Solve real garden challenges — clothe a bank, screen a boundary, plant a pond edge or fill a hanging basket — with practical ideas and the right plants for the job. Answer a few questions about your sun, soil, drainage and hardiness zone, and see which of these suit the site you actually have — and which will fight it. Beds and Borders The heart of most gardens — layered planting of shrubs, perennials and bulbs for colour and interest in every season. Big ideas for compact plots — multi-season plants, vertical layers and clever scale that make small spaces feel generous. Create welcoming, low-maintenance kerb appeal with tough, tidy plants that look good all year with minimal fuss. Patio and Containers Garden anywhere with pots — flexible, seasonal displays for paved areas, balconies and spots with no open soil. A timber floor on a frame - the answer to a garden that slopes, a door threshold paving cannot meet, and a sitting area that has to be level when the ground is not. Kitchen and Vegetable Gardens Beds you crop rather than admire - and the paths, edges and structure that decide whether you keep walking out to them. Hedges and Screens Define boundaries, gain privacy and block wind with the right plants for a living wall — formal or informal. Garden Lighting What the garden does after dark - which for half the year is the only version of it anyone sees. Fewer fittings, aimed lower, than instinct suggests. Hanging Baskets Bring colour to eye level with tumbling, free-flowering plants that thrive in containers and bloom all summer. Outdoor Kitchens and Grills A worktop, a heat source and somewhere to put a plate down - sited far enough from the house to feel like the garden, and close enough that the food still arrives hot. Fire Pits and Seating Areas A place to sit and something to sit around - and the planting that turns a circle of chairs into part of the garden. Poolside Gardens

Planting that makes a pool look like part of a garden instead of a blue rectangle in a paved yard - without dropping leaves, roots or petals into the water. Guide movement and frame views with planting that lines, softens and scents a route through the garden. Sheds and Garden Buildings The buildings a garden runs on - shed, potting shed, summerhouse, garden room - and how they are sited, faced and planted so they read as part of the garden instead of parked in it. Arbors, Pergolas and Trellises Add height, shade and scent with climbers trained over structures — the fastest way to bring a garden into the third dimension. Walls and Fences Green up vertical boundaries with climbers and wall shrubs that add privacy, hide eyesores and gain growing space. Carpet bare soil with low, spreading plants that smother weeds, retain moisture and link a planting together. Ponds and Streams Plant the water and its margins with marginals, oxygenators and waterside foliage for a living, wildlife-rich feature. Capture and soak up runoff with planting that copes with both flooding and drought — beautiful, functional and sustainable. Define paths and borders with neat, low, spreading plants that soften hard edges and keep beds looking crisp. Underplanting Roses and Shrubs Clothe the bare legs of roses and shrubs with companions that cover soil, deter weeds and extend the season of interest. Banks and Slopes Stabilise and beautify sloping ground with deep-rooting, spreading plants that hold the soil and need little upkeep. Centre a garden on water with lilies, lotus and lush marginal planting for a tranquil, reflective, wildlife haven. Garden Gates and Entrances The opening in a boundary and what it withholds - a gate, an arch or a doorway placed so the garden is met a piece at a time instead of all at once from the doorstep. Turn a permanently damp, low-lying spot into an asset with lush, moisture-loving foliage and bold waterside flowers.