Blends of a linear and a lightly branched polyethylene were prepared by solution blending and in the melt, by mixing in a screw extruder, and the phase morphologies were compared. First, the melt phase behaviour of the solution-blended system was studied by differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy. A loop of liquid-liquid phase separation was found at low linear-polyethylene content. Three melt-mixed blends were then prepared and characterized, again by differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy. The general pattern of phase behaviour of these melt-mixed blends was similar to that obtained by solution blending the same pair of polymers (i.e. a region of phase separation was again found at low linear-polyethylene content). Where the phase behaviour allowed mixing, the screw extruder produced blends with uniform composition throughout the sample. The morphologies of the melt-mixed materials showed enhanced nucleation, compared with the solution-blended materials, and orientation effects particularly at low linear-polyethylene content.