BBC Gardeners World Magazine

How to use coffee grounds for plants

2025-10-06T16:32:49.000Z

This article has been checked for horticultural accuracy by Oliver Parsons.

Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide, with around two billion cups consumed every day, according to the British Coffee Association. Even accounting for a proportion being instant coffee, that still results in a huge amount of coffee grounds, the term for the waste left over from a coffee percolator or filter. Like most organic kitchen waste, coffee grounds are great to recycle in the garden to benefit your soil and your plants, and this is far better for the environment than adding it to household bins or pouring it down the drain, where it could cause blockages.

Coffee grounds have been the subject of a huge amount of anecdotal advice with mixed results for a wide variety of uses – as a slug, pest and animal deterrent, as a mulch, and as a fertiliser. But, because of the great variability of coffee grounds due to the type, content and method of brewing, there has been no definitive scientific research on the use of coffee grounds. Here, and in the video above, we advise on how best to use coffee grounds in your garden.

Are coffee grounds good for plants?

Coffee grounds are an excellent compost ingredient and are fine to apply directly onto the soil around most garden plants if used with care and moderation. Coffee grounds contain nutrients that plants use for growth. The grounds are relatively high in nitrogen and also contain potassium and phosphorus, as well as being a source of organic matter.

How do you use coffee grounds for plants?

The safest way to use coffee grounds in the garden is to add them to compost containers or worm bins. Used grounds rot down well, and homemade compost is superb for improving soil and growing healthy plants. While applying coffee grounds directly onto the soil around most plants is usually fine, this should be done with care and moderation, as using grounds in this way is never a one-method-fits-all approach. The chief potential problem is that if applied in quantity to the soil surface, the fine particles clog together to form a barrier that prevents water and air from reaching plant roots.

Simply emptying your coffee pot onto the border soil of established plants is fine as long as it’s not in the same place, time after time.

Composting used coffee

The moist, small particles of coffee grounds are certainly an excellent compost ingredient because of their texture, to mix with dry and woody waste to speed the composting process. Ensuring a balanced mix of ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ materials is the best way to achieve good compost. The nutrients contained in coffee grounds will be recycled back into the soil when finished compost is used as a mulch or dug into the soil. Also, add any un-drunk coffee to dry material in a compost bin.

Which plants benefit from used coffee grounds?

Coffee tends to be slightly acidic and is therefore good for acid-loving plants such as hydrangeas, as well as nutrient-hungry plants like roses, but again, use it only in moderation on any one plant.

Coffee grounds are one of many materials said to repel slugs and can be used around their favourite plants, such as hostas, though results are not guaranteed.

Which plants do not like used coffee grounds?

Coffee grounds are likely to contain caffeine. Whilst most of the caffeine in coffee is transferred to the drink in the brewing process, some may remain. Caffeine restricts the growth of certain plants, notably tomatoes, and may inhibit germination of seedlings.

What will coffee grounds repel?

The favourite use of coffee grounds as a pest repellent is against slugs, which are said to dislike the caffeine in coffee and the gritty texture of the grounds. Some gardeners have had good results with using coffee as a slug deterrent while others report that it has no effect. Other gardeners use coffee as a repellent for ants, cats and foxes, again with varying results. As with any organic repellent, frequent application is needed and especially after rain.

Coffee grounds and dogs

Note that the caffeine in coffee can be toxic to dogs. Whilst grounds that have been brewed usually contain very little caffeine, if your dog tends to eat everything, don’t spread grounds on the soil surface, but instead add them to the compost bin or bury them in the soil. Many common garden plants are also toxic to dogs.

Where to get coffee grounds for your garden?

As well as your own kitchen, and friends who do not have gardens, there are coffee shops, cafes and restaurants that sometimes put out tubs or bags of used coffee grounds to take away for free. If not, it’s worth asking.

Five steps to better borders

2025-09-29T08:21:38.000Z

October is the perfect time to deal with borders that you’ve been disappointed with during the growing season. This job can be a bit daunting, but with a little planning, it’s easy to breathe life back into your borders to give your garden year-round interest. In the video above, Arit Anderson shows how to assess your borders in autumn, how to improve the colour flow and add extra sparkle, to ensure your borders are revived ready for next year.

An autumn sort-out is perfect if your borders are looking tired and unbalanced, if there are shrubs that aren’t flowering, or perennials that have become congested. It's also the perfect opportunity to assess what you already have growing, and see if you can add a few new plants to create further interest. Don’t know where to start? Just follow these five simple steps.

1. Make a plan

When planning a border, the first thing to do is get your idea down on paper. Come up with a word to describe how you want your border to feel – ‘hot’, ‘bold’, ‘romantic’ – it’s to keep you focused on the final look. Measure the area, noting down all existing plants and marking the ones you want to leave in their present position. If you plan to alter the border’s shape or size, now's a good time to draw up any changes. Check where the sun rises and sets, as this will help you ensure sun-loving plants get the sun they need and shady spots are filled with plants that will thrive there.

Designing a border is all about layers. The tallest layer is for any tall trees you have space for – in a small garden you may need to skip this. The second layer is for smaller trees. Next comes shrubs, followed by perennials, and low-growing plants such as ground cover and small bulbs. Ensuring you have interest across all these layers will give you a great checklist when planning your space. When you go to the garden centre, always try to have a clear idea beforehand of what you're trying to add to the border.

2. Prune your shrubs

Pruning is an easy way to bring an overgrown shrubby border back to its former glory. Firstly, remove any dead, damaged and diseased stems, as well as crossing stems rubbing against each other. Next, stand back and look at the shrub to work out how you can make it more balanced. Look for a healthy side shoot that you can cut back to an outward-facing bud. You want to encourage new stems to grow outwards, rather than into the middle.

