io-ltd.co.uk

A mainstay of BBC Radio 4’s long-running panel show Gardeners’ Question Time for more than three decades, Matt Biggs, who has died aged 65, became one of Britain’s most trusted gardening authorities. He styled himself “the people’s gardener”, a nod to a horticultural career that began in the late 1970s in the parks department at … Read more

We’re on the brink of June: long days, start of summer, often wetter than people bargain for – and time to act on the gaps that can appear in borders in July if we’re not careful. It’s awkward that summer is both the time most people think about gardening and the worst time to plant anything: … Read more

The heatwave has triggered a surge in prices for seasonal items, with the cost of one inflatable hot tub nearly doubling in a week, while an industry expert said air conditioning units have risen by about 17% since April. The Guardian looked at the cost of popular items across a range of websites and examined … Read more

When wandering around Ikea arm-in-arm, most newly cohabiting couples are too excited about their new sofa, or Billy bookcase, or the enormous house plant they are about to wrestle into an Uber, to think too deeply about what might happen to those items were their relationship to sour. But at a time when many young … Read more

It was cheering to read that William and Kate’s new lease for Forest Lodge in Windsor stipulates that they must keep the grounds “clean and tidy” and “free from weeds”. Solidarity, comrades! How relatable. For I too am a renter, and know how it feels to live under the landlord’s cosh. My own tenancy agreement … Read more

Never mind a gnome, no other garden at this year’s Chelsea flower show can boast a Barbara Hepworth sculpture like the RHS gold-award-winning Tate Britain garden. And few will have such a significant afterlife. Designed by the landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, it is a microcosm of a major redesign for the gallery’s Millbank garden, opening … Read more