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The Potted Blog
Notes from Robin on growing in small flats — opinions, mistakes, and what's actually worked.
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What's Actually Worth Buying at the Garden Centre This Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday garden centre trips mix genuine bargains with stock nobody else wants. Here's what's worth buying now, what to skip, and how to tell the difference.
- Seasonal
What to Do With Your Pots This Bank Holiday Weekend
A practical August Bank Holiday checklist for container gardens: what to deadhead, harvest, propagate, check and protect before September arrives.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Patios, balconies and small gardens at the end of AugustDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Plant Problems
Why the Slugs Are Back
Wetter weather after a long dry spell brings slugs and snails back into view. Most aren't actually a problem. Here's what genuinely helps protect vulnerable plants.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Patios, balconies and raised beds after wetter weather returnsDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
When It Finally Rains, Make It Count
After months of dry weather and hosepipe restrictions, rain is welcome. Here's how to make sure your pots actually benefit from it.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Patios, balconies and window boxes after a long dry summerDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 7 min - Getting Started
Can You Water Plants With Bath Water
Yes, for most ornamental plants. What RHS research found, what in your bath water matters, and how to reuse grey water safely.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Balcony pots, patio containers and window boxesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Houseplants
Pet-Safe Houseplants: What's Safe and What Isn't
Which houseplants are safe for cats and dogs? The common plants to avoid, safer alternatives, and the one flower cat owners shouldn't bring home.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Flats and shared homes with cats or dogsDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 6 min - Plant Problems
Is Your Plant Dead, or Just Protecting Itself From Drought
Wilting isn't the only way a plant defends itself from drought. Curling leaves, dropping fruit, shedding foliage and dormancy can all be survival strategies.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Balcony, patio or windowsill potsDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Getting Started
Drought-Tolerant Plants for Pots
With hosepipe restrictions expected to run into autumn, the easiest way to cut your watering workload isn't a better routine. It's growing plants that need less water in the first place.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Sunny balconies, patio pots and window boxesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Seasonal
What Can You Plant in Pots in August
August isn't the end of the growing season. What's genuinely worth sowing in a container this month, what to skip despite what some seed packets suggest, and how to get an empty summer pot working again.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Outdoor · containersDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Plant Problems
What to Do With Strawberry Plants After Fruiting
The fruit has finished. The plant hasn't. What to cut back, whether to keep the runners, how to turn one balcony strawberry pot into next year's plants for free, and when an old plant is finally worth replacing.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Balcony pots, hanging baskets and window boxesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Plant Problems
Can You Save Plants That Dried Out While You Were on Holiday
You come home to a wilted, crisp-edged balcony and assume the worst. Before you flood everything, here's how to tell what's actually salvageable, and how to rehydrate a plant properly rather than making things worse.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Balcony, patio or windowsill potsDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
What Should You Do With Lavender After It Flowers
Your lavender looked fantastic in June and July. Now it's grey, leggy and covered in dead flower stalks. What to actually cut, the one place you should never cut, and how a potted lavender needs different treatment to one in the ground.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Balcony pots, patio containers and sunny window boxesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min
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