Most deciduous shrubs, such as dogwood, smoke bush and spiraea, respond well to hard pruning in winter. Remove the lower branches of large shrubs and trees to reveal the main stems. This will transform a bulky shrub into a real feature, and let in more light and air. For a total rejuvenation, cut back all stems to 20-30cm from the ground, then give the plant a feed and mulch in spring. If you want to move a shrub, bear in mind that it may not survive the move. Relocate evergreens in October or late March, early April, and deciduous shrubs from November to March. Remember to keep them well watered.

3. Rejuvenate your perennials

Perennials can become congested over time, with all the vibrant, flowering growth on the outside of the clump and little going on in the middle. Other perennials can become thug-like and take over borders, killing less-vigorous plants. The best way to solve these problems is to dig them up and divide them. Done every few years, this will rejuvenate tired perennials and stop others spreading too much.

Divide summer-flowering plants in autumn or spring, while spring-flowering plants should be divided in summer to give them time to establish before the following year. Dig them up with a spade, taking care to keep as much of the roots attached as possible. Then push two garden forks, back to back, into the centre of the plant and use them as levers to tease the rootball apart – you could also cut through the middle with a knife or spade. When you replant your new bits of plant, make sure you keep them well watered. Divide rootballs by hand, or use two forks back to back if they're congested.

4. Remove weeds

In mature borders, weeds can hide among perennials and take hold before you realise. Annual weeds, like chickweed or hairy bittercress, are easy to remove by hand or by lightly hoeing, so get them before they set seed. Perennial weeds take more time and effort. The key is to remove all of the roots, which is sometimes easier said than done. Hoeing or digging up when they first appear will keep on top of them, and many perennial weeds can be gradually weakened and removed over time.

5. Treat yourself to new plants

Before you head to the nursery, make a list of the plants you already have, then assess your border. See how much space there is to fill and what your border is missing – perhaps it needs more colour, late-season interest or height? Don’t just splurge on lots of plants that will all flower at the same time, leaving you with nothing the rest of the year.

If you have lots of space to fill and a tight budget, try growing perennials from seed, or buy plants that you can divide immediately into two or three pieces, or that you can take cuttings from. Also sow annuals to fill in gaps while you build up your stocks. Early October is a great time to sow hardy annuals, such as poppies, cornflowers and pot marigolds for flowers next summer. Prepare the soil by adding compost and water well to help new plants to establish.

35 small garden design ideas

2025-11-21T09:03:20.000Z

This article has been checked for horticultural accuracy by Oliver Parsons.

In a small garden, following a few key principles when planning and planting will help make your garden look bigger and feel less cluttered.

Whether you have a tiny garden or a small patio, there are many ways you can improve your space. Taking time to choose colour schemes, picking plants that will flower for months and using design tricks such as repetition or adding focal points, will all have a big impact. Take design inspiration from other gardens you visit – large or small – and from flower shows. At the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Frances Tophill will design a garden that aims to inspire new gardeners, however small their space. The Curious Show Garden will be supported by Sir David Beckham.

For limited budgets, think about using gravel or making a rock garden instead of paving or a lawn. This also provides more space for plants in a tiny space. Install simple lighting yourself or, if you want a small vegetable garden, sow salad successionally in containers or grow fast-cropping plants like spring radishes and short, fast-growing carrot varieties such as 'Nantes 2'.

One of the simplest ways to give small gardens a boost is to use your vertical space – for tiny gardens use hanging baskets and planters, cover boundaries with climbers, and add height with trees or tall slim plants like alliums and Verbena bonariensis.

There are many ways to make a small garden more interesting – here's a few garden design tips for small gardens to get you started.

Get the landscaping-planting ratio right

When planning your patio garden get the balance of planting and landscaping right to make your small garden look beautiful. Garden designs for small gardens should aim for a ratio of around 50 per cent planting and furniture to 50 per cent paving or decking. This will help create a patio that is easy on the eye without being overcrowded.

Use cooler colours

Choosing the right colours can make your garden look bigger. Colours from the cool side of the colour wheel, such as blue and purple, will seem further away, while hot colours like red and orange look like they are closer. Choosing a cooler plant palette will therefore create a feeling that your garden is bigger than it is.

Grow trained fruit trees

Trained fruit trees take up less space than standard trees and they can be trained to fit the area you have available. Espaliers and fans are often grown along walls and fences, whereas stepovers are ideal to edge vegetable beds. Cordon apples take up the least area horizontally and maximise the number of varieties that can be grown in a small space. Trained fruit trees grow best in a sunny spot and require little maintenance apart from pruning.

Create height in narrow borders

Narrow borders can feel restrictive and tricky to plant, but using plants with some height makes them feel more substantial. Use tall bulbs such as alliums, agapanthus or lilies that will add height without taking up much ground space. Obelisks planted with climbers like sweet peas will also add height without growing too wide.

Combine seating and storage space

Save space in a small back garden by building seating that can double up as storage space, or build seating into your design. Use a corner bench or put seating up against a boundary to save space on a table in the centre of your patio.

Use long-season planting

In a tiny space there isn't room to have plants that are only interesting for a short part of the year, so choose types with a long flowering season. Good options include repeat-flowering roses, such as Rosa ‘Flower Carpet Amber’, which flowers for eight months. Rosa 'Lady of Shalott', a shrub rose, flowers from June to October. Other long-flowering perennials include Erigeron karvinskianus, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ and hardy geraniums, many of which flower all summer long.

Plant up a hanging planter

Using hanging planters is an inexpensive way to add greenery to a boundary or shed wall. Plant them with bedding, ferns (in shade), trailing alpines or herbs. Alternatively use them to plant veg with shallow roots, such as salad leaves or spinach.

Divide your space

A small garden will look bigger if you can’t see everything at once. Divide up your garden using flowerbeds, screens or hedges to break up the space. The fact that it has different areas or sections will also make your garden more interesting to look at. This division of space works well in tiered gardens too.

