Search - Articles

2cm between the top of the compost and the basket's rim. Water in well and leave it to drain before hanging in position.AdamGive your plants a regular once-over for pests such as aphids, and beware of snails, which can sometimes sneak in too

Plant up pots in position as they'll be heavy to move later. Put a few bits of broken pot over the drainage hole to stop compost washing away while allowing excess water to drain.Fill your large pot up to about two-thirds full of compost. Use a half

, yellow, pink and purple in between.They grow in most conditions, but thrive in well-drained, humus-rich soil, out of direct sunlight. Avoid moving or dividing them once established.Hellebore varieties include:Bears clusters of saucer-shaped flowers

. With minimum care, they'll flower year after year, and many will bulk up into clumps after a few years.Like cultivars, species tulips prefer growing in free-draining soil in full sun. Plant them in drifts for swathes of colour, dot them around a rockery

tulips, not the shoes) but I haven’t quite got round to actually digging the holes.I don’t know why, but sometimes the ancient Lord of Procrastination overtakes my life. Almost anything - mending the lawn mower, rodding a drain or sitting on the sofa

. If you have light, free-draining soil, you can start planting potatoes outside. I have very heavy clay soil in my garden, which is still a bit too wet for potatoes, so I’m putting it off for a little longer.I’ll sow some hardy annual flower seeds outside

, draw away earth from the bulbs to expose them to the sun. Harvest after the leaves turn yellow and the stem bends over. Allow leaves to dry before carefully lifting bulbs.AdamOnions need a sunny, well-drained spot. They will crop on clay soil, provided

.Water the cuttings using a watering can fitted with a rose and allow the excess to drain and the foliage to dry. Then cover the pot with a clear polythene bag held in place with a rubber band around the pot.Place the pot on a well-lit position indoors, but out

soil preparation is such an important part of gardening. It may sound like I'm a broken record repeating the advice “dig plenty of compost or manure into your soil”, but without this water-holding, sponge-like reserve, water just drains through soil

20 seconds worrying what the neighbours would think, and then relaxed, happy with our new arrival.My bumblebees (RIP) were rescued from friends who were landscaping their garden; some of my frogs were rescued from a kitchen drain and the rest I picked