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Browse 280 guides Open Plant Finder

Choose plants for British soil, light and weather. Find practical care advice from planting through to pruning.

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Useful advice, organised around your next job

Choose plants by soil, light, space and season, not the picture on the label. This library contains 280 practical guides for British gardens. Each guide covers planting, care, pruning and common problems. Advice reflects UK seasons, rainfall and frost risk. Begin with a recommended guide, explore a plant group, or browse the full collection below.

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Start with a popular guide

Quick routes into the questions gardeners ask most often.

How to Grow Dahlias

From tuber planting to lifting after the first frost.

How to Grow Roses

Choose, plant and feed roses for repeat flowering.

How to Grow Hellebores

Reliable winter colour for borders and containers.

Best Climbing Plants

Cover a fence or wall without choosing the wrong climber.

Trees for Small Gardens

Add height and structure without losing your garden.

From the library

The latest plant guides

280 guides in this section

A sunlit UK border of bearded iris in full flower in shades of purple, blue and yellow

Plants 11 August 2026 12 min read

How to Grow Bearded Iris in the UK

How to grow bearded iris in UK gardens: plant rhizomes half-exposed, bake them in full sun, and divide every three years for reliable summer flowers.

Cobaea scandens cup-and-saucer vine covering a support in a UK garden with purple bell flowers

Plants 4 August 2026 12 min read

How to Grow Cobaea (Cup-and-Saucer Vine) UK

Grow cobaea (cup-and-saucer vine) in UK gardens. This fast half-hardy annual climber covers 3-6m a season. Sowing, support, feeding and problems.

Magenta-pink corncockle flowers among a cornfield-annual planting with poppies and cornflowers and a bee

Plants 4 August 2026 11 min read

How to Grow Corncockle (Agrostemma) UK

Grow corncockle (Agrostemma githago) for cutting in UK gardens. Covers sowing, support, best varieties, vase life, and the vital toxicity warning.

Lacy lavender-blue phacelia flowers alive with honeybees in a UK allotment vegetable garden

Plants 4 August 2026 11 min read

How to Grow Phacelia (Bee Plant) UK

Grow phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) in UK gardens as a fast green manure and one of the best nectar plants for bees and hoverflies.

Golden rudbeckia black-eyed Susan flowers massed in a sunny UK cottage garden border with a bumblebee

Plants 4 August 2026 12 min read

How to Grow Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan) UK

Grow rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan) in UK gardens. Covers annual and perennial types, best varieties, sowing, planting, deadheading, and pest control.

Tall Verbena bonariensis with purple flower clusters swaying above a sunny UK prairie-style border

Plants 4 August 2026 12 min read

How to Grow Verbena Bonariensis in the UK

Grow Verbena bonariensis (tall verbena) in UK gardens. Covers see-through planting, hardiness, sowing, self-seeding, butterflies, and winter care.

Bletilla striata hardy garden orchid in flower, magenta-pink blooms above pleated strap-shaped leaves in a UK courtyard

Plants 18 July 2026 14 min read

Hardy Garden Orchids: Bletilla and Beyond

Hardy garden orchids do grow outdoors in the UK. Bletilla striata planting depth, winter wet protection, pots versus ground and honest regional hardiness.

Aconitum monkshood spires in deep violet-blue flowering above divided dark green leaves in a damp part-shaded UK border

Plants 17 July 2026 15 min read

Aconitum: The Deadliest Plant in Your Border

How to grow Aconitum (monkshood) safely in UK gardens: which parts are toxic, the glove protocol, safe siting away from children, and the best cultivars.

Daffodil Types: The 13 Divisions Ranked

Plants 16 July 2026 13 min read

Daffodil Types: The 13 Divisions Ranked

Practical UK guidance on Daffodil Types: The 13 Divisions Ranked, covering timing, suitable conditions, setup, ongoing care, common problems and useful.

Broad bean roots lifted from an allotment bed showing pink nitrogen fixing root nodules on a UK plot

Plants 16 July 2026 14 min read

Nitrogen Fixing Plants and the Sharing Myth

Nitrogen fixing plants for UK gardens: 18 species ranked by nitrogen fixed per year, Rhizobium vs Frankia explained, and why living legumes share nothing.

Tulip Types: All 15 Divisions Decoded

Plants 16 July 2026 13 min read

Tulip Types: All 15 Divisions Decoded

Tulip types explained: all 15 official divisions with heights, UK flowering dates, example cultivars and measured return rates from a five-year clay trial.

