Visit this
If you’ve vowed 2015 is the year you start growing your own food, head to the Edible Garden Show in London. It runs from 20-22 March, and features a host of experts from James Wong to Charles Dowding, and a children’s area that includes a pop-up city farm.
Cut this
Since grasses became a feature of borders as well as lawns, there’s the quandary of what to do with them when they start looking shabby. Most perennial grasses that turn brown in winter – tufted-hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa) and feather-reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) are the usual suspects –need chopping back to the base now, to allow spring shoots room to grow, but evergreens such as black mondo (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’) and blue fescue (Festuca glauca) can be left, aside from tidying straggling leaves.
Plant this
For a shot of azure in your garden, turn to the low-maintenance shrub ceanothus. Variety ‘Gloire de Versailles’ reaches a conveniently compact height and spread of 1.5m x 1.5m and flowers all summer. Buy one 3.5-litre potted plant for £14.99, or two for £22.98 (prices include free p&p). To order, call 0330 333 6856, quoting ref GU303, or go to our Readers’ Offers page. Delivery from the end of March.