Use light-coloured landscaping

Using light-coloured materials can help to bounce the light around and will make the garden seem more spacious than dark paving or paint colours. This will also brighten your garden if your outdoor space is on the shady side. Try light paving or gravel, or paint your boundaries in a light colour.

Limit your planting palette

Limit your planting palette in a small garden. This will help make your design look cohesive and less bitty than using lots of individual plants. Repeating a limited selection of plants is one way to make your garden look like it's been professionally designed.

Make borders bigger

Tiny beds and borders can make your garden seem smaller. Reduce the space you have for a lawn or patio and make borders or beds bigger to allow a greater depth of planting. Having generous planting areas rather than lines of plants will make your whole garden feel bigger.

Add structural planting

Don’t forget to include structural planting – trees and evergreen shrubs will provide a permanent backbone for the garden and add interest in winter. This is just as important in a small garden, adding year-round appeal and shape to your borders.

Use staging to fit in more plants

Create more planting space by putting containers on a planting stand with different levels. This is an easy way to fit in more pots as it saves on ground space. In a tiny garden, try narrow, ladder-style staging, which takes up even less room than the staging pictured and has more tiers.

Make a green roof

You don't need a big garden to include a green roof. This is a practical way to use dead space, such a shed roof or bin store roof to fit in extra plants. Not only will this add greenery to your garden but it will disguise or soften functional features.

Plant up a shady corner

Make the most of every planting opportunity by transforming shady spots. Perk up a gloomy bed or corner with plants like ferns, hostas, foxgloves and epimediums. If you don't have borders, use containers to brighten up your patio. For small north-facing front or back gardens with deep shade try hostas, lilyturf or Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae.

Plant a potager bed

If you’d like to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers in a small space, then a potager or kitchen garden could be the answer. This style of border combines all three types of planting in one place, minimising space requirements and creating a productive and beautiful display. Most fruit and vegetables need around six hours of sunshine a day to produce good crops, so make sure your potager bed is in a sunny area of the garden. Good for south- and west-facing gardens.

Grow scented plants

Grow scented plants along a path or next to a bench to add another dimension to your garden. The fragrance will be all the more noticeable in a small space, especially if you combine several scented plants. Try the climber Trachelospermum jasminoides, lavender for containers or nicotiana for evening scent.

Grow a multi-season tree

If you can fit in a tree, choose a small tree that offers more than one season of interest. The spring-flowering Amelanchier lamarkii also has black berries in summer and autumn leaf colour. Prunus autumnalis flowers from late autumn to winter and has beautiful autumn leaf colour. Hawthorn and crab apples bear spring blossom, fruit in summer to autumn and have glorious autumn leaf colour.

Install a green wall

There are plenty of easy-to-install DIY green walls that will enable you to fit more greenery into your garden. These can be fixed to garden walls or fences to transform a boundary. Fill them with herbs, bedding plants or salad leaves for a colourful vertical display.

Make a container display

A collection of small pots can create a cluttered look. On a small patio, try planting up one big container instead. It will have instant impact and create a focal point. Choose plants that will last for more than one season or one central plant that will last year-round, and then switch the underplanting with the seasons.

Plant a hanging basket

A hanging basket is perfect for very small gardens, taking up no ground space but providing months of colour. Try plants like begonias, argyranthemum, calibrachoa, lobelia, bacopa, pelargoniums and nemesia for a long season of colour. For budget options, buy packs of bedding plants from the garden centre in spring and grow them on before planting up your basket.

Grow veg vertically

If you lack ground space, choose climbing veg varieties that can be grown up trellis like runner beans, French beans such as 'Blauhilde', ‘Algarve’ or ‘Cobra’, or squash ‘Tromboncino’. These will provide plenty of crops but take up little room.

Sow salad successionally

Save money on shop-bought salads by growing your own. In a small vegetable garden, you can enjoy a continuous salad supply by sowing seed in two containers (sowing the second container two weeks after the first). If you have room only for one pot, sow a second batch of salad in a seed tray and then move baby salad plants into your container when the first crop starts to go over.

Sow a square metre veg bed

Sowing a square metre veg bed is a great way to get a big yield from a small area. The idea is to sow closer than you would normally and replace each crop with another as soon as it’s finished cropping. Good plants to grow in this way include beetroot, rocket, spring onions and chard.

Choose compact veg varieties

Avoid growing vegetables like pumpkins and maincrop potatoes that take up a lot of space and focus instead on varieties that are fast growing, can be grown in pots or take up little room. Spring onions can be harvested in eight weeks, and spring radishes take four weeks to reach maturity, while fast-growing salad leaves and carrot varieties are perfect for containers.

Work with your garden's shape

In a small square or rectangular garden there are a few ways to make it look bigger or more interesting. Add in circular paving to break up the linear look of the layout, divide the garden with a border or screen, or add curved borders to draw the eye away from the boundaries and contrast with the straight lines. Another idea is to cover your fence or wall with climbers to disguise the edges of your garden and soften the boundaries.

Grow fruit trees in pots

If you don’t have the space to grow fruit trees in the ground, you can still create a mini-orchard. Choose varieties that thrive in containers, such as Cheery ‘Stella’, Apple ‘Fiesta’ and Plum ‘Opal’, and plant them in a sunny spot. As long as you grow varieties that will pollinate each other or choose self-fertile varieties, you should be harvesting a good crop of fruit within a few years. Growing fruit trees in pots requires a little more work than growing them in the ground, as they will need regular feeding and watering.

Use rectangular paving stones

Make your garden look wider by using rectangular paving, horizontally. This makes an interesting alternative to square paving and will create an illusion that your garden is wider than it is.

Save on shed space

Make use of the underside of shelves in your shed for storage. Reuse jam jars to keep items such as string and plant labels. Attach the jar lid to the shelf using nails or screws and then screw the jar on.

