Garden Plants

Garden plants – more info

Garden plants are easy to enjoy, but choosing the right plants for your garden is more of a challenge. With so many varieties to choose from it can be overwhelming for beginner gardeners. To help you choose the best plants we offer lots of useful gardening guides created by our expert team of horticulturalists.

From flowering perennials to towering trees, we aim to provide the best quality plants, at affordable prices with excellent customer service so you receive the best garden shopping experience.

What are shrubs?

Shrubs are woody perennial plants that maintain some of their structure above ground all year round. With a range of beneficial attributes like scented winter blooms, evergreen leaves and fantastic autumn colour, planting shrubs is the best way to introduce year round interest and backbone to your garden.

How to take a cutting from a shrub

Take a cutting from your shrub using sharp snips. It's best to take a softwood cutting in spring before flower buds start to form, whereas winter is just right for those hardwood cuttings. Aim to cut your flowerless bud just under a leaf juncture, leaving three leaves intact on the cutting. Slide the cutting into moist, well drained compost. Use a clear plastic bag and a rubber band around the top of your pot to keep your cuttings nicely humid.

When should shrubs be cut back?

Cut back your evergreen shrubs, including holly and any evergreen hedging, in spring. Aim to cut before growth starts but after any late frosts. If you have an evergreen topiary that needs a trim, wait until late summer to shape it.

For flowering shrubs, pruning times depend on flowering time. If you have a spring flowering shrub like forsythia, wait until flowering is over in late spring before you cut back. The blooms form on old wood, so avoid cutting back in early spring otherwise you may prevent flowering. Summer flowering shrubs like buddleja prefer a prune in late winter. They usually flower on the same year's growth so avoid pruning in spring.

What are perennial plants?

Perennial plants include shrubs, herbaceous plants, trees and any other plant that has a life span beyond two years in the garden. Popular hardy perennial plants in the garden include salvias and hardy geraniums. These hardy plants make the ultimate low maintenance garden display, returning year after year to flower with very little input.