SAGA — Doing things properly

Gardening masterclasses

Falling autumn leaves can become a nuisance, but rather than consigning them to your wheelie bin, turn leaves into leaf mould - a wonderful compost that can be used as mulch or dug into the ground as a soil conditioner. Martyn Cox explains how to go about it. Read more

Gardening features

• How to grow herbs

• Crunch time for allotments
• Virtual garden design guide
• Growing veg without a garden
• How to grow blackcurrants

Q&As with Val Bourne

• How to grow soft fruit

• Why won't my beans crop?
• Livening up a rose bed
• Drought-tolerant plants
• How can I get rid of aphids?

Terry Walton's allotment blog

• September 2: autumn arrives

• Aug 20: gardener's paradise
• Aug 13: don't lose the plot
• Aug 6: want an allotment?
• July 29: the munch bunch

Garden wildlife

• The house sparrow

• Elephant hawkmoth caterpillar
• The brown long-eared bat
• The Comma Butterfly
• The red damselfly

Val Bourne's plant portraits

Val Bourne introduces the Allium sphaerocephalon - otherwise known as the drumstick allium

• Buddlejas
• The Goldfinch Rose
• Rose 'County of Hampshire'
• Tulipa ballerina