Use repetition

Whether you have a windowsill or a small patio, use repetition to create impact. Repeating an element, whether it's three identical containers or a line of box balls along a path, draws your eye and creates rhythm in the garden.

Spruce up the front gate

Give your gate a makeover to add impact to your front garden. Repainting or sanding down and staining a wooden gate is an easy, budget-friendly job that can make a big difference to an entrance.

Ditch the lawn

Having a lawn can draw attention to the size of a small garden. Using gravel instead creates more opportunities for creative planting, helps make your space seem larger and it's great way to add low maintenance planting in place of a lawn.

Add lighting

Adding lighting to a small garden is simple and doesn't have to be expensive. There are solar-powered spotlights available, which you can stick into the ground without having to install mains-powered lighting. Fairy lights or strings of lanterns are another easy, cheap option. When choosing outdoor lights, go for those with more of a yellow light than a bright white light, as this is less harmful to wildlife.

Grow climbers to cover your boundaries

You can make a small garden look nice without spending lots of money by adding just a few plants that will make a big difference to the look of the space. Planting climbers is a great way to cover vertical surfaces quickly and to make the garden feel bigger by disguising your boundaries. In sunny spots, try a clematis or jasmine. Climbing hydrangea, ivy and chocolate vine are all suitable for growing in shady places and up north-facing walls.

Plant fruit trees on compact rootstocks

If you don’t have enough room for a large fruit tree, choose one on a small rootstock that limits its vigour and growth. For apple trees, rootstocks range from M27 (where the tree only grows to around 1.5m) to MM106 (where the tree reaches 3-4m in height).

Frequently asked questions

What are the three golden rules of garden design?

Create a sense of movement and flow that entices you to go on a journey through the space. An interesting design with paths that curve or meander creates far more interest than straight lines.
Bring the planting into the garden rather than restricting it to beds around the edge of the space. This means you are surrounded by plants as you move around the garden, creating atmosphere, colour and scent, drawing the eye through and breaking the space up into separate areas.
Create a destination point at the end of your journey through the garden. This encourages you to get out into the garden and gives you somewhere to go, sit down and enjoy the planting.

How to give your lawn a spring boost

2025-10-28T11:01:15.000Z

Like many plants in the garden, the grass in your lawn could do with a boost in spring. This involves aerating, scarifying, and tidying, helping the grass to regenerate and grow strongly. What's more, tidying the lawn edges helps to improve the overall appearance of the lawn.

The first time you mow the lawn each year, it should be done with the mower blades set high to help thicken the grass. Afterwards, focus on weeding to reduce competition for nutrients and moisture.

Our experts have also tested a range of kit to keep it looking in tip top condition - from the best lawn mowers, to the best strimmers as well as the best scarifiers and best aerators.

Follow our step-by-step guide to giving your lawn a spring boost, below.

You Will Need

Garden fork or hollow-tine aerator
Sharp river sand
Half-moon iron or spade
Wire-tooth rake or powered scarifier

Step 1

View Green Video on the source website

Aerate to prevent waterlogging. This is particularly important if your lawn has endured heavy rains over winter. If yours is still squelchy, spike it with a garden fork every 15cm. You could also buy or hire a hollow-tined aerator that will remove cores of soil. You can sweep sharp river sand into the holes to help the ground dry out and help prevent future waterlogging.

Step 2

Recut edges using a half-moon iron or spade. You can do this by eye, but you'll get a better result by following the line of a scaffolding plank or other sturdy plank of wood, some taut twine or a snaking hosepipe if you want smooth curves.

Step 3

View Green Video on the source website

Use a spring-tined rake to rake moss from lawns to encourage grass to grow more vigorously.

Creating lawn patch fillers

When reshaping the lawn, collect up the strips and place them 5cm apart in a compost-filled seed tray, then grow on outside or in a cold frame. To replace the bare patch, cut out a square or rectangle around the area and, using a hand trowel, dig up the soil in the rectangle to whatever depth of soil your new turf strip is. Gently lay the turf, cut to fit, over the patch. Firm it down so that there are no gaps and your new turf is no higher or lower than your existing lawn.

10 garden path ideas

2026-01-29T13:50:03.000Z

A path can make a big difference to your garden, both practically and aesthetically. The type of path you choose, including the material, colour and shape, can have a big impact on the look of your garden. Think about which areas of the garden you need to connect as well as the effect you want to create, whether that's a formal walkway or a winding journey through your flowerbeds.

Check the source of any materials you use for a garden path – the most sustainable materials to use include mulch, locally sourced gravel, or reclaimed stone slabs or bricks.

Planning a garden path

When planning a garden path there are several things to consider before getting started:

Purpose – paths are used to connect different areas, prevent lawns becoming compacted, make it safer to cross the garden in wet and frosty conditions as well as adding an attractive feature to your garden. Think about the type and width of path you need – do you need to get a wheelbarrow along it, how often will it be used and does it need to be direct or can it meander?

Style – a straight path can make a garden look narrower so avoid this if you have a thin rectangular garden, although in a larger garden straight paths with a focal point at the end can create a formal look. Curved paths can add more interest, especially if you can't see what's at the end of the path.

Materials – consider matching the colour and style of your material to the type of house and landscaping you already have.

Budget – the cheapest materials to use for a path include gravel, mulch, such as bark chippings, and bricks (if you can get them for free or have spare bricks that can be reused).

Modern garden path ideas

Slate

Slate offers a contemporary look to a path, either laid flat for a grey-blue finish or placed on their side to create a different effect. Edging the path with a limited plant palette will add to a minimalist style, while pairing with plants such as black lilyturf can add to a modern look.

