Pests and diseases are killers for plants and need to be kept at bay. Pest and disease control falls into two categories: prevention and cure.
Prevention
Firstly buy only the choicest plant specimens. Choose the most healthy, vigorous-looking plants and cheek that their roots are not pot-bound, and that the plant is not dried out or already [...]

Onto the interesting part – planning your leisure time in the garden. Start by listing the fun things you plan to do, or dream of doing, in the garden.
Eating outside
Everyone enjoys eating outside, so building or adapting a terrace should be top of the leisure list. At the same time you could consider a built-in [...]

Divide your list into headings. First come practicalities, the mundane domestic needs of everyday life. These may be tedious to think about, but getting these details right will make the difference between an easy-to-run house and garden, and one full of little irritations – daily reminders that you could have done better if only you [...]

Babies and young children love to put things in their mouths. Young babies, not being very mobile, will happily make do with whatever is immediately to hand. Soil, pebbles, the odd insect, all will be carefully tasted, chewed and then, hopefully, spat out.
As they get older and more mobile children widen the range of the [...]

Everyone has their favourite fruit and vegetables, but itˇŻs a general rule it is a good idea to grow things which are either relatively rare or expensive to buy. Vegetables in season are often cheaper to buy in the supermarket than to grow at home, so choose a few crops which are quick to mature [...]