Homes & Gardens

The UK's fifth largest housebuilder has credited the Government's Help to Buy scheme with a sharp rise in enquiries.

Linden Homes said the 27 per cent year-on-year uplift during February to April included a variety of first-time buyers and second-steppers.

And the introduction of the scheme is expected to boost sales at a new housing development near Exeter which has already been exceeding expectations, with a surge in reservations for affordable homes at Cranbrook.

Westbury Homes has sold 15 properties at Otter Way in the new community in East Devon since it opened...

The RSPCA is warning gardeners to tread carefully to avoid harming the wildlife which may be living in their gardens.

Every year the RSPCA receives calls about animals with distressing and often fatal garden injuries which in most cases are completely avoidable.

Past cases include a toad with its hind legs chopped off by a strimmer, a hedgehog burnt in pampas grass clearance, a blackbird speared by a garden fork and a toad stuck in a watering can.

Already this spring we have seen several hedgehogs caught by strimmers, a snake fatally injured by a lawnmower in...

Back in the autumn of 2011, the quest began to uncover parts of the garden at Overbeck’s that had been closed for over 30 years. After nine months of hard work by the garden team a path 103 meters long has been re-opened. It follows the line of an old route through the woodland which leads to an area beloved by Otto Overbeck – his 50ft high natural rock garden. The area is particularly sheltered, even by Overbeck’s standards, and Head Gardener Cat Saunders has started planting palms and other sub tropical plants down there already. "As I led my team through the undergrowth I didn’t know...

It may be too late to get tickets for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show but there is still plenty visitors can do to get into the Chelsea mood at RHS Garden Rosemoor. The garden is looking wonderful with cheerful daffodils, woodlanders such as Trilliums, alliums, and fresh new growth unfurling in the Rock Gully. The many fruit trees are putting on exquisite blossom displays, too. If you were thinking about seeing the show gardens at Chelsea take a trip to the model gardens at Rosemoor instead. They share a similar focus on garden design and future similarly intricate planting. Irises are also...