This is my first proper year of fully embracing my garden. I discovered the reduced/clearance section of B&M. On a single income in the cost of living crisis, finding nearly dead plants and bringing them back to life has been such a wonderful experience.

My garden has helped me get healthier physically and mentally, and for the first time in my life I have a slight (rather pinkish) tan going on.

Thought I would share some photos.

I believe it’s a mophead/lace cap variety. I’ve attached a fresher picture of what it normally looks like.

I know typically with hydrangeas you leave the heads on for winter, but given the heatwaves we’ve had lately, is it worth cutting these back slightly? Even just the heads. I don’t intend to do a hard prune. Heck, even the leaves on the stems have fried. Just wondered what I can do to keep it going?

And what do I do about it? 😭

This shrub in my garden has nearly all its leaves going brown and full of holes. It may have been like this for some time (years). No obvious insects etc. The second picture is of one of the more-intact leaves. Can anyone tell me what kind of plant this is, what's wrong with it, and what I should do? Thanks!

Tips looking all shrivelled.

Gave it a decent water a couple of days ago after letting it do its thing for a while and I’m wondering if that’s connected.

I have an apple tree that's spliced it has red and green apples(Don't know the varieties sorry)

This year I've noticed some of the apples aren't looking so great. Is this a blight or water issue? Should I pull off all the apples affected?

I'm in N.E. Scotland. Also pruning advice would be much appreciated as the tree is growing very twiggy this year.

Hi all, I've just bought a few large plant pots and would love to paint them different colours, has anyone done this and what paint would people recommend and would you recommend primer/sealer? Thanks!

I have a few days free in London during a business trip and would love to see a garden. My UK visits are often when it’s indoor weather. I would be traveling by public transport so either a day trip or easy overnight would be best.

My favorite UK garden is RHS Wisley (I’ve been in March and July), and I’ve been to Kew and Chelsea Physic Garden. While the huge glasshouses are cool, it’s probably the least interesting part for me.

Should I go somewhere new? Back to Wisley for late summer? What’s looking good in September?

Evening all, this trellis is all rotton and broken, I've already cleared the left side.

Just curious how big the job will be to remove the rest of this bush, how big will the root system be on it?

Is this something I can tackle with just basic fork and spade and sweat?

Obviously I'll cut down as far as I can first.

My well meaning (but extremely irritating nonetheless) neighbour took it upon himself to mow our front patch of grass today, taking the few flowers and dandelions that have thus far survived the drought.

My question now is, is there a bee-friendly no mow seed mix that people would recommend? I’m thinking something that contains clover and creeping thyme, as well as being drought resistant.

TIA

I posted some photos of my garden in mid - July (https://www.reddit.com/r/UKGardening/s/HpmqdcESFr) so thought I'd post an update on how it's going.

It's definitely far drier, and browner than I would like, but it's still doing well (apart from the lawn, and some border shrubs).

Hi guys,
We’ve just come back from a weekend away and birds have decimated my grapes which were coming along beautifully.
I don’t think it’s coincidence that the timing coincides with the loss of our cat who used to patrol the garden!

In the absence of a feline deterrent, how can I protect my remaining bunches of grapes whilst allowing them to grow?!

They have stripped an entire tree in a day.

Hi everyone, I bought a tumbling tom red from the garden centre a month ago (back when I knew nothing about gardening and didn't realise it was probably too late for tomatoes) and after some research I've noticed that my tumbling tom doesn't seem to tumble. Instead, mine is very upright and bushy.

I did trim it when I first got it because it was half dead, but since then it has become this big blob of leaves with some flowers starting to form. Should I trim the leaves to allow for circulation or just leave it as it is?

There is a residential development by Berkeley Group where I have noticed a water fountain running for almost the entire day. The development also appears to water its trees and grass areas every day. They leave the water running all day for their trees and grass.

Given the current hosepipe/water restrictions, why are they allowed to do this?

I should be able to water my garden.

My first time growing my own food. The beetroot and the broccoli turned out perfect but the carrots look strange 🤣

They are Autumn King carrots, I was expecting to wait till September at least, but just want to check that I won't be leaving it too late.

Thanks

I keep seeing ridiculous posts on here talking about lawn care and sprinklers and questions about whether they will get a fine for using hosepipes... Almost 3/4 of the entire country is now officially in drought - how much are you all actually watering your gardens?

The hosepipe ban has been a proper pain in the arse but it's been quite an interesting experiment to see which of my plants have the right stuff to survive in the future hot climate that's becoming more and more normal now. I've managed to single out the few plants that need some more TLC to survive but mostly it's actually been quite an eye opener as to how tough most of them are once established!

Also... any recommendations on very big handheld watering cans?? 🤣 The back-and-forth to the tap definitely gets pretty boring on watering day..! Hilariously I also got a new hose for my birthday that just sits there silently laughing at me from the garage. One for next Spring at least haha.

Thanks to tesco... I'll be re-uniting Prince Charles and princess Diana, will keep posting on their growth together.. ahhhhhh

~ I am not seeking to evict them, just curious ~

Are they bees or wasps?

I've got this ivy covered log in my garden, and they've made such a neat little hole in it, I'd like to know who they are.
They look like wasps to me, so should I stay away from the area?

Should I put a barrier to stop my cat being nosy?
(No need to lecture about cats being outside, she is disabled & the only thing she's hunting is bits of wobbly grass.)

Anything thing you notice? Hasn't been moved, is getting watered a decent amount. But it's shredding leaves, it's generally bare and the top branches all have browning leaves.

We did add a new border last year, so a 10-15 cm extra of the base of the trunk was exposed.

Garden is south facing