If someone asked me to recommend one gardening job that gives the greatest return for the time invested, I wouldn't hesitate for very long. I'd say mulching. It isn't particularly glamorous. There's no dramatic transformation overnight and it certainly doesn't produce the instant satisfaction of planting a new border full of flowers. Yet year after year, I see the difference it makes. Gardens that are mulched regularly seem healthier, easier to maintain and better able to cop

Some of the happiest moments I've had in gardens have had nothing to do with flowers. They've been the quiet moments when a robin appears beside me while I'm weeding, when a bumblebee disappears deep into a salvia flower, or when I stop for a few minutes simply to watch butterflies drifting across a border on a warm summer afternoon. Those moments remind me that gardens are never just for us. Whether we realise it or not, every garden becomes part of a much larger landscape.