting part of the tree is attached to roots which control the&nbsp;size and other factors like disease resistance. These are known as rootstocks, and it's important to choose&nbsp;a tree with the right rootstock for what you want to do. Here's a quick guide to those you'll find at our %locations%&nbsp;garden&nbsp;centre:
Apples: 
M27: very dwarfing, growing to 1.8m: the best choice for decorative 'stepover' apples.
M9: dwarfing, to about 2m: the best choice for cordons.
M26: general-purpose dwarf rootstock, to about 3m: great for minarettes, cordons and espaliers.
MM106: grows up to 5m and ideal for full-sized trees.
Pears: 
Quince C is usually the only rootstock for pears as it's suitable for almost anything. Grows to about 5m.
Plums and damsons: 
Pixy: dwarf roostock suitable for fans and cordons, with a height of 3m
St Julien 'A': the most useful for garden trees, and more vigorous than Pixy at about 5m
Cherries: 
Gisela 5 and Tabel: Dwarfing, growing to about 2m, and ideal for fans
Colt: produces a full-sized bush tree to about 5m tall
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing the right rootstock&nbsp;for your fruit trees.

Rootstocks made simple

Squeezing fruit trees into a small garden isn't as impossible as it seems. Train fruit against fences and you'll&nbsp;not only fit in one tree – you can choose several from the mouthwatering range in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre. Here&nbsp;are some great ideas for fitting fruit into the smallest of gardens:
Minarettes: Vertical upright stems laden with fruit on short spurs. Great for growing in containers or for pretty&nbsp;vertical accents in your garden. Use for: apples, pears, plums and cherries.
Cordons: Also single-stemmed, but trained at 45º to encourage more fruit. Spaced 75cm apart you'll fit four&nbsp;varieties into just 3m. Use for: apples, pears, redcurrants, gooseberries
Espaliers: vertical stems with tiers of horizontal branches trained out at 30cm intervals along wires. A&nbsp;beautiful way to cover walls and fences. Use for: apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches
Fans: branches are splayed out from two arms at the base in an even fan across the wall. Use for: plums,&nbsp;cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots
Stepovers: like cordons but bent at right angles and trained horizontally to a wire at 45cm above the ground.&nbsp;They make wonderful edging. Use for: apples
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing fruit trees in small&nbsp;spaces.

Fruit trees for small spaces

Shrubs with brilliantly-coloured berries are a real asset to the winter garden. They'll shine from the border&nbsp;when there's little else around, and their generous loads of fruit bring in birds from miles around.
Here are our top five berrying shrubs from the range in our garden centre:
Beauty bush (Callicarpa bodinieri): clusters of downy lilac flowers in mid-summer are followed by dense&nbsp;clusters of jewel-like violet blue berries. Grows to about 2m.
Skimmia japonica: sprays of frothy white flowers in late spring are only followed by 8mm bright red berries if you've got both female and male plants. 50cm x 50cm
Firethorn (Pyracantha): comes with red, orange or yellow berries and much-loved by birds, pyracantha can&nbsp;be trained in tiers against a wall for a colourful and architectural winter feature. To 1.5m tall.
Pheasant berry (Leycesteria formosa): bamboo-like green canes and tassels of claret-coloured blooms&nbsp;give way to glossy purple berries ripening in late autumn. Height is 1.8m.
Spindle (Euonymus alatus): one of our most spectacular native shrubs, the curious corky winged bark&nbsp;carries reddish-purple four-lobed fruits, opening to reveal brilliant orange seeds. Grows to about 2m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing shrubs which have&nbsp;berries.

Berrying shrubs

Evergreen and reliable, conifers are elegant trees with sculptural foliage, beautiful cones and sometimes&nbsp;autumn colour, too. Several are compact enough to fit into a smaller garden: here are five of our favourites&nbsp;from the range available in our garden centre.
Korean fir (Abies koreana): Startling steel-blue needles make this fir stand out: it's a low, wide-spreading&nbsp;tree, and the cones are purplish blue too. Grows, slowly, to about 3m.
Cryptomeria japonica: Very handsome upright tree with sweeping blue-green branches ('Elegans Aurea' is&nbsp;yellow-green) which flush bronze in late autumn. Grows between five and 10m tall depending on variety.
Picea pungens 'Globosa': Low-growing spruce which gradually forms a spreading dome of sharp, stiff grey-&nbsp;green needles. The height and spread are just one metre.
Columnar yew (Taxus baccata 'Standishii'): Evergreen yews are great in small gardens as they're easily&nbsp;clipped into shape. 'Standishii' does it all by itself, forming a golden column 1m tall and just 18cm wide.
Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba): The conifer that doesn't look like a conifer: ginkgos are airy trees with&nbsp;delicate-looking fan-shaped leaves which turn butter-yellow before falling in autumn. Reaches 5-10m tall.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing conifers suitable&nbsp;for small gardens.

