Trees & Shrubs
The permanent layer of your garden: trees and shrubs are planted once and enjoyed for decades, which makes choosing and planting them right worth real attention. Our guides cover ornamental trees like Japanese maple, evergreen structure like boxwood and holly, fast screens like bamboo (and how to stop it spreading), plus flowering shrubs that carry the garden between perennial seasons. Each guide explains correct planting depth (the #1 killer of new trees), first-year watering, and pruning that shapes without butchering. Small-garden and container-friendly choices are flagged for balcony and courtyard growers.
Two rules save most new trees. Water deliberately through the first two summers, after which an established tree rarely asks for anything again. And choose by mature spread rather than nursery-pot size – that number, not the plant in front of you, decides whether it fits.