Paving stone path

Using two different materials creates contrast – paving stones on gravel transforms a path into an interesting garden feature, as the gravel provides contrast to the stone. Keeping to a tight curved line and edging with structural, clipped plants adds to the contemporary look. Paving materials can include granite, limestone, sandstone and concrete pavers. Paving stones that are made with concrete have a high carbon footprint, so for a sustainable option consider reclaimed paving slabs or look for ethically sourced slabs. One drawback of this approach is that if you like to keep things clean with a pressure washer, it may not prove practical, as the gravel will get everywhere.

Front garden paths

The type of path you choose for your front garden will affect the style of your entrance. A straight path with topiary or shrubs can create a formal look whereas a gravel path with plants such as grasses and groundcover softening the edges is more informal. Think about practical issues too, such as whether it needs to be wide enough to wheel bins along, and how slippery the surface will be in cold weather.

Curved garden paths

Curved paths are a good choice for thin gardens where a straight path can make the space feel more narrow. Curved paths also make a garden feel bigger as it's not always possible to see what is at the other end of the path. Place paths to encircle flower beds or loop around the edge of a garden to add more intrigue to a garden design. Gravel paths can add a relaxed style to a garden. Edging paths in brick looks neat and prevents gravel scattering on to the lawn.

Natural garden paths

Use mulch

Using mulch for a path is easy and economical, although materials such as bark chippings will decompose over time and may need replacing or topping up every few years. A mulch path is a good option for areas around veg beds or for paths that don't get huge amounts of traffic.

Mow a path

In meadows or areas where grass is kept longer in your garden, mowing a path is a simple way to create a route through the garden. It has the added benefit of helping wildlife, as keeping longer areas of grass alongside the path will encourage wildflowers to grow increasing nectar sources for pollinators. If the path is not heavily used, flowers such as daisies, clover and bird's foot trefoil may also thrive in your mown path, if you mow it every four weeks or so.

Edging garden paths

Edging a garden path prevents loose materials such as gravel or bark chippings from travelling into borders, while adding a decorative element to paths. The choice of edging includes bricks, cobbles, treated timber and metal. Which one you choose depends on the style of your garden. For an informal look, try edging path with plants such as lavender, ferns or ornamental grasses.

Buy garden path edging from B&Q

Lighting ideas for garden paths

Adding lighting alongside a path is not only practical, but looks attractive too. Spotlights can help light the way in the evening if you're heading to a dining or entertaining area. They're also useful for highlighting focal plants that are planted alongside the path. Good lights to use beside paths include spike lights, bollards and spot lights. Bear in mind though that too much light in the garden at night can affect wildlife. If you need lights on your path, it's best to keep to warm, soft lighting rather than bright white lighting, and direct it across the path, rather than up into the sky.

Alternative materials for garden paths

Wood makes an attractive alternative to stone slab paths and if you choose carefully it can be sustainable, too. Cedar wood is a sustainable choice, as it's harvested responsibly. Look for wood that has FSC certification. Good woods for outdoor paths includes green oak and treated pine, although pine won't last as long as other wood.

Cheap DIY garden path ideas

To save money on creating a new path try laying your own. There are plenty of easy options if you want to do it yourself. Search for reclaimed bricks or free bricks online and build your own brick path, as demonstrated by Monty Don, below. Alternatively, use gravel. Gravel is not as expensive as buying stone pavers and making your own path from gravel is not as difficult as laying paving stones.

View Green Video on the source website

How to tidy and clean your greenhouse

2025-02-12T14:56:57.000Z

Winter is a good time to clean, tidy and reorganise your greenhouse, while it is relatively empty and there are fewer jobs in the garden to take up your time. Cleaning the greenhouse will maximise light levels, clear blocked guttering, banish any pests and diseases. Tidying it will make sure that you have an ordered working environment in time for the growing season ahead.

In the video above, Alan Titchmarsh offers advice on refreshing water butts and boosting available light levels for overwintering plants, so they don’t become tall and leggy. Then, Alan explains how to clean ventilators and clear dirt from the gaps between panes of glass. He outlines the benefits of clearing the guttering and how to prevent stored pots from harbouring pests and diseases.

Get our advice on the essential kit for your greenhouse.

Choose a mild day so that any overwintering plants can be safely placed outside for a while.

In this video, Monty Don shows how he cleans out one of his greenhouses at the end of the growing season, to prevent it harbouring pests and diseases over winter – with a little help from the dogs!

View Green Video on the source website

Find more tips on cleaning and organising your greenhouse, below.

Inspired to get started? Our experts have put the best pressure washers through their paces, so you can buy with confidence.

You Will Need

Broom
Bucket
Disinfectant
Glass cleaner
Long handled sponge
Scouring sponge

Total time: 1 day

Step 1

If you're overwintering tender plants, choose a mild spell to empty your greenhouse completely. Cover plants or take them into the house, if necessary. Brush down framework and staging, then sweep the floor.

Step 2

Once everything is outside promise yourself not to return anything that isn't absolutely essential.

Step 3

Both the inside and outside of your greenhouse panes will need cleaning. Take a bucket and sponge and long handled sponge, thoroughly wiping over every pane with a solution of glass cleaner to soak and scrub off dirt. Use a stable platform or stepladder to reach the glass in high ridges.

Step 4

Check your gutters for collected leaves and debris, which could filter down into water butts. Brush out the rubbish before it flows into the downpipes. If the guttering needs replacing, read our guide to fixing guttering to a greenhouse.

Step 5

Empty out water butts and clean out any accumulated dirt in the bottom, then put them back into place. Find out why you should empty your water butt from time to time in our Quick Tips guide. If you don't have a water butt, now is a good time to install one - it will mean that you have a handy water source on hot days.

Step 6

Wipe down surfaces with scouring sponge and wash flower pots and seed trays with disinfectant before thoroughly rinsing. Return everything outside to its proper place in the greenhouse.

