The Garden Minute: Blossom, Bird Watch & Flower Beds

☀️ Good morning Gardeners. Need a little Monday Motivation? Here's a round up of gardenspiration to set you up for the week ahead.

Jess

Apr 14, 2025

A round-up of tips, tricks and news snippets on all things garden-related.

🐦 Starlings disappearing from gardens, says RSPB

💐 Garden experts warn against overcrowding flower beds – why this on-trend look is the worst thing you can do

🐝 When to sow a clover lawn for an effortless, wildlife-friendly garden – the bees will love you for it

🌸 The best blossom trees for a blooming spring garden, from crab apple to cherry

🐦‍⬛ Big Garden Birdwatch 2025: What were the results from this year?

☕ The Long Read

Down tools, grab a brew and get lost in a long read on your break

‘All other avenues have been exhausted’: Is legal action the only way to save the planet?

‘In November 2024, Monica Feria-Tinta, a veteran of UN tribunals and the international criminal court, strode through a heavy black door into a Georgian building in London’s august legal district for a meeting about a tree in Southend. Affectionately known as Chester, the 150-year-old plane tree towers over a bus shelter in the centre of the Essex seaside town. The council wanted to cut it down and residents were fighting back – but they were running out of options. Katy Treverton, a local campaigner, had travelled from Southend to ask Feria-Tinta’s legal advice. “Chester is one of the last trees left in this part of Southend,” said Treverton, sitting at a large table in an airy meeting room. “Losing him would be losing part of the city’s identity.”

Spotlight on some of the gardening creators we’re loving this week

Acres Wild - @acreswildgardendesign

Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith have run their hugely successful West Sussex garden-design practice for more than 30 years, and are masters of the art of creating generously planted gardens in a tightly structured framework.