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Category Archives: Tips

image of horticulturalist working among plants in a garden bed

Growing Your Garden Confidence

by Ciaran Biggins / on 12th December 2025 / in Blog, Gardens, Tips

Five tips to boost your gardening confidence

If you often find yourself looking at your garden and thinking “I’m not sure what I should be doing or how to do it correctly,” you’re not alone. The new RHS State of Gardening Report recently revealed that while 34 million people in the UK garden regularly, only 27% feel confident doing it.

We see this “garden confidence gap” all the time. People who care about their gardens but worry about pruning too hard, choosing the wrong plants or not knowing where to start. With the new Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy encouraging residents to support wildlife and plant more sustainably, even well-informed gardeners often say they feel overwhelmed.

But don’t despair! Confidence can grow quickly with the right guidance. Here are five simple ways you can grow your gardening confidence.

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Image of a garden in winter

The Secret Season: 5 Winter Care Jobs Your Garden Will Thank You For

by Ciaran Biggins / on 10th October 2025 / in Blog, environment, Gardens, planting, Tips, winter

Winter Gardening

Many think winter is the time to “put the garden to bed.” The borders are often bare, trees and shrubs have lost their leaves, the lawn slows down and it’s tempting to retreat indoors until spring. But don’t be deceived – gardens never truly sleep. Even in the quiet months, life, colour and important work are happening above and below ground. Winter is when nature restores itself and when we can step in to give it a hand. It’s the moment when we can prepare for next year’s growth and tend to traditional craft jobs that support the health of our gardens. It’s a time to create vital habitats for wildlife, setting the stage for a thriving garden in the year ahead.

Here are some of the winter jobs you could be thinking about, whether you’re keen to keep your garden looking its best, want to increase biodiversity, or simply enjoy the satisfaction of good seasonal work.

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re-wilding your garden

Re-wilding your garden – what difference can you make?

by George Smith / on 27th July 2023 / in Blog, environment, Gardens, planting, plants, Ponds, Tips, trees, Wildlife

How to continue your re-wilding journey

Many of us have now set aside or made changes to some parts of our gardens to make them friendlier to wildlife.

Leaving a corner to go wild with brambles or nettles, ‘No-mow May’ or leaving leaf litter and plant debris under hedges or in beds are all ways to attract insects, small mammals and birds to our gardens. For many of us, this is just the first step on a re-wilding journey.

The true principles of re-wilding go well beyond transforming all or most of our garden into a haven for nature, however. Re-wilding means extending beyond and across boundaries to neighbouring gardens and green spaces.

To make re-wilding a reality and also a success, what’s needed is scale and size; conjoined areas of land to create a habitat for a pool of biodiversity. This is the challenge for home-owners and Garden Designers alike.

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Low Maintenance doesn’t mean No Maintenance!

by George Smith / on 10th November 2022 / in Blog, garden design, Gardens, planting, plants, pots, Tips

It may not come as much surprise to hear that we are often asked for a ‘low maintenance’ garden when it comes to designing green spaces.

This may be due to many reasons; being new to gardening, having a young family, older age, restricted mobility or simply not having enough time.

For a keen gardener, tending to borders and lawns is a much-enjoyed pastime, but for a lot of people managing a garden can often feel overwhelming and all too often a chore, rather than a pleasure.

Here we discuss some low-maintenance garden design considerations without having to turn your garden into a concrete jungle!

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GreenArt Garden Care & Maintenance

Nurture your lawn with these 5 tips

by Gavin Stanton / on 20th September 2022 / in Blog, lawncare, Tips

Grass is a wonderfully resilient plant that has surprised many over the past weeks, I am sure you will agree.  The small respite in the long hot dry summer has at last allowed lawns to begin to recuperate.

With little rain forecast and a hosepipe ban still in force across parts of England, we want to help you nurture your lawn back to good health. 

Follow these 5 tips to ensure your lawn comes back fighting fit.

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Keep Weeding – A summer garden maintenance tip.

by Gavin Stanton / on 24th June 2022 / in Blog, Gardens, Invasive Plants, Tips

Summer is a time when we want to be enjoying our gardens and it is also the time when weeding is required the most, because weeds get everywhere! The seeds often lie dormant in the soil waiting for their chance to flourish. With all the recent rain we have had, and now the warmer weather, it’s fair to say the weeds are currently flourishing!

Of course there are physical preventative measures, like weed mats, that you can use to reduce the need for weeding, however they do not suit all locations and require some preparation. A solution for next year perhaps, but not right now.

You may also be tempted by herbicides, however here at GreenArt we do not use herbicides as they significantly impact the surrounding environment and wildlife. 

So it is our job as gardeners to keep weeding during the growing months. But keeping your weeds under control doesn’t have to be an onerous task if you follow these simple guidelines. 

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watering the garden

Garden Care During A Dry Spell

by Jo Smith / on 27th May 2022 / in Blog, borders, climate, environment, Gardens, lawncare, plants, pots, Tips, trees, Watering

With Summer on the horizon and temperatures on the rise, now is the time to get organised to ensure your garden is getting enough water to keep it looking at its best.

Watering your trees, shrubs and plants can feel like a thankless task. And don’t forget your lawn, particularly if newly laid, which needs regular watering to keep it green and healthy. Watering doesn’t have to be a chore, however, as there are many watering and irrigation systems out there to make our lives a lot easier.

Knowing when to water and what to prioritise will not only save you time, but also help conserve our precious water reserves.

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Winter Gardening

by George Smith / on 26th January 2022 / in Blog, Gardens, lawncare, planting, plants, Tips, trees, Watering, Wildlife, winter

You might think that there’s nothing to do in the garden during the Winter as deciduous trees have lost their leaves, perennials have died back and many plants are looking quite sad. In fact, it’s a really important time for looking after what you have, as well as preparing your garden for the Spring and Summer.

Our Garden Care and Development teams are busy working in gardens across the county throughout this Winter and have put together some tips to help your garden get in shape – and help you stay fit in the process!

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