Keeping chickens: a beginner's guide

2025-11-14T13:48:12.000Z

Keeping chickens follows a long tradition of poultry keeping that reaches back for millennia. Chickens have lots of character and they're fairly easy to keep in most back gardens, even for beginners, once you’ve learnt about their habits and requirements. But before you make the decision to keep chickens, it’s important to consider whether you've got the time and resources to look after them and if there are any bylaws in your area or specific to your house that set restrictions on chicken keeping. You have a legal responsibility to ensure the needs of your chickens are met.

What does the law say about keeping chickens at home?

In most cases, you can keep chickens legally in your garden. The new law for keeping chickens at home in the UK requires all flocks of poultry or other captive birds – even if you just keep a single bird – to be registered within a month of starting to keep them with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on the Great Britain Poultry Register (GBPR) or the Scottish Kept Bird Register (SKBR). If you live in Scotland and are currently on the GBPR, you should have reregistered on the SKBR. This ensures that you receive any important information about disease outbreaks in your area (such as bird flu), and helps prevent the spread of disease. It's important to contact a vet if you're concerned about the health and welfare of your birds.

In some areas or properties there are byelaws, covenants, stipulations in the house deeds, or other regulations that prohibit you from keeping chickens, so it’s a good idea to check before you buy any birds. In other cases, it’s not prohibited, but keeping a cockerel could cause noise level issues with your neighbours.

It’s worth being aware that it’s illegal to feed your chickens kitchen scraps, even if you live in a vegan house. Feeding mealworms to chickens is also banned in the UK. In both cases, these laws are intended to prevent the sort of cross species feeding that's thought to have caused the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.

Noise levels

Keeping a cockerel may be prohibited in some areas. If you decide to buy a cockerel, make sure the early morning wake-up call won’t disturb you or your neighbours. Cockerels crowing for long periods, at unsociable hours or in built up areas are likely to constitute a Statutory Nuisance, which could mean you have to address the noise or face a fine.

How many chickens should you start with?

The RSPCA recommends keeping at least three chickens that get on well together, so these social animals have company. Just make sure you have sufficient room for the number of chickens, including a suitable sized coop and enough room outside for them to roam.

How many eggs can you expect?

Keeping a small number of chickens for eggs is unlikely to save you money, but it does help with self-sufficiency and reduces food miles. It also provides you with the opportunity to collect fresh eggs yourself – a task particularly enjoyed by children.

Choosing your coop

As well as needing an outdoor area to roam in with short grass, shelter, dry soil for dust baths, and food and water, your chickens will need a coop where they can sleep and lay their eggs. Before choosing your coop, you should ensure it provides:

A warm, dry environment with good ventilation
Excellent protection against wild animals like foxes and rats
Sufficient space, so with three chickens, choose a coop that will accommodate four or more
Areas for perching and nest boxes for egg laying
Covered flooring – wood shaving or straw (not hay) is ideal
An entrance that the chickens can use without crouching

Clean and disinfect coops and anything inside them regularly to prevent disease and remove parasites.

Feeding

Chickens need to be provided with food and fresh water every day. Commercial formulated feeds should be chosen based on the breed and age of your chickens. Chickens also require grit, which they keep for a while in their gizzards to help them digest their food. Ensure feeding and drinking dispensers are safe for chickens, and cleaned regularly. Wear gloves, masks and other appropriate protective equipment when cleaning chicken coops and feeders/drink dispensers. Clean outside and always keep cleaning materials away from household items.

Treats Routine

You can feed chickens treats, but they should be given sparingly to ensure they get the nutrition they need from their main feed. Check that food is suitable for chickens before giving it as a treat and don’t feed them scraps from the kitchen, as this is illegal.

General health

Healthy chickens should be lively, bright-eyed and interested in eating, drinking and preening. Get to know your chickens and check them regularly, then you're more likely to pick up any issues early. If your chicken is hunched up, listless and hides away, check more closely for signs of illness. Always consult your vet if you're concerned about the health of your chickens.

Hot Weather

Chickens can overheat in hot weather. When temperatures rise, make sure you’ve provided:

Plenty of fresh cool water placed in the shade
Areas to dust bathe
Well ventilated coop in the shade
Shady places where they can keep as cool as possible

Keep a close eye on your chickens when it’s hot. Signs of heat stress include panting with an open mouth, little appetite and lethargy.

Cold weather

Chickens are generally fairly resilient to cold weather, but there are measures you should take to keep chickens warm in winter:

Ensure the coop is wind- and water-proof
Make sure their water doesn’t freeze in winter by checking it and replacing it regularly, and using warm water to reduce the likelihood of it freezing
Provide extra bedding and change it regularly
Chickens need to be kept dry or they are likely to become ill in the cold
Make sure they have shelter outside and access to the coop

Visit the RSPCA and the British Hen Welfare Trust for more information on keeping chickens.

Frequently asked questions

How many days can chickens be left alone?

Chickens should not be left alone for any number of days. They need to be visited a minimum of two times during the day – to let them out and check their water and food, and to put them away again at night. If you go away, ask a friend or neighbour to look after your chickens and, as a bonus, they might get fresh eggs.

Is it dangerous to keep chickens in your house?

There are dangers associated with keeping chickens in your house. Chickens can carry bacteria and other pathogens that make humans ill, such as those that cause salmonella, bird flu and campylobacteriosis. Poultry dust from bedding, droppings, feathers and other airborne particles associated with chickens can cause respiratory disease and worsen asthma symptoms. They should be kept outside with other chickens.

10 low maintenance garden ideas

2025-06-26T14:36:31.000Z

Gardening can be labour-intensive, but changing how you water, weed and prune, along with clever plant choices, can make your garden more low-maintenance. You can make small changes, like swapping high-maintenance plants like dahlias and roses with easy, long-flowering perennials or evergreen shrubs. Or make a big change, like getting rid of your lawn and embracing a gravel garden.

The type of garden that is easiest to maintain is one where the plants are as self-sufficient as possible, with less need for watering or deadheading, and there are simple plant displays that offer long-lasting interest. You can also use mulch, such as bark chippings or gravel, to keep weeds down.

