Every week, Amateur Gardening is the first choice for both beginners and knowledgeable gardeners looking for advice and easy-to-follow practical features on growing flowers, trees, shrubs as well as fruit and vegetables. Be inspired, by our beautifully illustrated features covering plant and flower groups, both home grown and exotic, and take a sneak peek into some of the most beautiful private gardens around the country. Plus, every week we feature expert opinion and tips from some of gardening’s most influential exponents including Toby Buckland, Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank, Peter Seabrook and Jo Whittingham.

Editor’s note

How to prune in autumn • Ruth discusses the how, why, when and what of trimming

Pruning a congested tree • Our young ‘Conference’ is now abundantly prolific…

Great gifts for gardeners • Team AG’s Garry Coward Williams, Ruth Hayes, Lesley Upton and Janey Goulding find the festive prezzies they would love to find in their stockings on 25 December

Last chance for spring colour • Ruth plants the last of this year’s bedding and bulbs

Amazing new plants for 2021 • Vigour and repeat flowering are key benefits, says Peter

Lime is on your side • If you want a quick way to make soil fertile and more agreeable for crops, just add lime to your plot, says Bob

Herbaceous root cuttings • Ruth tries this method of propagating certain perennials

The ivy league • Val looks at a bee that feeds mainly on ivy flowers

Focus on… Leeks • Lucy shows you how to get the healthiest bumper crops

Bring the outdoors in with Everlasting flowers • Want indoor arrangements that look great and last for ages? The answer is cut and dried. Louise Curley reveals the blooms and seedheads to choose

To light up shade, choose Erythroniums • With colourful spring flowers and interesting patterned foliage, hound’s tooth violets are an invaluable addition to a shady spot, as Graham Rice explains

More blooms, less gloom with Winter-flowering clematis • We associate them with spring and summer but clematis can add scent and sparkle to the cold months – just when we need it most, says Louise Curley

Ask John Negus • John has been answering reader queries for 50 years

A Gardener’s Miscellany • Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke

Ask Anne! • Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: shallots

All our yesterdays from the AG archives Shrub roses • In the last part of his series, Arthur Hellyer, MBE, VMH, finalises his choice of the finest shrub rose varieties

Letters to Wendy

Amateur Gardening

What’s in a name? • Why isn’t the brightly berried Chilean guava plant more popular? Toby thinks the answer might lie in the moniker