Conifers for small gardens

Any colour in the depths of winter is doubly valuable. But with scented flowers and jewel-like berries to enjoy&nbsp;too, you'll want to spend as much time outside during the colder months of the year as you do in summer.
We've picked five of the best shrubs to plant in your winter garden from the range in our garden centre.
Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn': Clusters of sweetly-scented pink-tinged flowers open from early winter to&nbsp;early spring. Grows to about 2m.
Daphne mezereum: Incredibly sweet-scented reddish-pink flowers are borne in small clusters along bare&nbsp;stems in late winter, followed by sumptuous shiny red berries. Height 1.2m.
Winter-flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima): The powerfully fragrant creamy-yellow blooms&nbsp;of this loose-growing shrub fill the air with perfume through winter. Reaches about 2m tall.
Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa): The creamy flowers of shiny evergreen Christmas box are tiny, but&nbsp;they pack a huge punch in the perfume department in midwinter. Grows to 1m tall.
Mahonia x media 'Charity': Sculptural evergreen leaves like giant holly are topped with sweetly-fragrant&nbsp;yellow flower spikes, at their best in late autumn to winter. Grows to around 3m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing shrubs which look&nbsp;good in winter.

Best winter shrubs

In smaller gardens, every plant has to earn its keep, and that's particularly true for trees. Luckily plenty of&nbsp;trees look good in every season: here's our pick of the best from the range in our garden centre.
Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier lamarckii): pearly white blossom in spring with coppery young foliage,&nbsp;followed by little black berries and brilliant autumn colour. Reaches about 10m tall.
Willows (Salix spp): look for varieties with brilliantly coloured red, green or purple bark: also has furry&nbsp;pussywillow buds in winter and deep green foliage. Grows to 10m.
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp): cascades of scented spring blossom are followed by brilliant red berries and a&nbsp;firework display of autumn colour. Anything from 5m to 8m tall, depending on species.
Autumn-flowering cherry (Prunus x subhirtella): the pale pink flowers appear in little bursts from&nbsp;November throughout the winter, with leaves turning fiery orange in autumn. Grows to 9m tall.
Rowan (Sorbus spp): clusters of white flowers in spring are followed by heavy crops of berries in red, white&nbsp;or yellow. Leaves turn brilliant shades in autumn. Grows to 7m.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing trees for year-&nbsp;round colour.

Trees for year-round colour

A froth of roses scrambling over an arbour or smothering a wall, filling the air with a heavenly rich scent, turn&nbsp;a garden into a romantic paradise. Among the many climbing rose varieties in our garden centre, though,&nbsp;you'll find both climbers and ramblers – so what's the difference?
<ul>
<li>rambling roses usually flower just the once, in a huge and spectacular display, with clusters of&nbsp;smaller flowers</li>
<li>climbers are a little more restrained, but they'll flower throughout summer producing larger individual&nbsp;flowers</li>
<li>ramblers tend to produce lots of whippy young growth from the base: they're generally&nbsp;more 'tangled' looking.</li>
<li>climbers are more sculptural, with stiff main</li>
<li>branches – often forming brown bark, like trunks - and&nbsp;secondary younger green branches</li>
<li>ramblers are pruned by cutting out around a third of the oldest stems each year after flowering right&nbsp;to the base, to encourage plenty of healthy young growth: train horizontally for more flowers</li>
<li>climbers are pruned into an arching horizontal framework of permanent mature branches in winter,cutting back sideshoots to two or three buds to encourage plenty of blossoms next year.</li>
</ul>
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about climbing and rambling roses.
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Climber or rambler?

Imagine filling every vase in the house to overflowing with blowsy roses dripping with colour and scent. Well,&nbsp;if you grow your own roses for cutting, you can have that luxury every day.
Almost any roses look lovely in a vase, but for truly show-stopping displays look for varieties with long, sturdy&nbsp;stems, scent and long-lasting flowers. Here are five of our favourites from the range in our garden centre.
'William Shakespeare 2000': such a dark crimson it looks almost black, and strongly scented, this modern&nbsp;rose is disease resistant and long lasting in the vase.
'Princess Alexandra': one of the best cutting roses, with single headed magenta flowers on very long&nbsp;stems. It lasts over a week indoors.
'Charles de Mills': vibrant and intensely-coloured in rich purple, this old-fashioned rose lasts ages once cut&nbsp;and has a rich perfume.
'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain': this sumptuous old-fashioned rose is still a favourite today for its crumpled&nbsp;double blooms in rich velvety claret and exquisite scent.
'Iceberg': among the most reliable roses you can grow, with pure white flowers that just keep coming: the&nbsp;more you pick, the more it produces.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing roses as cut&nbsp;flowers.

Roses for cutting

The irresistibly sweet, sultry scent of the rose has inspired Shakespearean sonnets, films, songs and stories&nbsp;like no other. Growing roses goes hand in hand with filling your garden with perfume, and there are dozens&nbsp;of richly fragrant roses to choose from in our garden centre. We've picked five of our favourites:
'Zéphyrine Drouhin' is a wonderful deep pink climbing rose, smothering walls and fences in a waterfall of&nbsp;sumptuous double flowers with a lovely, heady scent.
'Graham Thomas' is a striking butterscotch-yellow rose with generous flowers and a deliciously fresh&nbsp;perfume. It was voted the world's most popular rose in 2003.
'Mme Isaac Perreire' is one of the most romantic of old-fashioned cottage garden roses, with big, blowsy&nbsp;double pink flowers and a superbly sweet, rich fragrance.
'Roseraie de l'Hay' is nothing if not dramatic: deep wine-red, with masses of flowers with a spicy, clove-like&nbsp;scent followed by big red hips in autumn.
'Gertrude Jekyll' has an intoxicating old-rose perfume but it's a modern rose, bred to combine the old-&nbsp;fashioned scent of traditional roses with the strong, disease-free growth of today's plants.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about scented roses for your&nbsp;garden.