Whether you're planning a new garden or making changes to an existing one, prioritise what you most enjoy, whether that's vegetable gardening or planting pots. Leave time for these activities and make the rest of your outdoor space easy and quick to manage. Here are a few ideas of how to make your garden more low-maintenance.

Planning a low-maintenance garden

Choose easy shrubs

Evergreen shrubs not only provide structure and winter interest in the garden, but they're also a low-maintenance plant. Choose shrubs that are slow-growing and don't need much pruning, such as abelias and pittosporum. Look also for shrubs that don't need deadheading, such as fuchsias.

Buy abelia from Crocus

Buy vegetable plug plants

Sowing vegetables from seed is budget-friendly, but it can take time, especially if you grow labour-intensive vegetables like tomatoes, which need to be potted on several times. Save time by buying vegetable plug plants, which can be planted directly outdoors. For tender vegetables, wait until the danger of frost is over. If you only need a few tomato or kale plants, for example, it can be much easier to buy a strip of plug plants.

Buy veg plug plants from Crocus

Grow low-maintenance fruit

Fruit such as strawberries, rhubarb, gooseberries and currants provides a crop every year but needs little attention after planting. Choose low-maintenance fruit and you'll get an easy harvest for very little effort. Strawberry plants may need replacing after three or four years, but otherwise they are easy to look after, while gooseberries and currants just need light pruning in winter.

Buy strawberry plants from Crocus

Add easy-access raised beds

If bending down is a problem or you are planning a garden for elderly gardeners, raised beds are a good option. They raise the soil level to a more accessible height, making planting and weeding easier.

Buy a raised bed kit from Crocus

Choose large containers

Large pots will dry out more slowly than small ones, so you won't have to water them as often. Make a focal point with a big container, using one or two plants that can stay in the pot year round. This will cut down on the amount of seasonal planting you need to change.

Buy containers from Thompson & Morgan

Look for reliable plants

Choose reliable plants such as hardy geraniums or hebes that don't need lots of attention to thrive. Look for plants with an RHS Award of Garden Merit, which is given to plants that perform well. Make sure you choose plants that suit the conditions in your garden. This will cut down on the amount of time you spend maintaining plants.

Buy hardy geraniums from Sarah Raven

Mulch to reduce weeding

Lay mulch around and between plants to suppress weeds. A wide range of mulches can help keep weeds at bay and retain moisture in the soil. These include homemade garden compost, gravel, woodchips or bark. Organic mulches will also release nutrients over time and improve the structure of your soil.

Buy mulch from Thompson & Morgan

Add ground cover

Using ground cover plants is another way to suppress weeds. Avoid leaving bare patches in your borders where weeds can establish and flourish. Low-maintenance ground cover plants include Persicaria bistorta, which is quick to spread and also flowers for months, from April to August, or for shade, Ajuga reptans is a good pick.

Buy ground cover plants from Thompson & Morgan

Create a gravel garden

If you have limited time, swap your lawn for a gravel garden – a great choice if you want low-maintenance landscaping. Lawns can be one of the most labour-intensive parts of the garden, whereas drought-tolerant plants in a gravel garden need little care once established. The gravel should also help to keep down weeds.

Buy drought-tolerant plants from Crocus

Be efficient with watering

Set up an automatic irrigation system for your containers and save time on watering, especially during summer when pots will need to be watered every day in hot weather. Irrigation systems can also be connected to a timer.

Buy an irrigation system from B&Q

How to make insecticidal soap

2024-11-21T14:15:10.000Z

What is insecticidal soap?

Insecticidal soap – also known as soft soap or horticultural soap – is a special kind of soap that's designed for use specifically on plants. It's typically made using a potassium salt from fatty acids (the fatty acids can be animal- or plant-based). This creates a gentle foam that works by damaging the cell membranes of soft-bodied insects such as aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, and mealybugs, causing them to dehydrate and die. Be aware it does not discriminate and can harm beneficial insects as well as the 'pests' you want to control. Considered non-toxic, it can also help control certain types of leaf fungi, such as sooty mould and honeydew. Some manufacturers also claim insecticidal soap can prevent insect attacks by leaving an unpenetrable film over each leaf.

Insecticidal soap is not the same as hand soap, which is a detergent. Detergents are designed to cut through grease and oil, and could potentially damage plant leaves by harming their waxy coating.

How to use insecticidal soap

To minimise potential damage to beneficial insects, inspect plants first to make sure you are targeting pests such as aphids, and not the species that eat them, such a ladybird and hoverfly larvae. Avoid spraying plants in strong sunlight which can cause scorching to foliage and flowers.

Is insecticidal soap pet and wildlife safe?

While insecticidal soap doesn’t contain toxic chemicals and is unlikely to harm pets as soap is unpalatable, it can have harmful effects on wildlife as soap spray kills both unwanted and beneficial insects. Also, insects like aphids are a valuable source of food for birds and other species such as wasps, hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds, so think twice before using insecticidal soap on outdoor plants.

How to make homemade insecticidal soap

Making homemade sprays using household products carries the risk of harm to your plants as these are all detergents. The safest approach when using insecticidal soap for plants is to buy horticultural soap as this is suitable for use on plants, usually in a ready-to-use spray formulation.

If you want to make your own insecticidal soap, choose a simple eco-friendly product such as mild washing up liquid, although bear in mind this is still a detergent and could damage your plants. As a guide, use half a teaspoon of washing up liquid diluted in a litre of water, and apply using a clean hand pressure sprayer. Try it on just one or two plants first and wait several days to observe the results before further use.

Advice on buying insecticidal soap

Insecticidal soap works by dehydrating soft-bodied insects such as aphids and mealybugs, but could also harm beneficial insects such as ladybird and lacewing larvae, so think carefully about whether this is the product for you

Where to buy insecticidal soap online

Frequently asked questions

What is a good alternative to insecticidal soap?

