Ria Higgins

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Articles

Interior Design Masters winner reveals new John Lewis collection

4 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Jessica Doyle |Victoria Maw |Stephen Doig |Ria Higgins

John Cooper has applied his 'graphic bohemia' style to a range for the British retailer. Here are the hits (and misses)For John Cooper, the winner of this year's series of the BBC1 show Interior Design Masters, creating a homeware collection to be sold in John Lewis was very much not his normal day job. It was also a first for John Lewis: its design team had not previously worked with a designer who was simultaneously juggling a full-time job as a secondary-school teacher.
The best joyful spring homeware to buy now, from £7

1 month ago | telegraph.co.uk | Victoria Maw |Stephen Doig |Ria Higgins |Aditi Sharma

Wander through an English garden in May and you might be lucky enough to spot the first roses emerging, catch the sweet aroma of lilac on the breeze or watch a bee visiting the pulmonaria.
I fell from a first-floor window and smashed my skull

1 month ago | telegraph.co.uk | Ria Higgins |Aditi Sharma |Jessica Doyle |Jessica Salter

A horrific accident at her home could have ended designer Vanessa Arbuthnott's career; instead, it influenced her latest collectionsStepping into fabric designer Vanessa Arbuthnott's Cotswolds house feels like a sun-drenched saunter through a very English meadow. Colours flit from soft sky blue to warm buttercup yellow... fresh air, fresh earth, fresh life. It's a tonic for the eyes and the soul, and a true testament to Arbuthnott's eye for delicate shapes and harmonious tones.
How to grow lavender and the best varieties to plant now

2 months ago | telegraph.co.uk | Val Bourne |Holly Thomas |Tom Brown |Ria Higgins

Lavender creates its own summer heat haze and the flowers attract bees and butterflies galore, because aromatic plants produce nectar that's packed with a concentrated mixture of sugars. This mainly Mediterranean subshrub has been grown here since Roman times, although it does need a sunny site and good drainage. Once established, lavenders are drought-tolerant, but they do need watering after planting because they rely on developing deep root systems.
How do you grow chillies and peppers from seed?

2 months ago | telegraph.co.uk | Connor Ibbetson |Jessica Doyle |Ria Higgins |Tom Brown

Around early summer, your plants should start to produce flowers, which can be further encouraged with a high-potash fertiliser once a week to replace the nitrogen feed. A fertiliser that's high in potash would be a tomato feed or a comfrey fertiliser. Depending on the variety, the ultimate height of your plant should be achieved before too many flowers are produced.
'I know my garden gnomes are naff, but they make me smile'

2 months ago | telegraph.co.uk | Ria Higgins |Tom Brown |Lia Leendertz |Kulwinder Singh Rai

The rugby legend opens up about his Chelsea Flower Show garden inspired by living with HIV, and finding sanctuary in natureWhere do you live? My husband Stephen and I moved into our current house at the end of last summer. We had been living right on the Welsh coast but, as idyllic as it was, it also came with a lot of problems - including the noise and smoke from beach parties and bonfires. So, we decided to move to the country, just outside Bridgend, which is where I'm from.
How can I revive my rhododendron?

2 months ago | telegraph.co.uk | Tom Brown |Kulwinder Singh Rai |Natalie Paris |Ria Higgins

Dear Tom,I have a hybrid rhododendron in a pot. It has been growing in the pot for three to four years, but unfortunately it now appears to be dying. The leaves are looking pale and are starting to curl up and fall off, and the new buds are dry. What can I do to revive it? Dear Nalin,Rhododendrons have a very shallow, dinner plate-like root system.
What is mulching and how do you do it?

Mar 30, 2025 | telegraph.co.uk | Tom Brown |Kulwinder Singh Rai |Natalie Paris |Ria Higgins

When to mulchThere are two schools of thought when it comes to mulching; those who like to mulch in the autumn and those who prefer to mulch in the spring. The rationale behind mulching in the autumn is that it protects the soil from the winter wet, locks in some of that summer warmth and maintains a slightly warmer temperature in the soil for longer, extending the season in which roots grow and plants establish.
What's the best way to grow strawberries?

Mar 28, 2025 | telegraph.co.uk | Natalie Paris |Ria Higgins |Tom Brown |Clare Coulson

Watering should increase as the fruit begins to set. There are no hard and fast rules for watering, because small plants in low temperatures and dull light conditions require very little, but more frequent watering is needed when temperatures are high, and the sun is shining, and the fruit is swelling. If in doubt, water a little less and more frequently, as overwatering will cause rot and the leaching of nutrients from the compost.