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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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How to Get a Thicker Trunk on an Olive Tree
A thin olive trunk doesn't need harder pruning. Here's what actually makes an olive tree thicken, what slows it down and how to grow a more substantial tree in a pot.
- Plant Problems
Yarrow Is a Brilliant Garden Plant. So Why Is It Taking Over Your Lawn?
Yarrow stays green through drought, flowers for wildlife and is deliberately grown in meadows. In a fine lawn, it can spread relentlessly. Here's how to decide whether to keep it or remove it.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Small lawns and gardensDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 6 min - Plant Problems
The Pest You Should Check Your Pots for This September
September is an important time to check container plants for vine weevil. Here's how to spot the signs and decide whether treatment is needed.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Containers on patios, balconies and windowsillsDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 7 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 - 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 - 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 - Plant Problems
Why Are My Leaves Turning Yellow
Yellow leaves are a symptom, not a diagnosis, and they can mean almost opposite things depending on the pattern. How to actually work out whether it's watering, light, feeding, pests, or nothing to worry about at all.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Any windowsill, shelf or patio potDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Plant Problems
Why Is My Plant Drooping After Repotting
Some drooping after repotting is normal and resolves within a week or two. Here's how to tell ordinary transplant shock apart from a genuine problem, and what actually helps a plant recover.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Any windowsill, balcony or patio potDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Plant Problems
Looking After Tomatoes Through the Rest of Summer
Your tomatoes are flowering or fruiting now, which changes what they need. Feeding, watering consistency, pinching out side shoots, and what to do about splitting, blossom end rot, and fruit that won't ripen.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Patio, balcony or sunny doorstepDIFFICULTY moderate✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Plant Problems
What Kew's New Report Reveals About Changing Flowering Times
Kew analysed 8 million historic plant specimens with AI and found flowering times have shifted by 2.5 days a decade for a century. What the State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2026 report actually found, and why it matters for a small garden.
LIGHT 2 of 3SPACE Any small spaceDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Plant Problems
Why Your Lettuce, Spinach and Coriander Keep Bolting
It's not just the heat. Why lettuce, spinach and coriander suddenly shoot up and flower, why some crops do it because of day length rather than temperature, and what to actually do about it.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE All edible spacesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min
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