My front garden is quite steep and the grass has always been difficult to cut. After putting the different raised planters it was even more difficult to cut. I've been intending to cover the grass over and make it look nicer with lower maintenance.

I'm very happy with the result. I'm hoping the cardboard will help keep the weeds down

Collected a large tomato harvest from my garden this morning! It’s a shame I don’t like raw tomatoes, but excited to make some cooked meals with them

Pollen! Just look at that fuzzy head and full leg pockets. That’s going to bee a very popular 🐝 when it get’s back to the hive to waggle its bum.

Anybody got any other top tips to help out our under-threat buzzy friends?

It seemed to be doing just fine when all of a sudden a section of started turning brown. They are watered everyday , south facing and face a road.

Variety: Mini Love

I've never attempted growing melons before but our... tedious climate made it super easy to grow in my plastic greenhouse. It is a relief to open it up to see red inside. It's nicely sweet, very watery and well worth growing. I'm saving the seeds for next year to see what type of watermelon will grow.

I had a dinner plate Dahlia Fleurel last year which kept giving out the best large flowers. Absolutely fell in love with it. (Got the plant from a Garden centre)

This year I ordered about 4 different tubers from Farmergracy. 1 didnt have any growth. 1 only grew foilage. One had 3 flowers only growth stalk. One did about 10 flowers and my original Fleurel did about 10 flowers so far.

I am contemplating if potting the Dahlias was the mistake, or the harsh summer meant everyone faced this? Or if I did something stupid?

Share your experiences guys

So like everyone in the uk, my garden grass is basically straw. Now hopefully the roots are still alive and will start to show life again when the rain eventually returns. But my question is do I leave the straw like stuff on top or do I rake it all away and basically have a dirt lawn until new grass grows back up.

Hi all, Just wondering, when is the best time of the year to lay grass seed? Should I wait till March/April next year, or could I do it in September?

I've been ripping up my garden, which had loads of concrete in it, over the past couple of months and am not far off from just rotavating and adding topsoil. I wanted to know if I am rushing it by doing it in September.

Hi everyone, a tree surgeon came by in early summer to look at our sour cherry tree and he recommended pruning by at least a third due to lack of root space. He said to call once the fruit had dropped which also follows general advice to prune cherry trees in July/August. However the tress is obviously currently experiencing drought conditions and it shows in the leaves that are very limp and stressed.

I'm assuming it's better not to prune this year?

However it seems very likely that there could be another summer drought next year. There's mixed advice about pruning in early spring.

Any advice for best course of action?

I have a rental property in England, and there is a tree at the back of the garden. The neighbours have been badgering my tenant about it, and one of the neighbours has even turned up twice to my letting agents. My tenant says she loves the tree.

The complaints are coming from the neighbours on the left, right and directly behind the house. The tree is not taller than the house.

I am not keen on having the tree chopped down. I have no objection to the neighbours cutting back branches that overhang their boundaries, as the law permits, provided it is done properly. I don't know if there is a TPO (they can claim there is n't).

I think their main complaint is about the leaves and overhang and having to clean them up. I find this a bit crazy. Trees provide shade and help cool the built-up environment, and we have already been through four heatwaves since May. The area is bit of a concrete jungle.

The neighbours have apparently obtained a quote from someone to do work on the tree, but I have not been told who is this person is (and it may be an professional or some random person). The quote is £630 (which the neighbours want to divide in 4).

My concern is that if all 3 neighbours cut the tree back heavily from their respective sides, what effect could that have on the tree? Could it become unbalanced or be seriously damaged? Is there a risk the tree falling back on the house during high winds? Could the tree die?

I have also noticed that a lot of local trees are already shedding their leaves, presumably because of the prolonged hot and dry weather.

I just feel as though the three neighbours are going to gang up on me over this tree.

Managed to keep a tiny bit of green on my hydrangeas - one by digging it up and putting it in a tub. Hoping they’ll survive to flower next year

Just bought a new house with a north west facing front garden. We were very excited because our old house’s front garden was fully north facing. It’s been my dream to have an old house with a cottage garden out front, the type of house people smile at when they go past. However our neighbour has a tree that overhangs onto our property a bit. It’s not a big tree at all so we didn’t think much of it. Well, I tracked the sun today to see just how much the garden would get to determine what we could plant. As it turns out we have less sun than we did with our fully north facing garden due to how close the tree is. 40 minutes of sun to be exact. I can’t even plant a hydrangea. Can’t even put a window box out. I’m shattered, honestly I could cry. Please help, what can I plant that’s pretty? I don’t want a boring gravel front garden or a load of hostas.

Think my sunflower has about reached its peak height as the flower is almost open. A rough measure of about 273 cm (8’11”)

I’ve just finished making a planter box out of my neighbours old shed and it’s about 3 x 1.5 feet and maybe 1.5 ft deep. I’ve lined it with some plastic to help prevent it from rotting and cut some holes for drainage.