Roses for scent

The freshest, purest roses you can grow are those which are closest to nature. Their delicate, natural flowers&nbsp;disguise a tough constitution: they grow almost anywhere and shrug off pests and diseases. And it doesn't&nbsp;stop there: spectacularly beautiful brilliant red hips carry on the display well into autumn and winter.
Here are some of our favourite wild roses from the range in our garden centre:
Winged thorn rose (Rosa pteracantha): famous for its blood-red sharks' fin thorns glowing like stained&nbsp;glass in sunshine. The flowers are delicate white, appearing in late spring.
Sweetbriar (Rosa eglanteria): possibly the most romantic name in the rose world, sweetbriar is an English&nbsp;native hedgerow rose with cheery pale-pink flowers followed by orange hips.
Rosa moschata: very late to flower, beginning its display of simple white flowers in September and at its&nbsp;best in mid-October when most other plants are going to sleep.
Geraniuim rose (Rosa moyesii): brilliant scarlet single flowers followed by extraordinary hips like elongated&nbsp;goblets in sealing wax red
Burnet rose (Rosa spinosissima): a low-growing rose smothered in simple white flowers all summer,&nbsp;followed by marble-sized gleaming round near-black hips through autumn.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about growing wild 'species' roses.

Wild roses

Before you reach for the spray bottle, try flower power for tackling pests and diseases. Many common ailments from aphids to carrot fly can be kept at bay by planting annual flowers and herbs, readily available in our garden centre, alongside your veg in your %locations% garden. Here are a few to try:
Carrots and spring onions: carrot fly find their prey by smell, detecting carrot foliage a mile off. Plant pungent spring onions alongside, though, and their smell confuses the flies completely.
Roses and garlic: a forest of garlic planted with roses produces essential oils the rose draws up into its system, making it taste revolting to aphids.
Broad beans and nasturtiums: blackflies enjoy nasturtiums even more than broad bean shoots – so plant these annual flowers with beans and the flies abandon your veg for them.
Tomatoes and French marigolds (Tagetes): Another strongly-scented plant, whitefly hate the smell of French marigolds, so plant with tomatoes to keep them whitefly-free.
Lettuce and chervil: you'll have lettuce minus the aphids if you grow them alongside a generous row of leafy chervil: some say slugs dislike it, too. Both make great salad ingredients.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about using herbs and annuals as companion plants.

Good companions

Just imagine a meadow full of flowers outside your back door. It's a dream many gardeners share: and it can&nbsp;come true if you plant one of the popular annual meadow mixes, available in our garden centre. Here's how:
Preparing the ground: annual meadows need good garden soil, unlike traditional hay meadows (wild&nbsp;meadows grow best on poor land, which is why they're so hard to establish in gardens). So weed the site,&nbsp;add organic matter and rake it into a fine tilth just like you would for sowing any seed.
Choosing your mix: Cornfield annual mixes include poppies, corn marigolds and corncockle; or choose a&nbsp;blend for short stems (around 40cm tall) or perhaps combining particular colours: red flax, black-eyed Susan&nbsp;and Californian poppies, for example, for a hot-coloured meadow.
Sowing and aftercare: mix seed with silver sand so it's easier to distribute evenly, then broadcast at about&nbsp;3g – a small-ish handful – per square metre. Rake in afterwards and water, then watch it grow. After you've&nbsp;enjoyed the display, clear the ground in autumn: some will re-seed but to get your special mix back again re-sow next spring.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about planting annual meadows.

Annual meadows

Annual flowers are among the easiest plants you can grow. They're ideal for filling gaps, or simply producing&nbsp;a dazzling display of colour from summer to the first frosts. There's a great choice of annuals in our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%: here's how to get perfect results every time.
Under cover: half-hardy annuals can't cope with frost: sow into pots in spring to plant out later 
1: Fill trays with seed compost: you'll find the equipment you need in our garden centre 
2: Place in a shallow bowl of water to soak up moisture from the bottom 
3: Sow seeds sparingly, and cover lightly with vermiculite or more compost 
4: Pot on seedlings as they grow, then plant out after the last frost.
Direct outside: hardy annuals can be sown straight into the garden from March 
1: Weed the bed and rake the whole site level. Water if necessary. 
2: Mark areas for each type of seed, dividing the bed into irregular sections 
3: Make drills 1/2cm deep within each section to identify your seedlings as they come up in lines 
4: Sow sparingly into each drill, cover lightly with soil and water
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing annuals from seed.

Sowing annuals

One of the great luxuries of gardening is collecting armfuls of cheerful flowers for filling vases to overflowing&nbsp;with colour and scent for the house. Some of the best flowers for picking are easy-going annuals, and we've&nbsp;picked our top ten from the wide range available in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre.
Bupleurum: lime-green flowers and foliage, contrasting perfectly with brighter colours
Cosmos: graceful daisy-like flowers on 90cm tall stems: 'Purity' is exquisite white, and 'Dazzler' is vivid pink
Ammi majus: frothing umbels of pure white flowers, like an elegant cowparsley
Tobacco plant (Nicotiana): tall, airy flowers in colours from white to pink to lime green
Snapdragons (Antirrhinum): pretty cottage-garden flowers with generous blooms
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus): blue is the classic colour, but they come in white, pink or darkest purple
Sweetpeas (Lathyrus odoratus): choose Spencer types for scent, and Grandifloras for big, blowsy flowers
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella): exquisite starry blue or white flowers are followed by architectural seedheads
Larkspur (Consolida): a rich royal blue flower with tall spikes produced till the first frosts
Bells of Ireland (Molucella laevis): curious curving spikes of vivid green bell-like flowers veined with cream
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about annual flowers you can pick&nbsp;for the house.

