Edinburgh’s had one for years, Glastonbury’s getting one this summer and from tomorrow, Chelsea too will have its own Fringe. A brand new festival of gardens and gardening, it coincides with the famous show, but aims to attract a much wider audience with an eclectic mix of events over the next three weeks, many of which are free.

Terracotta pots are a good, inexpensive option for the garden but sometimes they can feel just a little bit dull. You can jazz them up with a coat of paint but if you want to create something really unique, why not have a crack at a collage. So find the scissors and glue and get started on a mash-up masterpiece!

Setting up a vegetable patch can be daunting; but it doesn’t have to be difficult to get off to a flying start. Think small to begin with, opt for simple plot preparation and invest in some time-saving tools. There are plenty of quick and easy crops to try and with warmer weather on the way; now is a great time to get growing!

Drought-tolerant plants are not just a labour-saving option for containers; they can be good for urban flower beds too where dry soil is a common problem that’s being made worse by densely-packed buildings, hotter weather and less rain. We asked the experts to name their favourite water-wise plants for urban pots and plots.

Gardening festivals are breaking out of the show grounds and taking to the streets this summer with the launch of horticultural events in cities across the UK.

A mild winter encouraged many plants to flower early this year and now an unusually warm March has got bluebells blooming too.

Starlings are iconic city birds but their numbers have dropped by almost 80% in the past three decades, results from the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch have shown.

Rare flora and invertebrates found on urban brownfield sites are being put at risk simply because “brown isn’t cool” according to entomologist Richard ‘Bugman’ Jones.

Hosepipe bans affecting more than 20 million households are to be imposed from April 5th, to combat the effects of the worsening drought in southern and eastern England.

Collaborations are all the rage in the world of fashion, but it’s not so common for gardeners to be one half of the partnership. Students from the London College of Fashion though, are joining forces with a group of community growers, to create a dye garden that will bring colour to their fashion collections and their campus.

More than 30 schoolchildren gathered at London’s glamorous Kensington Roof Gardens this week for some springtime fun with bulbs.

The new Blue Peter garden at the BBC’s base in Salford has been officially opened by Princess Anne, but only after a challenge in the best traditions of the long-running children’s programme.

Much of Britain’s countryside is “rubbish for wildlife”, a leading ecologist has said, arguing that towns and cities are often now a more habitable place for many plants and animals.

Huge numbers of birds are winging into gardens as a result of the current cold snap, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has said.