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plant can produce 20,000 seeds in its short lifetime. Fat hen is a weed that will quickly spread and colonise any open ground, competing with your other plants for nutrients.Hand weed or hoe out seedlings as they appear, or smother them with a good layer

and the roots usually stay where they are and it will regrow from them.Yellow sorrel grows as an annual, but it happily and plentifully regenerates from seed each year, as the seed pods explode and fire seeds all around the garden.The best way to deal

Deadhead flowers All plants will benefit from having the dying flowers removed as soon as they begin to fade. It stops them putting energy into forming seed and encourages annuals to produce more flowers throughout the summer. Trim hedges to keep

Take cuttings from tender perennials and bedding plants, such as verbenaSow a few pots of hardy annuals to provide early spring blooms Shade delicate plants to avoid sun scorch on hot daysDeal with vine weevil by watering pots with a solution

around border plantsCut down annuals, add the material to the compost heap and fork over the bedsLay new lawns from turfStart to plant tulips in pots and bordersPile bark mulch over the crowns of hardy fuchsias to provide extra protection

have fuel in stockPot up roots of lily-of-the-valley to provide fragrant winter flowersSow hardy annuals, like calendulas, in pots for early flowers

This year we held our annual Gardeners' Question Time Garden Party at our GQT garden at Sparsholt College near Winchester, Hampshire.  This year it was a serious scorcher with baking sun and sometimes oppressive heat, but it certainly seemed

more (that's a topic for another day).So, what are the alternatives? There are quite a few annual climbers to choose from actually. Morning glory (ipomoea) is popular, but their flowers are all too short-lived. The purple bell vine (rhodochiton) is nice

and out before putting up bubble polythene for insulationSow hardy annuals, like calendulas, in pots for early displaysCheck bulbs, corms and tubers in store for signs of rotWater sparingly in winter, taking care not to splash water aroundPick yellowing

year.They've got so much to offer, and I'm always amazed by what my friends and neighbours can produce in their back gardens. Current shows will be showcasing the last of the daffodils and tulips with other spring-flowering bulbs, annuals, and some