Annuals for picking

One of the best things about having a garden packed with annual flowers is that it's also full of wildlife.&nbsp;Butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects like hoverflies adore open annual flowers: birds will be hot on&nbsp;their heels after the big, generous seedheads.
Here's our pick of the five best varieties from the range in our garden centre to attract insects into your %locations% garden.
For butterflies:
Marigolds (Calendula officinalis): cheery orange flowers which are adored by butterflies 
Honesty (Lunaria annua): lots of simple, open pink or white flowers butterflies can reach easily 
Stocks (Matthiola): the scent of these cottage-garden favourites attracts butterflies in from miles around
For bees:
Phacelia tanacetifolia: fuzzy smoke-blue flowers on dense foliage which bees find irresistible 
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus): choose native blue types and they'll be smothered in bees 
Forget-me-not (Myosotis): these late-spring arrivals provide much-needed early nectar for emerging bees
For birds:
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus): leave old sunflower heads in place for upside-down bluetits to feast on 
Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena): architectural seedheads provide valuable food for birds 
Teasels (Dipsacus fullonum): biennial, flowering in its second year, goldfinches adore spiky teasel heads
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing annuals to attract&nbsp;wildlife.

Annuals for wildlife

In many ways, gardening in containers is no different to any other kind: to keep that spectacular display&nbsp;going you need a few tricks up your sleeve. Follow our top tips to keep your containers fresh and inspiring all&nbsp;year round:
Plant for every season: pots of spring bulbs are over by May, so have fresh containers in the wings ready&nbsp;to take over. Dazzling summer bedding plants, on offer in our garden centre, take you into autumn, when&nbsp;brilliantly-coloured acers followed by winter pansies and red dogwood stems see the season out.
Plant successionally: veg in containers are best sown in threes. One container ready to pick, one growing&nbsp;up ready to take over, and the third just sown keep you picking without pause: this technique works for baby&nbsp;salad leaves, carrots, peas and beetroot.
Look after your plants: plants grown in pots need watering every day in summer – automatic dripper&nbsp;systems, available in our garden centre, do the job for you. Add slow-release fertiliser such as Osmocote&nbsp;granules to the compost or liquid feed weekly, and remove dead blooms to keep the flowers coming.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about keeping your container&nbsp;displays lasting for longer.

Container displays to last

Keeping a display going from May to September is usually a tricky juggling act involving careful choice of&nbsp;plants to flower one after the other, and luck.
You can make things easier by simply controlling when your perennials flower, using a trick known as&nbsp;the 'Chelsea chop' – because you do it when the Chelsea Flower Show is on, around the end of May.
This works well with lots of perennials, and you'll find most of them in our garden centre. They include&nbsp;daisies: dyer's chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria), echinacea and helenium; and many cottage garden&nbsp;favourites like Phlox paniculata, sedums and goldenrod (Solidago).
At the end of May, use secateurs (found in our garden centre) to cut back every stem by a third to a half. It&nbsp;seems brutal, but all you're doing is delaying flowering for a while. Cut back some clumps and not others,&nbsp;and some flower at the normal time with a second display arriving a few weeks later.
You'll find plants grow sturdier and less leggy – so you don't need to stake them: you get double the flower&nbsp;power, too. So get chopping!
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about using the Chelsea chop to&nbsp;delay flowering.

The Chelsea Chop

If a garden were a picture, trees and shrubs would make the frame, but the paint would be perennials,&nbsp;bringing the whole thing to life with colour and movement.
Here are our top tips for picking combinations from the fantastic choice of perennials in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;to&nbsp;make your garden a work of art.
Design in triangles to avoid a 'blobby' effect. Combine tall verticals – say, foxgloves - with hummocky&nbsp;shapes like geraniums and low-growing horizontal ground cover.
Contrast shapes to bring out the best in your plants. Look for opposites: strappy-leaved daylilies with broad-&nbsp;leaved heucheras, or upright, airy grasses with daisy flowered rudbeckia.
Use repetition to pull your design together. Several bold clumps of the same variety of helenium at strategic&nbsp;points, for example, make the garden feel whole.
Manage colour to create the mood you want. Zingy reds and oranges with clashing blues and purples are&nbsp;exciting, whereas similar shades together calm things down.
Plant in groups or drifts for real impact. Odd numbers work best: three is a minimum but you can go up to&nbsp;nine, eleven or fifteen plants at a time for real wow factor.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about designing with perennials.
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Designing with perennials

There's a spell in late August when the garden can hit the doldrums. Late summer is a tricky time, when the&nbsp;main razzmatazz is over and plants start to tire.
Get the show going again with some of the many perennials you'll find in our garden centre which are at their&nbsp;best in late summer. Here are our top ten:
Helenium 'Moorheim Beauty' starts in July: its coppery-red daisy like flowers go on for months
Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji' froths with fragrant white flowers into autumn
Aconitum 'Sparks Variety' flowers till late September with spires of midnight blue
Plume poppy (Macleaya microcarpa) is a dramatic, towering perennial with handsome foliage
Red hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria) has spires of tubular flowers from red to pale yellow
Aster 'Little Carlow' is one of many Michaelmas daisies, with cheerful lilac flowers
Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert' carries pure white flowers on dancing stems till autumn
Penstemon 'Garnet' has deep wine red foxglove-like spires till October
Sedum 'Ruby Glow' tops succulent purple leaves with flat ruby-red flowerheads
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' produces fiery red sprays of tubular flowers from August
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about perennials that look good in&nbsp;late summer.