Frosted mixed perennial border in a UK suburban garden at dawn, illustrating UK hardiness zones in practice

Plants 15 July 2026 14 min read

UK Hardiness Zones: Why USDA Zones Mislead

UK hardiness zones explained: the RHS H1a-H7 ratings in Celsius, how USDA zones convert, and why winter wet kills more plants here than cold does.

English ivy Hedera helix climbing an old brick wall with both juvenile leaves and mature flowering growth in a UK garden

Plants 13 July 2026 15 min read

English Ivy: Grow It or Get Rid of It

Practical UK guidance on English Ivy: Grow It or Get Rid of It, covering timing, suitable conditions, setup, ongoing care, common problems and useful.

Silver-blue eucalyptus foliage and pale peeling bark against an overcast sky in a UK garden

Plants 13 July 2026 15 min read

Eucalyptus in UK Gardens: Grow or Remove

Grow eucalyptus in UK gardens by choosing a suitable hardy species, planting well and using coppicing or pollarding to control its eventual size.

Flowering currant Ribes sanguineum in full bloom with hanging pink racemes in a UK spring garden

Plants 13 July 2026 13 min read

Flowering Currant: Grow and Prune Ribes

Practical UK guidance on Flowering Currant: Grow and Prune Ribes, covering timing, suitable conditions, setup, ongoing care, common problems and useful.

Abutilon Indian mallow with pendulous orange bell flowers trained against a warm brick wall in a UK garden

Plants 13 July 2026 14 min read

How to Grow Abutilon (Indian Mallow)

Practical UK guidance on How to Grow Abutilon (Indian Mallow), covering timing, suitable conditions, setup, ongoing care, common problems and useful.

Aubrieta rock cress sheeting a dry-stone wall with purple flowers in a Peak District garden in April

Plants 13 July 2026 13 min read

How to Grow Aubrieta for Spring Walls

How to grow aubrieta (aubretia, rock cress): the mat-forming alpine that sheets a wall purple in April. Sun, sharp drainage and the post-flowering shear.

Eucomis pineapple lily flower spikes with leafy tufts standing above strappy leaves in a sunny UK exotic border

Plants 13 July 2026 13 min read

How to Grow Eucomis (Pineapple Lily)

How to grow Eucomis, the pineapple lily: plant bulbs in spring in full sun, feed through summer, and overwinter this tender South African bulb dry.

Mature jade plant Crassula ovata with a thick trunk and glossy leaves on a bright UK windowsill

Plants 13 July 2026 13 min read

Jade Plant Care: The UK Houseplant Guide

Jade plant care in the UK: how to water, light, feed and propagate Crassula ovata, the near-indestructible succulent that lives for decades.

Oxygenating pond plants including hornwort and water starwort growing in the clear water of a UK wildlife pond in summer

Plants 10 July 2026 14 min read

Best Oxygenating Pond Plants for Clear Water

The best oxygenating pond plants for UK ponds: native hornwort, milfoil and starwort that clear green water, plus five banned species to avoid.

Erigeron karvinskianus Mexican fleabane foaming from a stone wall base and paving cracks in a UK front garden

Plants 10 July 2026 14 min read

How to Grow Erigeron (Mexican Fleabane)

Practical UK guidance on How to Grow Erigeron (Mexican Fleabane), covering timing, suitable conditions, setup, ongoing care, common problems and useful.

Foxgloves and other poisonous plants in a UK family garden border, with a low willow fence around the risky clump

Plants 10 July 2026 14 min read

Poisonous Plants in UK Gardens: Child-Safe

Which poisonous plants in UK gardens are dangerous to children, which are safe to grow, and how to fence off the risky ones.

Magenta Christmas cactus in full flower on a bright windowsill in a UK home

Plants 9 July 2026 13 min read

Christmas Cactus Care: 6 Rules for Winter Buds

Christmas cactus care for the UK: water it like the jungle epiphyte it is, trigger buds with cool 12-15C nights from September, and stop bud drop cold.

Red anthurium in flower on a city flat windowsill with London brick terraces visible outside

Plants 8 July 2026 14 min read

Anthurium Care: Why Yours Stopped Flowering

Anthurium care for UK homes: bright east or west light, watering by weight, a chunky bark mix and a 15C floor, plus why blooms fade after 6-8 weeks.

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