The Casual Gardener: When to plant chilli depends on how hot you like it

John Manley

I CAN personally testify to the fieriness of chillies, having once woken abruptly to find my elder brother sticking a freshly sliced fruit up my nose.

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Gardening advice: Here's why plug plants can save you time, effort and money

Life

The Casual Gardener: Keep your lawn green with a regular spring clean

Life

Gardening: Five tools to help you make light work of the outdoor spring clean-up

Life

Seven tasks to kick-start the growing season

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Seven tasks to kick-start the growing season

John Manley 07 Apr, 2018

:: Deadhead daffodils Our favourite spring flower needs minimum maintenance and tends to return year after year if left undisturbed.

Weird and wonderful worm facts – and how to make your garden a magnet for them

31 Mar, 2018

DID you know that cutting an earthworm in half doesn't give you two worms? It just gives you one happy worm or one dead one.

The Casual Gardener: Organic go-to guy Klaus Laitenberger's Inca crop mission

John Manley 31 Mar, 2018

KLAUS Laitenberger made an appearance in the very first instalment of The Casual Gardener, some 15-odd years ago.

Gardening: Guide to growing perfect primulas and how to make the most of these colourful plants

24 Mar, 2018

THESE pint-sized beauties are currently everywhere, in window boxes and containers, or poking their colourful heads out at the front of borders and in woodlands.

The Casual Gardener: Forget paint – there's nothing bland about magic magnolia

John Manley 24 Mar, 2018

MAGNOLIA has a bit of an image problem.

The Casual Gardener: Much ado about mulching

John Manley 17 Mar, 2018

IF YOU’VE been off road in recent weeks, you’ll no doubt have noticed how sodden everywhere is.

Gardening advice: Three tips for outsmarting pests such as whitefly and slugs

17 Mar, 2018

AS YOU get ready to sow, plant and re-arrange your vegetable beds and flower borders, now it the time to take steps to outsmart the pests that can so often ruin your crops and leave plants in tatters.

Gardening: 5 nifty uses for the humble marigold

10 Mar, 2018

IT may seem like a common-or-garden annual to add to beds, borders and containers – but when it's given such quirky names as Disco, Bojangle and Bonanza, it's clear there's more to the marigold than meets the eye.

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