Late summer perennials

Perennials play an exuberant starring role in vibrant summer displays – but you may be surprised to know&nbsp;there are many which perform well into winter.
In our garden centre we've got plenty of perennials to bring colour to the garden through even the coldest&nbsp;months: here are five of our favourites.
Bergenia are also known as elephants' ears: big, broad, leathery leaves turn shades of red and purple in&nbsp;autumn and stay evergreen all winter. Fat flower spires top the display in spring.
Heuchera foliage comes in every colour from lime green to deep purple: they have pretty flower spires in&nbsp;summer but in winter make bright splash of welcome colour.
Hellebores are among our best-loved winter flowers: Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) flowers in December&nbsp;while H. orientalis starts in early spring. The handsome leaves are evergreen, too.
Cuckoo pint (Arum italicum) reverses the seasons, dying down in summer but returning in autumn with&nbsp;handsome marbled leaves and spikes of red berries.
Phlomis russeliana is one of many perennials which holds architectural seedheads into winter, contrasting&nbsp;well with the equally sculptural winter remains of grass flowerheads.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about perennials that look good in&nbsp;winter.
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Winter perennials

The ultimate in warp-speed gardening, annual climbers shoot up fences and walls like rockets, smothering&nbsp;them in brilliantly-coloured flowers. They're easy to grow from seed – choose from the wide selection in our&nbsp;garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;– and let you create a new display every year, each one more colourful than the last. Here are&nbsp;our favourites:
<div>Spanish flag (Ipomoea lobata): brilliantly tropical-looking relative of morning glory, but with pennants of&nbsp;tubular flowers in flaming shades from red through orange to yellow.</div>
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<div>Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus): the easiest of all the annual climbers, sow pretty, fragrant sweet peas&nbsp;direct at the foot of a wigwam or in pots in October to overwinter for earlier flowers next season.</div>
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<div>Purple bell vine (Rhodochiton atrosanguineus): heart shaped green leaves covered with large deep red-purple flowers all summer.</div>
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<div>Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata): masses of simple, open flowers in all sorts of colours from brick red&nbsp;to bright orange, all with a perky black eye.</div>
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<div>Cup and saucer vine (Cobaea scandens): large inky purple flowers like bells with a frill of green behind are&nbsp;held on stems long enough to cut for flower arranging</div>
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<div>Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing annual climbers in&nbsp;your garden.</div>

Annual climbers

One of our best-loved climbers is the deliciously frothy clematis, at its best scrambling through roses or&nbsp;smothering a fence with an ocean of flowers. You'll find a clematis for every month of the year in our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%, but there's often confusion over when to prune them.
Don't worry: it's actually quite simple. All you need to know is roughly when your clematis flowers, and then&nbsp;you can follow our straightforward guide.
Don't prune:early-flowering clematis like C. alpina, C. armandii, C. cirrhosa, C. montana
If they're getting too big and need trimming back, do it just after they finish flowering in late spring:&nbsp;otherwise, don't touch
Prune in February: 
large-flowered clematis flowering in May and June, like 'Barbara Jackman' and 'Nelly Moser'&nbsp;light pruning to remove dead or weak stems down to a strong pair of healthy buds. If your plants are&nbsp;getting too big, cut them back harder late summer, after they've finished flowering&nbsp;and clematis that flower late, such as 'Etoile Violette', 'Gravetye Beauty' and C. viticella&nbsp;cut hard back to about 15cm above ground level, always cutting to just above a healthy bud.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about how to prune clematis.

Clematis pruning made simple

When space is tight, you'll want to use every inch you can to grow crops. And when you've run out of room&nbsp;on the ground, sometimes the only way is up.
Edible climbers do everything ornamental plants do - lush foliage, spectacular flowers, and often good&nbsp;autumn colour – but with the added bonus of a generous harvest. Here's a selection of the best from the&nbsp;range in our garden centre in %locations%.
Runner beans are straightforward to grow and incredibly generous, producing several pounds of long beans&nbsp;from every plant. 'Painted Lady' has bicoloured red-and-white flowers.
Loganberries are loose-stemmed shrubs, easily trained against a fence. The sweet, juicy berries look like&nbsp;oversized raspberries.
Grapevines drip with fruit when trained over arches: 'Boskoop Glory' has sweet, smoky purple dessert&nbsp;grapes, and its leaves turn brilliant scarlet in autumn.
Lablab beans are a recent arrival but are fast catching on for their handsome purple leaves and plum-&nbsp;coloured beans: sow from seed in May in a sunny spot.
Kiwi fruit are very hardy, despite their exotic-looking fruit with brown fuzzy skins and succulent bright green&nbsp;flesh. Choose a self-fertile variety like 'Jenny' or 'Solo'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing edible climbers.

