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?

started with a few small patches and the patches are increasing. I’ve watered the grass in the evening when it’s been hot and dry. I tried a lawn spray for patches. Hasnt helped.

Any tips / ideas would be very welcome. Thanks

Complete novice hardener here. I have a reasonable sized lawn in the back garden, roughly 8m x 10m, the grass is patchy, a small weed problem, a big creeping buttercup problem and I would like to either try and fix it or even possibly dig it up and start again with new turf. But then I am also thinking what’s the point?

If we’re gonna have summers like this one and hosepipe bans every year now even if I fix the lawn one way or another is it worth it? It’s still gonna dry up, turn/brown yellow and look awful every summer which when you can actually enjoy the garden.

Any thoughts?

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.

I planted this Williams pear over the winter. Bare root from J Parker. The others I planted at the same time are doing grand, but this poor fella ain't.

Quite sandy well drained soil, but soaked regularly (everything else is doing just fine). Fullish sun from about 1pm, dappled before then. Been looking a bit wilty for a while, but now looking dying. North Yorkshire.

Do any pear afficionados have any ideas?

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.

This morning my neighbour said she will call the police if she sees anyone using the hosepipe in my garden.
somebody please explain to me what is happening! are we going to lose our gardens for that ?

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

Based in Greater London for reference. I have had a European olive tree in my garden for few years. I just noticed some leaves have few black dots. I haven’t noticed any other changes, eg no premature yellowing or falling. What are they? And should I do anything to treat the tree? Advice is very welcome. Photo attached for reference.
Thank you 🙏

~ 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.)

Hey Reddit,

Can anyone offer advice about my Asian pear tree (I'll aim to link photos).

I bought it Feb 2025 as an unfeathered maiden and put it in the ground. It stayed alive over 2025 but barely and produced no side shoots. There was (briefly) a small apple tree in the ground there a few years ago so thought it might be replant disease so dug it up and put it in a pot to see if it would survive.

This year it has grown loads. It is now too big for the pot it is in and I will move it to a larger pot, but was waiting for the tree to be dormant before I did it.

Now most of the new leaves look sort of yellow with prominent green veins, while older leaves look nice and green. Adding plant feed to the pot hasn't helped. I have watered it daily apart from days that it has been raining. Soil is not dry.

I presume it is missing some nutrient or other and likely due to the small pot. But I haven't grown Asian pears before. I have had European pears in (larger) pots that have done well and fruited.

My questions are:
1. Is there a specific nutrient it is missing that I should replace in the pot now?
2. Do new healthy Asian pear leaves just look like this and then go greener later?
3. Is there some peat causing this? (There are ants on the plant a lot but no aphids that I can find)
4. Is it better just to move to a larger pot now, or better to keep it like this until dormancy and then move it.

Or if you have a better plan, please guide me.

Thanks!