Your garden should be a multilayer food forest, says RHS horticulturist

Tom Massey promotes natural ‘forest gardens’ with biodiverse planting to create wildlife havens

‘A truly special spot’: arts insiders’ top tips for free cultural places in Britain

From Russell Tovey to Gemma Cairney, cultural figures pick their favourite hangouts – from Edinburgh to Aberystwyth – with no entry charge

French philosopher urges people to rebel – by making friends

Geoffroy de Lagasnerie says focus on friendships over relationships or family is radical act in today’s society

Three things with Toni Lodge: ‘I needed a quirky pet, so I collected a snail from the garden’

In our weekly interview about objects, the podcast host and author tells us about the childhood friend she left in a video store, and the Glomesh bag she’d save in a fire

Flies review – the effects of the male gaze on adolescent girls

The new work by Charlie Josephine gives us teenagers’ thoughts about objectification, shame, body image and sex

‘We’ve rediscovered the joy of reading’: how customers are rescuing UK bookshops

A bookseller in Kent has gone viral after tweeting a picture of her empty shop. Here, other retailers explain how they are surviving – even thriving – when many people are counting every penny

‘Why can’t we be the hero?’: George Webster on acting, ambition, romance and big breaks

He is a CBeebies star, a Bafta winner, an author and an ambassador for people with Down’s syndrome. Is there anything George can’t do? Well, there is one thing, says his mother …

‘I’ll always be a bad feminist!’: Roxane Gay on love, success – and upsetting Piers Morgan

The writer, academic and cultural critic has had a tumultuous few years, full of love, grief and phenomenal creativity. She discusses women’s rights, writer’s block and why every day with her wife remains an adventure

Talking posh still pays – that’s why Boris Johnson is rolling in it

The former PM’s high earnings have been partly attributed to the way he speaks. But I’ll take Bill Paterson or Maya Angelou’s sonorous tones over the voice of privilege any day, writes Emma Beddington

When your ex gets the cat: the writer who divorced in her 20s – and turned it into a runaway bestseller

The Schitt’s Creek screenwriter Monica Heisey discusses her debut novel, the similarities between heartbreak and food poisoning, and why failure doesn’t need to make you feel terrible

Poets’ dress code: what the clothes of Sylvia Plath, Audre Lorde and Stevie Smith tell us about their inner lives

A new exhibition, dovetailing with the 60th anniversary of Plath’s death, showcases a skirt she wore to Paris in 1956, Smith’s collection of pristine shirt collars, and the symbolic asymmetric kaftan worn by Lorde after her mastectomy

Enough with finding ‘the one’. Let’s become better at loving the people we already have

On Valentine’s Day, psychologist Chris Cheers proposes we redefine love – not as something we find, but something we do

The big idea: your personality is not set in stone

Think you’re stuck being scatty, or an introvert? The latest research suggests otherwise

‘They save us’: Sally Muir on the art of drawing rescue dogs

Scruffy or sleek, melancholic or mischievous… Sally Muir’s portraits of dogs capture the essence of unconditional love. And her latest collection on rescue dogs reveals much about cruelty – and kindness

Life on the edge: meet the man who walked around the UK

Facing financial ruin, the former paratrooper set out on a six-year, 11,000-mile trek around our entire coastline. It changed his life in more ways than he could possibly imagine. By Ella Braidwood