Top tips, gardening news, Plant of the Week and a dahlia bundles competition
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SAVE! IF you’re feeling a bit weak in the wrist, why not consider battery-powered secateurs?
Stiga’s cordless version, left, is £149, while Vonhaus has a garden pruner, right, for £49.99, available from Robert Dyas.
WIN! WE’VE got an amazing Farmer Gracy competition to win five bundles of their dahlias – each worth £100. Farmer Gracy will pick the dahlias for the winners.
Enter at thesun.co.uk/FARMERGRACY or write to Sun Farmer Gracy competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm, March 21, 2026. T&Cs apply.
INSTANT GROWER! WESTLAND Horticulture has come up with a very clever and sustainable multi-use instant planter that can be used in a garden or on a balcony or doorstep.
You can either use it flat for bushy crops like salads, strawberries, peppers or herbs, or on in its side for tomatoes beans and peas.
You can also use it in an upright position for long-root crops such as potatoes and carrots.
Available now for £4 at garden centres and B&Q.
PLANT OF THE WEEK! CLEMATIS armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ flowers this month. For 20 per cent off, see thompson-morgan.com/sunoffers.
THIS WEEK’S JOB! DEAD-head hydrangeas before new growth, prune winter jasmine, pot up dahlias under cover in a frost-free spot and mulch fruit trees with manure.
50 NIFTY IDEAS TO TRY OUT! THERE’S a fab new book coming out called Fifty Things To Do In The Garden, by Matt Collins.
He’s head gardener at the Garden Museum, so he should know what he’s talking about.
The book is an absolute delight. The 50 things range from garden planning, plant selection and propagation to encouraging and accommodating wildlife and reducing our carbon footprint in the process.
It caters for all outside space sizes, from windowboxes and pots to community gardens.
Its tips include how to build a gravel garden or topiary spiral and when to plant a tree.
Published by Harper Collins on March 26, priced £12.99, it would make a perfect present (hint hint).
- FOR talks by famous horticulturalists and lots of nursery exhibits, check out Toby’s Garden Festival, on May 1-2 in Exminster, Devon. See tobygardenfest.co.uk.
