Matthew Biggs
Matthew Biggs is a Kew trained gardener and panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. He is also a prolific author, with a passion for plants and their histories.
Recent articles by Matthew Biggs
These flamboyant shrubs are long-flowering and change subtly over the season - here's how to grow Hydrangea paniculata
Add a sense of grandeur to your garden with these deciduous shrubs that flower in late summer and early autumn.
The Art of Deadheading
Deadheading means that you're garden will always look its best – and will ensure flowers and nectar for longer. Plant experts John Hoyland and Matthew Biggs explain how to do it.
You've heard of the Chelsea Chop – but what is the Hampton Hack?
Plant experts Matthew Biggs and John Hoyland explain how to do the 'Hampton Hack' technique and highlight the plants that benefit from it.
Want to stop your veg from being munched? Planting these flowers nearby could save it from bugs and slugs
Ever wondered how companion planting might help your vegetables and deter pests? Here expert grower Matthew Biggs breaks down the companion planting myths and explains how the system works
What is the Chelsea Chop – and what plants should you try it on?
Plant experts Matthew Biggs and John Hoyland explain what the Chelsea chop is, how to do it, and which plants to try it on.
These plants will make your garden look good all year: 30 plants and flowers for year-round colour and interest
These hard-working plants provide several seasons of interest in your garden through flowers, fruit, foliage, bark and even spring shoots
The search for the Backhouse daffodils: a remarkable plant treasure hunt
Tracking down the Backhouse daffodils, narcissi bred by her ancestors, has become a lifetime’s work for Caroline Thomson.
The best indoor orchids for long-lasting, colourful blooms plus how to to keep them alive and flowering again
Add colour to the winter months with these delicate houseplants that offer exotic, long-lasting flowers, and are easier to look after than you may think.
Words: Matthew Biggs, Photographs: Éva Nemeth
Sunflowers: the best varieties and how to grow
Sunflowers' robust nature and blooms beaming with good-natured, bucolic honesty make them worthy of a place in any garden. Writer and gardener Matthew Biggs is your guide to growing sunflowers and chooses his favourite cultivars. Photographs Jason Ingram
They grow like weeds at this time of year but these tiny flowers can look beautiful in a spring garden
The vivid-blue, starry-eyed, forget-me-not flowers of many members of the Boraginaceae family makes them unforgettable and there are plenty of options for adding their appeal to your garden
Autumn glory at Fullers Mill
For more than half a century, Bernard Tickner worked on creating an exhilarating garden at Fullers Mill, which is a glory to visit in autumn. Words Matthew Biggs, photographs Richard Bloom
Annual climbers: 21 of the best annual climbers to plant
Annual climbers can be sown and grown in a year and are an easy and colourful way to cover walls or trellises. Plant expert Matthew Biggs chooses 21 of his favourite annual climbers
A colourful, naturalistic garden with interest all year from Stefano Marinaz
In a quiet corner of Essex, designer Stefano Marinaz has replaced a lawn and parking space with a naturalistic garden of mixed planting that offers interest all year. Photographs Alister Thorpe.
A garden for all seasons with early spring interest in Berkshire
The creative owners of this new Berkshire garden have staged a series of garden rooms, each one a composition in colour and form. Photographs Clive Nichols
Hardy orchids: the best to grow in your garden
Many fall for the delicate beauty of tropical orchids but their hardy cousins are equally enthralling. But be warned, these tiny enchantresses will quickly have you under their spell
Book review | Unearthed, by Claire Ratinon
A poetic and sometimes unsettling autobiography detailing how growing food helped redefine a personal relationship with the land
Pulmonaria: how to grow, plus 13 of the best varieties
Popular with bees for their nectar-rich flowers in spring, pulmonarias look wonderful planted with bergenias and geraniums. Gardener and author Matthew Biggs gives advice on how to grow these hardy plants and recommends his favourite varieties. Photographs Jason Ingram
Kevock Garden Plants: nursery of the month
Kevock Garden Plants near Edinburgh is a small nursery offering a big choice of alpine plants. Photographs Jason Ingram
Inspiring gardens | A plantsperson's garden in Nottinghamshire
In this spring garden, choice plants are selected for their outstanding individual features. Photographs Bennet Smith