Garden Answers

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

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THE WORLD’S BEST FLOWER SHOW • The RHS Chelsea Flower Show returns in May and as well as the heart-stoppingly beautiful planting and brilliant design talent on show, there is a strong focus on making every garden sustainable. We think this combination makes Chelsea the greatest of garden shows!

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

CHEAP ENTRY

KING’S STAMPS FEATURE FLORA

Fit for a King • Feel like gardening royalty with these regal accessories

Wish list • Regally chic plants to try this coronation month

What’s on...

WIN A SEED STORAGE TIN

Royal favourites

PRIVATE ORCHID COLLECTION SAVED

New Kew borders FOR A WARMER CLIMATE

30-minute makes • An old teapot with a chip or broken spout will make a brilliantly simple and quick plant holder with hardly any effort, given a clever twist. By hanging up a teapot from its handle the spout instantly becomes a handy drain for excess water.

Book of the month

The Royal STANDARD • King Charles III may be our most green-fingered monarch to date, and in this coronation month, Val Bourne explores his ground-breaking organic garden at Highgrove

mr-fothergills

Go dizzy for DEUTZIA • Choose these simple to grow, bomb-proof shrubs for gorgeous displays of unusual blossom in early summer, says Sue Fisher

May • May is the first month that can truly feel like summer, with an abundance of flowers and fresh foliage, and bare soil rapidly disappearing. At the end of the month it’s time to add lots of exciting tender plants to the garden, while coaxing hardier plants and crops to give their best

It’s time to take CUTTINGS FROM YOUNG SHOOTS

ROYALLY PURPLE with a wild twist • Perfect for the coronation, this border of grand, opulent purple is given a wild edge with meadowy natives – HM would approve!

THE REALLY Wild SHOW • Adrian Thomas guides us through the highlights for wildlife and wildlife lovers at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Wild plants for Chelsea • Here are five native plants that I think are wholly garden worthy and I’d love to see more of at Chelsea.

WILDLIFE GARDEN JOBS FOR MAY

“I can be a bit obsessive about colour combinations!” • This classic English country garden has been a labour of love of 20 years for its owners and is overflowing with perfectly colour-co-ordinated plants

“The garden is alive with nature… it’s not just to look at, but to be immersed in!” • A small and brightly coloured cottage garden in north London is home to its relaxed gardeners and a gang of squirrels, foxes, birds and newts!

“There are 45 trees in the garden!” • Lovers of lushness Annemarie and Andrew Swift have packed a dramatic array of plants into their small city garden, making the space feel vast and vitalising

PASHLEY’S TWIN PASSIONS • Early May is a great time to visit this living catalogue of gorgeous tulips, followed closely by an abundance of early-flowering fragrant roses

Life on the VEG PATCH • Gardening is always a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it experience – but May is the month Alice Whitehead would most like to bottle

GROW SWEETCORN • For sweet and juicy cobs in late summer it pays to give sweetcorn plants attention when they most need it

Ask the Experts • Our experts will help you get the best from your garden

BULBS • Why did hebes die last winter? How do I control plum moth? Read on…

CLEMATIS

FRUIT & VEG

PESTS, DISEASES & DISORDERS

Design...