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You can easily propagate oriental poppies by taking root cuttings. They make perfect candidates for this propagation method as it exploits the plant's propensity to reproduce itself from every scrap of root left behind when plants are moved. Once

to judge the final soil level around the plant. Aim to set the base of the stems just slightly below this level.Add a spadeful of compost to the soil dug out of the hole and mix it together. Use this to fill in around the roots of the rose, firming

and drawn. 3 strawberry plants (pot-grown or lifted from the garden)Large pot or hanging basketMulti-purpose compostJanuary - April20 minutes harvest May - JunePlant two or three strawberry plants in a hanging basket or large pot of multi-purpose compost

in a part of the world so well adorned with wildlife and wildflowers. But only last year was I on my hands and knees, weeding out violets from paving cracks, stone walls and even the compost of potted plants. I wonder how many perfectly good plants we

'll be raising mine indoors in a peat-free sowing compost.After that, I don't really know. In the past I've just planted them out and given them a good water when they've needed it. I've never fed a sunflower (I don't feed flowers, as a rule). A record breaking

is the ideal time to plant bare-rooted trees and there are few simple ways to give them the best start. Tree, tree tieCane, stringSpade, forkWooden stakeHammer, sawCompost, granular fertiliser, well-rotted manureMulch or bark chippingsNovember - February1 hour

large enough to accommodate the tuber, and fill around it with multi-purpose compost leaving the top of the tuber showing. New shoots should appear within weeks.When you plant them out, leave 15cm to 45cm between plants, depending on the ultimate size

of tinfoil clad cardboard behind the trays and pots, to reflect useful light from the window back to the plants.But, if you are unlucky and your seedlings do succumb to damping off disease, bin the offending seedlings and infected compost and start again

by other new rosettes, called offsets. These offsets can be separated and planted up, and will then grow into new clumps.Sempervivums don't need feeding, but do benefit from being repotted each year into compost containing slow-release fertiliser

will be completely starkers, while another is just turning, so the chore of collection seems endless. Any leaves that fall on borders are left there, but we rake leaves from the paths and lawn (they smother the grass), adding them to the compost heap