Garden Answers

Garden Answers is a vibrant and inspiring gardening magazine filled with ingenious design ideas and exciting plant combinations guaranteed to make your garden beautiful.

Welcome

Meet the Contributors • “This month in the garden I’ll be…”

Celebrate LOW LAYERS OF COLOUR • It’s time for some tiny plants to take their turn in the spotlight, while summer’s big border beauties are still sleeping

Be inspired by… • Plants, books, events & buys for the month

Lemon zing! • Add a burst of lemon to your garden as well as to your pancakes!

THE POWER OF MUSHROOMS!

NEW GARDENS TO VISIT IN 2026

Wish list • A February birth flower, the primrose cheers the end of winter, then its cousins carry on the blooms!

The heart OF THE GARDEN • Both indoors and out, heart-shaped plants are, well, heartwarming for gardeners

The February garden of SECRET SCENTS • While the world lies muted and still, winter-flowering shrubs release their secret perfumes – vanilla, clove, citrus and almond – showing us that beauty and hope thrive even in the coldest corners of the garden

Wonderful WINTERGREENS • From grasses to ferns and herbaceous perennials, these choice winter evergreens light up borders with colour and texture, says Sue Fisher

February • Prepare for the season ahead by sowing annual climbers, potting up tubers and pruning buddleja, roses and other shrubs

SOW ANNUAL CLIMBERS • Start exotic climbers off now to enjoy cascades of flowers and foliage for five months

Prune back SHRUBS AND CLIMBERS • Late winter is a key time for pruning late-summer-flowering clematis, cornus, ivy, heathers and evergreens

Think big with INGENIOUS DESIGNER TRICKS • With the right visual tricks, clever planting and a few pro-level layout tweaks, you can make a modest plot feel wider, deeper and far more luxurious than its footprint suggests

Exploring THE WEB OF LIFE • Adrian Thomas pieces together the garden ecosystem

Serenity in shade • Over four decades one couple have packed their shady garden with a multitude of unusual foliage plants and woodland treasures

Where every inch blooms • Just one more… Jenny Gustafson’s richly planted garden in south-west Scotland is full of inspiration, with not a bit of space wasted

The secret snowdrop garden • Barry Smith, head gardener at the famous Georgian landscape garden at Stowe Gardens in Buckinghamshire, chooses his favourite part of the garden in February

Achieve garden greatness

Welcome to my lovely plot • Olga Grieves is working hard to sweeten the soil and make it more fertile – and some early signs of success are already showing

Grow some easy WINDOWSILL LETTUCE • Beautiful ‘Salad Bowl’ lettuce makes salads look pretty and can be snipped at any time in a sunny place indoors

Ask the Experts •  Our experts will help you get the best from your garden

Q&A • Are potted alstroemeria hardy? How do I grow yellow raspberries? Read on…

HERB GARDENS • Make the most of your herbs and grow them to flavour food and as gifts for pollinators – and for the eyes!

Nature’s Little Workers WORMERIES AND BOKASHI COMPOSTING • Geoff Hodge looks at putting worms and bacteria to work to produce quality composts and liquid feeds

Over to you!

Garden Answers

Fill you garden with heavenly little dancers • These amarine ‘Garden Angels’ deliver striking, long-lasting flowers from late summer to autumn

Skyscraper Lily Collection • Strong stems that grow to more than a metre tall, smothered with huge trumpet flowers… and an incredible fragrance, too

Let snowdrops herald the spring • Plant now, enjoy sooner! These ‘bulbs...