My mum is losing her eyesight. What plants are good for a sensory garden?
Plants with perfumed blossoms, aromatic foliage, tactile appeal, or which rustle in the breeze would be ideal candidates
Plan and plant now for a beautiful garden next summer
If you’ve ever compared autumn-sown hardy flowering annuals with their spring-sown equivalents, you’ll know they’re like chalk and cheese
What drought-resistant plants are suitable for Irish gardens?
Most plants prefer a middle ground with soil that’s neither baked to a crisp nor badly waterlogged
Drought is bad news for earthworms, but gardeners can help them out
Earthworm populations globally are in decline, along with their vital ability to act as ecosystem engineers
Should I weed my garden in a heatwave?
Climate change is demanding we adapt to new norms and make changes in how we garden
Want to live a longer, happier life? Take up gardening
‘Life in Full Bloom’ is the theme for this year’s Connected with Nature events as part of Nursing Homes Week, celebrating the harvest season with events catered for residents’ wellbeing
A gardening friend says my green potatoes are poisonous. Is it true?
Some of my potatoes have pushed up out of the ground and turned green
How to revive your tired late summer garden
Ruthlessly cut out any vegetation that heatwaves have left withered and yellowing before judiciously filing in the gaps left behind
How can I encourage more moths to visit my garden?
Butterflies may be more colourful but moths bring their own special magic
Mulch, shade, water, ventilate: How to help your garden over the summer months
Taking some practical measures can lessen the impact of dry weather on your plants
I sowed a lot of greens but they’ve spiked - have they bolted?
Readers’ questions: Most of my plants now have tall spikes of leaves which taste off
Summer gardening: How to fill the gaps in your flower borders
Ugly gaps in summer flower borders are painful to behold, but there are ways to manage them
What container plants will survive brief periods of neglect in summer?
Container-grown plants are much more vulnerable to compost heating up and drying out
‘There would be no life on Earth without plants ... We need to keep reminding ourselves of that’
Noeleen Smyth is the first female director of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland
