Gardening tips: plant Japanese quince

Then put in shallots and save on house plants

Plant this Early spring blossom is manna for pollinators emerging from winter hibernation, so help them out by planting a Japanese quince (Chaenomeles). It will make a handsome thorny hedge or wall-trained shrub in full sun or partial shade, and it’s hard as nails. The yellow, perfumed fruits grow in autumn and make quince jelly, too. ‘Pink Lady’grows to 1.5m each way; for ground cover, try the white-flowered ‘Jet Trail’.

Try this Shallot sets (another name for small immature bulbs) offer a lot of bang for your buck: plant one set by the end of this month, and by summer it will have multiplied into a whole clump. They like well-drained soil and suit raised beds: try a banana shallot variety such as ‘Longor’ for the best flavour.

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How to get a new perspective on your garden

When I sat still, I decided a scented climber was what my garden needed

Gardeners rarely sit down, for long at least, in their gardens. Once you do, you spy an errant weed or a plant that needs staking or something else to do other than sit – and off you go again. But sitting is a good thing for both you and the garden. When you are always busy, you are not necessarily observing the bigger picture. Sitting down allows you to pull back from the detail and take it all in.

I have an iron bench that I have been dragging round the garden for years trying to find its perfect spot. Then a week ago, in some fine spring sun, I hauled it over to the furthest corner and, after the effort of carrying it, sat down immediately to catch my breath.

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Get your garden and its wildlife off to a good start this spring

The seasons seem topsy-turvy, but this is still a time of new beginnings. Here’s how to help your flowerbeds and veg plots thrive

As soil warms, it’s time to plant perennials, but don’t just impulse-buy the first thing you see that promises pretty flowers on the label. If your garden got frazzled by the weather last summer, put drought-resistant plants that double as pollinator magnets to the top of your list. For sunny spots, hylotelephiums (aka sedums), verbascums, achilleas, eryngiums and osteospermums are among the best, while pulmonarias, bergenias, Japanese anemones, lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and lamiums (deadnettles) will thrive in shadier borders.

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Retirement interest-only mortgages offer lifeline to older borrowers

Demand is growing for a new type of home loan that helps the over-55s facing a shortfall at the end of their existing term

A new breed of interest-only mortgage for older people is starting to take off. These deals could throw a lifeline to thousands of people who have an interest-only home loan that’s coming to an end, but don’t know how they are going to pay back what they owe.

Interest-only mortgages became virtually extinct following the credit crunch and were once branded a ticking timebomb. During the past few years some older homeowners with these mortgages have found themselves staring down the barrel of a big shortfall and worried they could lose their homes.

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How to live off the grid: 8 things to consider for off-grid living Nottingham Estate Agents

Living off the grid, that great dream of self-sufficiency which burns strongly in many people seems to be coming back into vogue.  Why be reliant on state-run utilities for water and electricity when, with a bit of effort, you can generate your own? Why drive to a supermarket to buy food that has been transported […]

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This week’s quirky properties are incredible

Including a gold-plated mansion, converted chocolate factory and medieval home.

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Let’s move to Winchester: where all is right with the world

The streets are lined with the homes of your dreams… just don’t expect anything edgy

What’s going for it? I sense that Winchester has never fallen on particularly hard times – perhaps when the Romans left? These days, though, the town, lush and leafy in its hollow at the start (or end) of the South Downs, regularly cavorts in, if not tops, “10 most prosperous/gorgeous/popular/la-di-da places to live” league tables. It is lovely. Really lovely. The streets are lined with the homes of your dreams: all periods are represented from King Arthur (almost) to Grand Designs, spick and span and freshly painted, gardens fit-for-a-House Beautiful photoshoot. History pours from every stone, even fake history – from King Arthur’s round table (yeah, right) to the diver who stopped its immense cathedral from sinking into the mud. Never a dull moment in Winchester. The river Itchen, where John Keats once took afternoon strolls, tinkles away contentedly in its water meadows at the bottom of the hill. In Winchester, all is right with the world.

The case against… And that might be the problem. I might go mad here, it’s such a bubble of prosperity. The wonderful art school aside, there’s not much edge to the place. And, inevitably, it is very expensive – almost London prices.

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