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with them for moisture and nutrients. My plot is certainly far from perfect - it's a constant battle of removing perennial weeds and hoeing annuals in the worst affected areas. I try to weed on a 'little and often' basis; I concentrate on the worst beds

sketch of the plot, including all the beds and other growing spaces. I photocopy this plan every year and write in which vegetable crops I'll be growing in each bed. I take care to check the plan I drew for the previous three years to make sure I

-stop, producing these beautiful floral discs continually - new ones opening as quickly as faded ones are snipped away.Like most tender perennial summer bedding plants these osteospermums have three requirements. First they need regular water, and soon tell you

A wide variety of pots have graced my patio all summer, hosting a wide and varied range of plants from agapanthus and phormium to miscanthus, eucomis, pelargoniums, and an assortment of colourful bedding - to name but a few.I love growing things

in height its spreading branches cast quite a shadow over the bed below. Being a deciduous tree its full canopy doesn't really develop until later in May, so many early flowering plants have time to bloom before the shade takes over.My star performer over

and March.I'm well aware that the more responsible and organised vegetable gardeners will be shaking their heads and tutting - I bet the likes of Adam Pasco and Pippa Greenwood had their garlic tucked up in its beds months ago - but I know I'm not the only

. Indeed it was so perfect that another trailer load has now appeared - the first batch having been added to the main growing beds. This time the fruit is benefitting; a good, deep carpet of the stuff has been applied around the raspberries and fruit trees

weeding easier. Kept adequately moist, the seeds will soon germinate, and, after thinning, the plants grow like billy-o. Hardy annuals tend to be more drought tolerant than more highly priced bedding plants, and are pretty resilient. They make for a

overnight those buds have burst into the prettiest lemon-coloured blooms. I've left them for the moment as I don't need that bed until I put my beans in, which aren't yet big enough to survive the attentions of slugs. After last year's rain there seem

to be seen. My first inclination was to blame local 'youths'. Perhaps the same ones who had, a couple of years ago, started a camp fire next to our shed and ended up burning the whole place down. The netting over the bed was more or less in place, but I could