Edible climbers

Grapevines make wonderful climbers to scramble over a wall or clothe a shed in green. In our garden centre&nbsp;you'll find varieties for sweet dessert grapes straight off the vine, and others for making deliciously fruity&nbsp;wine. Growing a grapevine outside in the garden isn't difficult: here's how.
Planting: dig plenty of organic matter into the soil, as grapevines are vigorous plants. Plant 15cm from the&nbsp;wall, to avoid the dry area at the base, and tie in loosely to a stake. Backfill, adding a handful of slow-release&nbsp;fertiliser, and water in well.
Pruning: grapes are pruned in December, when they're dormant, as they 'bleed' sap if pruned in summer.&nbsp;Leave your vine to grow for a year or two, then choose one shoot to train as the leader and snip back&nbsp;sideshoots to five or six leaves to encourage plenty of fruit.
Problems: powdery mildew covers leaves and fruit with a white, dusty coating and is most common when&nbsp;grapes go short of water. Prevent it by keeping your grape well watered and mulching the ground thickly to&nbsp;lock water into the soil, and look out for resistant varieties like 'Phoenix'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing grapevines.

Growing grapevines

When space is limited, you need ingenuity to get the most from your plot. Growing veg in containers is a&nbsp;lifeline for patio gardeners, and helps beef up the harvest from handkerchief-sized gardens, too. Follow our&nbsp;five rules for bumper container harvests every year:
Go large: bigger pots are definitely better, as the more your veg can spread their roots out, the happier&nbsp;they'll be. There's a range of roomy pots in our garden centre.
Mix and match: don't be afraid to grow several types of veg in the same pot. Plant quick-growing carrots&nbsp;around tall spinach, for example, to double your harvest.
Water, water, water: never let containers go dry: it's a recipe for bolting lettuces, drooping spinach and poor&nbsp;fruiting. Water daily in summer, adding liquid feed once a week.
Use your walls: troughs alongside fences and walls hold climbing beans and give you twice the space to&nbsp;play with. Nail trellis to the wall for support.
Choose the right varieties: veg with shallower roots, like beetroot, do best; or try varieties bred specially for&nbsp;pots. Look for 'patio', 'dwarf' or 'container' on seed packets in our garden centre.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations% for more information and advice about growing vegetables in&nbsp;containers.

Veg for containers

All the beauty products in your bathroom cabinet, from soaps to moisturiser, have their origins in plants, and&nbsp;many are easy to reproduce at home using herbs you can find in our garden centre in %locations%. Here are just some of&nbsp;the ways you can garden yourself beautiful:
Lavender bath water: put one part lavender flowers with two parts bay leaves, four parts fine oatmeal and four parts bran in a saucepan with water and simmer for an hour. Strain and add a cupful to your bath to&nbsp;guarantee a good night's sleep.
Marigold moisturiser: you'll find easy-to-grow pot marigold seed in our garden centre. Melt 150g&nbsp;emulsifying cream over a pan of boiling water, then add 70g glycerol and 80ml water and stir. Stir in 30g&nbsp;dried marigold petals, and simmer for three hours: strain and store in the fridge.
Herbal foot bath: pick a large handful of mixed fresh herbs: sage, thyme, sweet marjoram and bay work&nbsp;wonders. Put in a large bowl of boiling water with a tablespoon of salt and when it's cooled a little, sink your&nbsp;feet in. The ultimate reviver after a tiring day.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs to use as&nbsp;cosmetics.

Herbs for beauty

Bouquet garni is a traditional French method for using herbs in bunches to infuse a dish with flavour. The&nbsp;combinations help solve the problem of which herbs to grow for flavouring your cooking: simply divide your&nbsp;herb garden into separate areas for meat, fish and poultry, choose the right herbs from the selection in our&nbsp;garden centre, and you'll have a perfect selection for every dish.
Poultry dishes: lemony flavours contrast well with chicken, turkey or duck, so grow lemon thyme or lemon&nbsp;grass mixed with hyssop, thyme, tarragon and parsley.
Fish dishes: Aniseed-flavoured herbs produce classic fish dishes. Fennel and tarragon taste gorgeous with&nbsp;plaice; try lovage, dill, and bay with other fish such as bass, perch and salmon.
Meat dishes: rich meat casseroles come alive infused with flavoursome Mediterranean herbs. Oregano,&nbsp;thyme, sage, rosemary and bay can cope with slow cooking and taste wonderful together.
Make the bouquet garni by picking a sprig of each herb, with stalk attached, and tie together securely with&nbsp;string. Tie the whole bunch to the casserole handle and allow to drop into the dish during cooking. Remove&nbsp;just before serving.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about herbs you can grow for&nbsp;cooking.

Grow your own bouquet garni

Herbs are really successful in containers, as most come from shallow, stony Mediterranean soils and relish&nbsp;drier conditions in pots. Group several together for a fragrant herb patch outside your door. Here's how to&nbsp;grow five of our favourite herbs in containers:
Rosemary: give this hefty shrub plenty of room and a soil-based compost such as John Innes no. 3&nbsp;(available in our garden centre) to provide it with nutrients for longer.
Mint: mint is best in containers as it can be invasive outdoors. There are dozens of varieties in our garden&nbsp;centre: apple mint has fuzzy leaves while purple-stemmed chocolate peppermint looks sumptuous.
Coriander: sow fresh into generous troughs every month for a constant supply of fragrant flavour: as you&nbsp;use up one trough, the next is ready to pick.
Chives: generous potfuls of chives are perfect for snipping with scissors to add an oniony tang to salads.&nbsp;Their pretty pink pompom flowers are edible, too.
Basil: purple or green varieties look gorgeous in containers and they're happier there, too, as their tender&nbsp;leaves are out of reach of slugs. Keep well watered and pick regularly to keep it productive.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing herbs in containers.

Herbs for containers

Set aside a corner of your garden for a traditional herb patch and you'll be hooked on these gorgeous little&nbsp;plants forever. Whether it's leafy parsley or fragrant thyme for cooking, or pot marigolds and echinacea for&nbsp;cosmetics or home-grown medicine, herb gardens are productive, useful and beautiful.
Herb wheels: in our garden centre you'll find ready-made wooden herb wheels made of six compartments&nbsp;for an instant herb garden. Simply place it on a cleared patch of ground and plant a different herb in each&nbsp;section for a pretty feature.
Formal herb gardens: traditionally, herb gardens were laid out in formal geometrical patterns, easy to&nbsp;recreate at home. Mark out a circle or square, then divide into symmetrical beds: L-shapes or diamonds work&nbsp;well. Add a central focal point, like an elegant container, and paved paths for a neat, satisfying design.
Herb spirals: another great way to grow herbs is to build a rising spiral of stones, bricks or vertical wooden&nbsp;boards to about 80cm high, then back-fill with soil. Herbs love the sunny, well-drained conditions and create&nbsp;a lovely cascade effect as they grow over the edges.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about making a herb garden.

Making a herb garden

Look at the back of any seed packet from the range in our garden centre and you'll find a lot of very useful&nbsp;information - not only what the plant looks like, but also how to sow and grow it.
But some of the terms used can be baffling if you're just starting out in gardening. So here's our jargon buster&nbsp;to help you translate:
F1 Hybrid: a variety produced by crossing two pure strains to produce a completely reliable new plant
Under glass: the seed is sown with some protection, usually in a greenhouse or coldframe
Drill: shallow V-shaped groove in the ground to sow the seed into. Use the corner of a rake or the tip of a&nbsp;trowel to make the drill.
Flat-bottomed drill: flat-bottomed trench, U-shaped and often used for peas and broad beans
Prick out: lift young plants out of the seed tray and replant them into pots of compost
Transplant: transfer the plant from pot to its final growing position, usually outdoors in the garden
Harden off: acclimatise young plants gradually to outdoor conditions, usually over a couple of weeks
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about the terminology used on&nbsp;seed packets.

Seedy sayings

It's all too easy to get carried away when you see rack upon rack of tempting packets like those in our&nbsp;garden centre: you just want them all. Here's how to make those tough decisions:
Make a desert-island list of flowers, veg and herbs you wouldn't want to be without. This is your initial&nbsp;shopping list: at this stage, it'll probably be too long.
Draw up a plan of your garden to scale, sketching in the areas where you want to sow flowers or&nbsp;vegetables. This gives you a realistic idea of how much space you've got.
Prune your shopping list to fit your plan. This involves some agonising choices – but think how you'd feel if&nbsp;those extra seeds went to waste. And there's always next year...
Decide how much you need: a few annual cosmos scattered through your border won't require many&nbsp;seeds, but if you're planning a big bed of mixed varieties you'll need more.
Strengthen your willpower and armed with your list, come to the garden centre and fill your basket. Add&nbsp;plant labels, seed trays and seed compost, and you're ready to sow. 
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about how to choose which seeds&nbsp;to sow.

Seedy strategies

You'll find hundreds of different types of seed in our garden centre, from annual and biennial flowers to herbs&nbsp;and vegetables. It's like being let loose in a gardener's sweetshop. But once you've got your seeds home,&nbsp;how do you store them? Here are our top tips:
Use seed as fresh as possible: seeds like parsnips and carrots don't live long in storage so buy fresh each&nbsp;year. Other seed can be kept up to two years before it starts deteriorating.
Keep seeds in their original packets: that way you'll know what you've got, and you'll also have sowing&nbsp;instructions ready to hand next time you need them.
Keep them all together: look out for handsome seed boxes in our garden centre, ideal for holding your&nbsp;seed packets and keeping them neat and tidy till you need them
Close the packet properly: squeeze out as much air as you can, fold down the top and seal with a&nbsp;paperclip or elastic band.
Choose somewhere dark and cool: seeds store best somewhere unheated, reasonably dry, free of mice&nbsp;and at a more-or-less constant temperature. The fridge is ideal.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre for more information and advice about storing your seeds.

Storing seeds

Bulbs are so versatile you can grow them anywhere – even if you're gardening on a balcony. In our garden&nbsp;centre in %locations%&nbsp;we've got everything you need to pack containers with spring colour: follow our top tips for a dazzling&nbsp;display.
Layering: choose a deep container from the range in our garden centre and pack bulbs in by planting in&nbsp;layers. Put tall daffodils at the bottom, cover with compost, then tulips followed by crocuses at the top.
Keeping it simple: cram the biggest container you can find with a really special tulip like 'Abu Hassan' for a&nbsp;single blitz of brilliant colour with maximum impact.
Get the timing right: combine two bulbs with the same flowering time for twice the wow factor: try partnering&nbsp;dark blue hyacinths with pillarbox red early tulip Tulipa praestans.
Perfect partners: plant pretty violas at the feet of tulips for a partnership made in heaven: lilac-coloured&nbsp;violas with smokey purple tulips are stunning.
Dropping in: have pots of lilies or tulips ready to drop in to your borders just as they're about to flower for&nbsp;instant garden colour. Just lift them out again once they're finished.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about growing bulbs in containers.

