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Gardening
Articles on gardening
From root to tip: the best gardening books of 2024
In search of some great gardening books to entertain, inspire and inform you over Christmas? Fionnuala Fallon offers her top choices
An A to Z of Christmas gifts for gardeners: Trees, tools, calendars, furniture and more
Searching for the perfect Christmas present for the gardener in your life? Here are our top suggestions
Gardening tools that will last a lifetime if treated right
A bad day’s gardening is often the result of shoddy tools, so invest well in your implements
Does a tree fern need extra protection from the elements?
Packing pine needles into the crown will protect against temperatures down to minus 4C, but below that you’ll need to secure several layers of horticultural fleece over the crown and fronds
Five life lessons my garden taught me: Nature often has a quiet but not unkind laugh at our expense
To watch a flower unfurl is to simultaneously be reminded of the fact that life is both worthwhile and fleeting
Gardening Q&A: My young hedge looks tatty - what have I done?
Unfortunately in recent years, this flowering hedge has fallen victim to a widespread fungal disease commonly known as escallonia leaf spot that causes it to lose its leaves
What is the best choice of hedging for my garden?
Soil type and general weather conditions matter when it comes to choosing a garden hedge
Caught in a landslide, gored to death, expelled from Japan: the fates of plant-hunters who pursued rare specimens
Historian Thomas Pakenham details the remarkable individuals who risked life and limb in pursuit of new species
How to pack up your plants when moving on
Planning to move house and garden? Create a list of what to take with you and prepare well in advance
Which house plants are best for students?
It’s a good idea to start with a selection of stalwarts that will tolerate less-than-ideal growing conditions
Why bare-root planting is always a good idea for your garden
Whether you’re searching for budget-friendly options or simply trying to plant without excavating big chunks of your garden, this approach makes sense
Should we hire a garden designer?
Fionnuala Fallon: Great garden designers and landscape architects are like artists, marrying together practical, environmental and aesthetic elements
Can I leave spuds in the ground and dig them up when I need them?
Fionnuala Fallon: Only maincrop potato varieties, such as Golden Wonder, are suitable for storing over winter
Frost can feel cruel but it’s not all bad news in the garden
The cold acts as a natural curb on the spread of plant pests and diseases. Slugs are less active and fungal spores will be less likely to spread
Autumn leaf displays have not been as vibrant this year. There’s a good reason for that
Deciduous trees and shrubs are paragons of good planning and preparedness
‘Can I collect seeds from sweet peas to grow again?’
Fionnuala Fallon: Homegrown sweet pea is one of the great joys of the summer garden
Tulips, erythroniums and trilliums: aristocratic bulbs for planting season
As planting season begins in earnest, consider looking beyond the obvious for spring-flowering bulbs
We have a problem with squirrels in our garden. What can we do to keep them at bay?
Fionnuala Fallon: As charming as their arboreal acrobatics might be to watch, grey squirrels can be a real problem in Irish gardens
What are these these pretty seeds I recently came across
Éanna Ní Lamhna on white-tailed bumblebees, red latticed stinkhorns and – more stink – green shield bugs
Organic market gardener Charles Dowding: ‘So many people are intimidated or confused by the advice available’
With 45 years as an organic market gardener under his belt, Charles Dowding has a feast of knowledge to share in his new book Compost
How can I create my own pocket forest?
Fionnuala Fallon: Autumn is an excellent time to collect the ripe seed of most trees
Buddy the robot lawn mower review: tech light option ideal for the average Irish garden
Easy-to-handle mower does not require the laying of guide wires to manage your weekly lawn care
Ready or not? The expert guide to buying fruit – so it is always ripe and delicious
Give an apple a light flick with your finger and listen. And scratch the surface of a lemon with your fingernail
‘Fellas who were taking the piss are now looking for tips’: at home in the garden with Ireland and Munster rugby star Peter O’Mahony
Ireland and Munster star enjoys tending to his 2,000sq ft garden when not in the ruck. But will his green fingers grow beyond a hobby?
The best ornamental grasses for gardens: the ones to pick and how to grow them
The long-lasting feathers of ornamental grasses are one of their greatest charms
‘My 15-year-old tree is displaying blighting. How can I save it’
‘It has been displaying a blighting appearance for the past few years’
After a washout summer, the boxes of spring-flowering bulbs will soon start to arrive
The long, autumunal shadows herald the season of mucky fingers, hard physical work and great joy
‘Something ate my potatoes underground. What could have done this?
A cat might be the best form of defence against the likely rodent culprits
I moved my plant to a bigger pot and now the leaves are falling off. What can I do?
Since I repotted it into a bigger pot, its bottom leaves have started to droop and fall off
Autumn comes bearing gifts for the garden
The days may be shorter and darker, but there are still vivid pleasures to be found in the garden, from roses to doughty hawthorn and holly
How do I get rid of ant nests in my polytunnel?
There are simple things you can do to discourage them without resorting to harmful and often ineffective insecticides
A wealth of late-blooming plants are bright stars of the autumn garden
What the daisy family, Asteraceae, have in common is daisy-shaped flowers and ability to feed bees, butterflies, hoverflies and many other pollinating insects
‘Good looks aren’t enough for potatoes. They’ve got to taste delicious.’
Raymond Higgins grows champion-level potatoes from his allotments near Blarney in Cork
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