For plants growing outside, the best alternative to insecticidal soap is to establish a natural balance in your garden by encouraging wildlife and beneficial insects. House sparrows, chiffchaffs, ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies and wasps are just some of the species that rely on aphids for food, so leaving them to find and control aphids naturally is the best alternative action. If necessary, you can tackle small infestations by squashing them between finger and thumb or dislodging them with a jet of water from a hose (this may also affect insect predators such as ladybird larvae). Indoors or in a conservatory or greenhouse, you could use a biological control to target a specific pest. This is safe for pets, children, and wildlife.

Can you use insecticidal soap on your barbecue?

Insecticidal soap won’t have the same ability to cut through grease and fat in the way that detergents can. There’s no reason not to use a stronger cleaning product on your barbecue.

How to clean a patio

2026-01-29T13:51:43.000Z

Keeping patios clean not only makes them attractive to use and look at, but is also important from a safety point of view – dirt, debris, and algae can build up and make paving dangerously slippery, especially in periods of wet weather and in shady places.

What's the best way to clean a patio?

As well as regular sweeping with a stiff-bristled broom to remove plant debris, patios really benefit from an occasional thorough clean – spring and autumn are ideal times to do this. You don't need a pressure washer to clean a patio. While pressure washers can give patios a good, uniform clean, you'll be surprised how much you can achieve with a bucket of soapy water and a good scrub.

Chemical-free patio cleaning

While there is a wide range of proprietary patio cleaners available to buy, there are simple and chemical-free kitchen products that work well and cost very little. For hand cleaning, use a stiff-bristled brush that could be either long-handled or a hand-scrubbing brush, depending on whether you prefer to work standing up or kneeling down. If the latter, use knee pads or a garden kneeler to protect your joints. An easier – though more costly – option is using a powered pressure washer.

Before cleaning your patio, sweep off leaves and plant debris and remove weeds and moss from paving cracks. Remove anything portable, such as garden furniture and plant pots, so nothing is in the way while you clean.

How to clean a patio with soapy water

Scrubbing your patio with warm water plus a squirt of washing-up liquid can remove a lot of dirt and algae.

1. Fill a bucket with warm water, add a good squirt of washing-up liquid, and stir to mix thoroughly
2. Working on a small area at a time, pour the water over the paving and leave for several minutes to soak in
3. Scrub the paving, first in one direction and then the other, to thoroughly work over the whole surface
4. Use a hose or bucket to rinse the dirty water with clean water and leave to dry. The cleaning process may need to be repeated, especially if the paving is very dirty

How to clean a patio with vinegar

Household vinegar is excellent for cleaning with many uses around the home and can be used on patios for dirt and stains that are hard to shift. Use white vinegar rather than malt vinegar, which has a strong smell. Refill shops often sell white vinegar so you can fill your own large container rather than buying small bottles. Concentrated vinegar is sold under the chemical name acetic acid. Note that vinegar is corrosive and has the potential to damage plants. Shield plants from vinegar splash and rinse any runoff thoroughly with clean water to dilute it and reduce its harmful impact.

1. In a large bucket, make up a 50:50 mixture of water and vinegar, stirring thoroughly to mix
2. Test a small area of paving before using it on your whole patio, then pour or spray the solution on the rest of the patio. Using a sprayer ensures even coverage and makes the mixture go further
3. Leave for 20-30 minutes to soak in
4. Scrub thoroughly with a stiff-bristled brush, first working one way on the diagonal and then the other
5. Rinse with clean water and allow to dry. Repeat on stubborn stains if needed

How to clean a patio with a pressure washer

An electrically powered pressure washer or power washer is an easier and more thorough patio cleaning method than hand scrubbing. However, a pressure washer is costly to buy, takes up valuable storage space in the shed and is noisy when in use. It also uses a lot of water, so it is not the best environmental option. Either buy your own pressure washer or rent one from a tool hire business. An increasing number of communities now operate ‘tool libraries’ to share expensive kits, so you don't have to buy your own.

Before you start, ensure you have a hose and connectors suitable for use with a pressure washer, as soft, flexible or packable hoses aren’t strong enough. Depending on the patio size, you may also need an extension lead. Also, bear in mind that water and electricity have the potential to be a fatal combination – if your home electrical system doesn’t have a built-in circuit breaker or RCD, use a small portable one.

Pressure-washing is a wet and noisy job, so protect yourself with wellies, waterproof jacket and trousers, rubber gloves, ear defenders, and safety glasses.

1. Start with the pressure washer on its lowest setting and wet the patio first to soak and loosen the dirt. If your patio is made of porcelain or sandstone, which is a soft stone, keep the washer on its lowest setting to avoid damaging the surface
2. Working with the nozzle around 30cm from the ground, go over the paving slowly and steadily, with each pass slightly overlapping the previous one to ensure a thorough clean
3. Use the hose to rinse off any dirt that has splashed up onto anything close by, such as walls, doors, and patio windows
4. If any stubborn stains remain once the patio has dried, treat them with vinegar or a proprietary cleaner, rather then re-washing

Buy pressure washers from B&Q, Karcher
Rent pressure washers from HSS

How to keep your patio looking its best

Clean or new paving can be treated with a patio sealant to make it harder-wearing and easier to clean. However, some people don’t like the sealant's slightly shiny finish, so test a sample piece first before applying it to your whole patio.

Regular sweeping with a stiff-bristled garden broom helps avoid leaves and debris starting to rot down or becoming trodden in to create hard-to-shift stains. Hosing down patios with a jet of water from a hosepipe from time to time will shift loose dirt before it beds in.

When eating outdoors, pick up spilt food before it gets trodden in and creates stubborn stains. Scrub off greasy marks promptly using hot water and a little washing-up liquid.