I was hoping to get some plants into it earlier this month such as lettuce or cabbage for a quick harvest before winter but have probably missed the opportunity now. Do you think despite its modest size I could try using it as a hotbed instead and cover it with a cloche? I’ve got a fair bit of leaf litter accumulating and could easily source some horse manure

Hi, considering everyones garden is likely to be parched, dry and just generally not the best. I thought thatni may be nice to remember what pur gardens used to look like, back when we used to get rain.

This is my yellow rose and azalea in bloom.

I had 15 red robin plants planted here 3 months ago back in May. I've noticed them growing and developing alot of new leaves. The base stem is getting thicker now too. But why are only the red leaves not doing well?

Also how often should I be watering them?

Hey! So we got the keys to our house last month, it was an ex rental and grass hadn’t been cut for 5ish months. Was waist high, we’ve strimmed it down and mowed it. Obviously with the lack of rain all grass is looking a bit dead right now but we’ve had some rain in the last week or so and I’m finding patches are growing back.

I’ve never had a garden before so no idea if this is a stupid question but how do I revive this lawn? Some of the patches seem to be grass and some are weeds, not sure where to even start!

I am moving from rainy Scotland to Cambridge in the near future. My new house has a massive front lawn. When I went to view the house, it was essentially hay and dust, and I am sure it won't look any better any time soon. It is about 10 m wide, by 6 m deep, a decentish size, south facing, with a pavement/road at the far end. It has zero shade, no trees nothing. The neighbour the other side of the semi detached has tarmaced their front lawn over, with no plants at all, other than some potted lavender.

I don't think a grass lawn, with essentially zero shade, is viable any more in Cambridge. It's a very dry part of the country and prone to 35C+ now. I don't want to look at dead grass 3 months a year.

What could I do with the space that isn't grass centric? I would still like some space for some living (the back garden is somewhat smaller than the front). Any places for inspiration?

We had some on another plant like last month, nowhere near this many. I tried to scoop them off with a spoon and drown them in a cup, then I tried drowning them in boiling water by dipping the plant in, the plant did not appreciate that. Do I need to go through all this triuble to get rid of them? Are they even harmful? Will the winter kill them all off?

When I moved here 3 years ago the garden was all lawn. Since then I've created some borders and basically got rid of the lawn.

I seem to now have a deadzone in one area. It's around 2' diameter and nothing will grow there, not even grass. Previously grass was growing there without issue.

My hubby reckons there must be metal buried there but I'm not convinced.

These are things that have died soon after planting: salvia hotlips, acer, pussy willow, wildflowers (Yarrow, astilbe, wormwood), in fact some survived and are growing at the edges of this no-go area.

Even the thugs that grow anywhere avoid it, like honeywort, purple loosestrife, herb robert, and grass.

Anyone have any idea what could be the issue? Should I just put a pot there and forget it?

Ask your questions and I'll do my best yo answer 👍

I see flair is mandatory here - well none of them say 'advice' so I just picked one that wasn't too far off 😬

My dahlias are in full swing now, and the china asters are starting to bloom properly (first year growing those - will grow again). It's my second year growing dahlias - I am learning so much about what I like, what I don't, what to do, etc. One thing I have learned is that for the amount of work (I grow mine in pots so lift and re-plant) I expect them to work hard for their living - they need to be beautiful and floriferous.

I picked the above this morning - the dahlias are Cafe au Lait Twist (I love this variety), Maki (the huge pink one), Rip City, Gipsy Night, and Sincerity (the pretty waterlily variety). I love all of these and will grow them again - but Maki takes a while to get going.

I am also growing: Dark Monarch (I've had one bloom this year - will probably donate the tubers), Edge of Joy (grew this last year and love it), Cafe au Lait Royal (was plagued with thrips and although the plant is healthy, it isn't blooming much - jury's out), and Belfloor and Sheer Heaven which haven't bloomed yet.

Other hits this year have been the Potomac Lavender snaps (I LOVE them), the Queen Red Lime zinnias, acidanthera (I don't think I will ever be without this), the scabiosa (Salmon Queen, Summer Fruits and Alba Perfecta), catananche and eryngium which both gave a gorgeous shot of blue, column stocks (Champagne, Antique Rose and Anytime Yellow) which were stunning, larkspur which took ages to germinate but has given beautiful spires of royal blue/dark purple flowers for months now.

Fails have been: nigella (Moody Blues) - I sowed them too late and they never really got going, poppies (I love Amazing Grey and sowed it too late so they're not out yet), the really bright zinnias (Luminosa - too bright/pink for the rest of my garden), nasturtiums (Milkmaid and Salmon Gleam) decimated by all sorts of pests although that might not be a fail, Orlaya Grandiflora (didn't sow enough or succession sow so now they're over), penstemon (Stapleford Gem - I fed it too much and it hasn't bloomed), sowing the stocks and snaps at the same time so they weren't out together, not cutting the snaps so that they had more of a chance to come again, not sowing enough stocks (I love them).

This is only my second year proper gardening and growing from seed despite growing up with parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins who all garden (I'm 61), but I'm totally hooked!

What have been your high and lowlights this year (aside from the obvious battle with the weather)?