Pots of pleasure

Daffodils aren't just for March. You can enjoy their cheerful yellow trumpets in your garden from January until&nbsp;May if you plan cleverly: we've got a fantastic choice in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre to help you do just that.
Early to rise:
'Rijnveld's Early Sensation': in flower by Christmas some years. Brilliant yellow&nbsp;and 35cm tall 
'February Gold': does what it says on the tin: this pure yellow gem reaches just&nbsp;15cm in late February 
'Tete a Tete': one of the best miniatures, flowering prolifically with golden swept-back petals. About 15cm
Mid-season marvels: 
 
Tenby daffodil (Narcissus obvallaris): Wordsworth's golden daffodil: small and&nbsp;dainty at 25cm 
'Rip Van Winkle': miniature double with a spiky mane of green-tinged, spiky petals.&nbsp;To 15cm 
'Jenny' is a mid-sized daffodil at 25cm, with a pale butterscotch trumpet and swept-back, creamy petals
Late and lovely:
'Dutch Master': brilliant golden trumpets and a delicate scent, growing to 45cm tall 
'Cheerfulness' is a double with three or four scented blooms on each stem: 45cm 
Pheasant's eye daffodil (Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus): among the last to&nbsp;flower, these delicate white daffs are also scented: 40cm tall
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;for more information and advice about choosing daffodils for a long&nbsp;display.

Small but perfectly formed

Tulips left in the ground will sometimes re-flower, but more often they'll dwindle and disappear. You can&nbsp;replant with new combinations – but if you've got a really good display going, it's also possible to persuade&nbsp;the same tulips to come back next season. Here's how:
<ul>
<li>remove dead flowers and wait till foliage turns yellow, about six weeks after flowering</li>
<li>dig up your bulbs, brush off excess soil and discard any which are diseased or damaged</li>
<li>dry under cover for a couple of weeks – the greenhouse or a conservatory is perfect</li>
<li>store your bulbs in net bags for winter in a well-ventilated place at room temperature (about 20ºC).</li>
</ul>
In our garden centre you'll also find species tulips – smaller, wilder-looking tulips which come back year after&nbsp;year so you won't need to lift them.
Good ones to try are Tulipa turkestanica, appearing in early spring with up to nine flowers per spike; Tulipa&nbsp;greigii 'Red Riding Hood', 20cm high and scarlet in April; and Tulipa sprengeri, the last of the tulips to flower&nbsp;in late May, again bright scarlet.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about how to make your tulips last&nbsp;for years.

Tulips that last

Those first optimistic green shoots peeking through are a sure sign that winter is on the wane: with a&nbsp;selection of spring bulbs from our garden centre in %locations%&nbsp;you can cheer yourself up from January to early summer.
Just after New Year the first snowdrops appear: tall 'Atkinsii', or 'John Gray' carrying large flowers on arching&nbsp;stems. Scatter other January jewels at their feet for contrast: bright yellow winter aconites, or pretty pink&nbsp;Cyclamen coum.
February is the time for crocuses – 'Snow Bunting' is pure white, while purple Crocus tommasinianus&nbsp;spreads happily through rough grass. Grow them with exquisite dwarf irises, just 10cm tall: 'Katharine&nbsp;Hodgkin' has curious greyish-purple petals, 'Harmony' is a slatey blue, while 'J.S. Dijt' is vibrant purple.
In March the show really gets going. Brilliant yellow daffodils, blue perfumed hyacinths, a sprinkling of bright&nbsp;pink Anemone coronaria and perhaps some white Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow) make a riot of vibrant&nbsp;colour.
Plant spring bulbs in September or October in well-drained soil in sun or dappled shade, about three times&nbsp;as deep as the bulb itself. Adding a handful of grit helps drainage in heavy soil.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about bulbs for a springtime&nbsp;display.

Spring fever

The spectacular bulb display you've been enjoying all spring need not stop with the last tulip. Hundreds of&nbsp;beautiful summer-flowering bulbs, available in our garden centre in %locations%, keep flowers coming till autumn.
Alliums: the firework-like spheres of showy purple alliums light up the border from May to July. Choose from&nbsp;tall drumsticks of 'Purple Sensation', the huge 20cm-across spheres of 'Globemaster', or low-growing Allium&nbsp;karataviense with pale pink heads and broad purple leaves. Nectaroscordum siculum is closely related, with&nbsp;umbrellas of dangling bell-shaped creamy flowers flushed lilac.
Dahlias: in flower from June to autumn, the choice is as dazzling as the flowers. Single-flowered dahlias mix&nbsp;most easily into borders: try scarlet 'Bishop of Llandaff' or white 'Twyning's After Eight'.
Lilies: heady mid- to late-summer fragrance is the hallmark of stately Oriental lilies like white Lilium regale.&nbsp;Brightly-coloured Asiatics like the yellow 'Grand Cru' are non scented but don't need staking: and elegant&nbsp;Martagon lilies have over 20 blooms to a stem.
Crocosmia: super-easy to grow with handsome strappy foliage, flame-coloured crocosmia lights up borders&nbsp;from July to September. Choose from vivid scarlet 'Lucifer', crimson-splashed orange 'Emily McKenzie' or&nbsp;buttery 'Warburton's Yellow'.
Please ask the staff in our %locations%&nbsp;garden centre for more information and advice about choosing bulbs for summer&nbsp;displays.

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