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Learn how to hoe your vegetable patch effectively with advice and a practical demonstration from Monty Don. Find out about tool sharpening and how frequently to hoe your plot. all year roundMore advice on common garden tasksWeeding by hand

Carol Klein demonstrates how to add mulch to beds and borders to enrich the soil and ensure healthy plants.spring and autumnCarolMore ways to improve soilImproving soil with green manure.How to feed plants.Improving your soil.Making a soil sieve.

Monty demonstrates how to plant autumn-fruiting raspberries, and offers tips on soil preparation, planting depth and spacing. October-NovemberMore on growing raspberriesHow to enjoy a long raspberry seasonVideo advice ongrowing raspberries for summerVideo guide to growing summer-...

Watch Monty Don's video demonstration of how to sow spinach seeds, with advice on the ideal location, soil preparation and spacing.springMore advice on growing vegVideo advice on sowing salad leavesSow lettuce seeds in gutteringHow to sow seeds

Discover how Chris Beardshaw ripens tomatoes on the vine after lifting the whole plant, in our step-by-step video guide, with advice on how and where to store the plant. autumnMore advice on growing tomatoesVideo advice on growing tomatoes outdoorsJoe Swift's video guide to grow...

, such as manure or home-grown compost. It helps bind large particles together, helping retain moisture, but also increases the size of smaller particles, aiding drainage. Grit or sharp sand will also aid drainage of heavy soils.Depending on the size of your plot

to dig, spread a thick layer of compost, manure or composted green waste (like peat-free compost) over the soil surface. Worms will gradually work this in and the surface layer acts as a mulch to deter the germination of annual weeds.On the veg plot, I

Growing tomatoes with ring-culture pots involves surrounding the crop with a bottomless ring and adding layers of compost at 10-14 day intervals. This encourages the tomato to root from the stem so it can take up more water and nutrients than it would get from the growing bag alo...

There's a lot more to a great salad than lettuce. Apart from a nice assortment of colourful leaves and a slight crunch if they're fresh, I'm not convinced that lettuce adds much more to salad than bulk!I prefer to grow salad leaves with real flavour like rocket, watercress, and a...

You can't beat the taste of barbecued meat cooked on an open fire. Forget rushing to the garden centre to buy an expensive barbecue - set aside one day and you can have your own stylish brick barbecue.Once you've built your barbecue, why not turn to your hand to building a raised...