Soft Cares News Today

As climate change brings volatile weather patterns, the shrub – too often ignored in favour of fashionable perennials – is making a comeback

December can be a noisy and hectic month in the run-up to the big day, while, in contrast, the garden enters a quiet period, a soothing balm to the hustle and bustle. Most of the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves and have begun their period of dormancy to wait out the winter. There are fewer flowers to enjoy but there is still much to appreciate out there.

Great for wildlife and terrible for burglars, mahonias are useful shrubs with spiky, architectural leaves and sun-yellow flowers that fill the air with scent. Hazel Sillver looks at which ones to grow and how

Advice on choosing the best winter flowering shrubs for your garden, including evergreen winter shrubs and scented winter shrubs. From BBC Gardeners' World Magazine.

The gold-winning London Square Community Garden at Chelsea featured Jay Blades vibrant upcycled chairs 

I dearly love all winter flowers but with a few notable exceptions they are subtle rather than showy.

This entryway by Seattle landscaper Scot Eckley shows how you can create a multi-functional outdoor living room no matter the size of your outdoor space.

This entryway by Seattle landscaper Scot Eckley shows how you can create a multi-functional patio no matter the size of your outdoor space.

Foolproof plants for aspirational gardeners: Plant it and forget it series Updated Mar 02, 2021; Every gardener has felt the defeat of bringing home a special plant only to watch it slowly wither. Which prompts these questions: Where are the low-maintenance shrubs that don’t demand a lot of pruning and the plants that don’t depend on spraying since they are disease-resistant? They’re abundantly available, says Bruce Hegna of Portland-based Nature/Nurture Landscape Design. “If you put t...