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Why not try growing pulses indoors when the weather puts you off venturing outside? Mung beans and lentils are easy to sprout in jars and can be bought in most supermarkets and health shops.Mung beans, lentils or another type of sprouting bean

.ThymeWhen planted with French and runner beans, the nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus, acts as a sacrificial crop, luring aphids away from the beans. Its attractive flowers help attract beneficial insects, which prey on aphids.NasturtiumsIf left to flower, fennel

Plants for small gardensSmall gardens can accommodate a wide range of plants, from spring bulbs to small trees. We spoke to Monty Don and James Alexander-Sinclair at Gardeners' World Live to discover their top 10 plants for small gardens.A small

to make chilli powder and paprika. A plentiful seed to swap with friends or to store for the following year at the bottom of the fridge.ChilliesSow one or two beans where you want plants to grow, in open ground or containers, from mid-May to early August

, and - in extreme situations - lead to erosion. In the wild, plants quickly colonise exposed earth, protecting its structure and absorbing the nutrients that would otherwise be washed away. A green manure does the same thing; you just have control over what grows

.Runner beansVarieties such as ‘lollo rossa’ and ‘Salad Bowl’ can be picked a few leaves at a time as they are needed, leaving the rest of the plant to keep growing. This lettuce is good for tubs or a small salad patch, also as edible edging for a potager

, while others have flooded. No wonder the plants are confused.In September, the RHS reported that the unseasonably warm weather was causing plants to flower later than usual, sometimes causing them to bloom again. This was down to climate change

A belated happy new year to one and all. May your beans be beauteous, your snapdragons sensational and your turnips on time. As I write this in the blushing dawn of the new year I feel it appropriate to come clean about something that I ought

at the back of my south-facing border, close to the wall where they'll be kept warm at night. As an experiment, one is planted in a bucket of semi-rotted compost, like a portable bean trench. All are staked with tall, strong bamboo canes. (They're only about 2

year when I got really obsessed trying to grow the very best sweet peas – just like the show growers. To produce flowers with really long straight stems you need to grow plants as single stemmed cordons. Each plant is only allowed to produce one shoot