BLOG · NOTES FROM ROBIN
The Potted Blog
Notes from Robin on growing in small flats — opinions, mistakes, and what's actually worked.
★ LATEST
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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Seasonal
Fire Risk in a Dry Garden, and What to Actually Check
UK fire services have responded to over 700 wildfires this year, and a garden fire can spread to a house within minutes. Compost heaps, mulch, dry grass and where flammable things sit near your home, what actually matters and what to do about it.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Any garden, yard or balcony with stored materialDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
Hosepipe Bans 2026: What They Mean for Your Pots
Nine UK water companies have hosepipe bans in force this summer, covering most of southern and eastern England, London and the Thames Valley. What that actually means if you're growing in pots, what you can and can't do, and the workarounds that keep everything alive.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE All spacesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
Small-Space Plants to Cut Back Now, or Lose Next Year's Flowers
Mid-July is the last honest window for cutting back a handful of pot-friendly shrubs and perennials. Miss it, and you'll be cutting off next spring's flowers. The plants worth checking, and how to do it properly.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE OutdoorDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
What to Plant in Pots in July
It isn't too late. What to sow and plant in containers this month — fast salads, a last window for carrots and dwarf beans, autumn brassicas to start now, and the flowers you sow in July for next spring.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Outdoor · containersDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
Do I Need to Water My Lawn in Summer?
Short answer: no. Why a brown lawn in a heatwave is dormant, not dying, what watering it actually does wrong, the one thing to do instead, and how to tell dormancy apart from disease.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Outdoor · lawnDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 8 min - Seasonal
Should I Cut Back My Roses in Midsummer?
The short answer: mostly deadhead, don't hard-prune. What to actually do with hybrid teas, climbers and once-flowering roses in midsummer, the correct technique, and the mistake that costs you your next flush of blooms.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE Outdoor · border or large containerDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 9 min - Seasonal
How to Water Your Plants in a Heatwave
Watering in a heatwave done properly: when to water, how deep, why pots may need it twice a day, and the midday wilt that fools everyone. Plus what to prioritise when you can't save everything.
LIGHT 3 of 3SPACE All spacesDIFFICULTY easy✓ TESTEDREAD 7 min
✦ Free with the newsletter — the small-space starter sheet
Grow Anywhere — a free weekly email.
The Potted Club newsletter. A short note from Robin — what to sow, one plant problem solved, and the best new guide.
FREE WEEKLY EMAIL · NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME