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are best sown under cover to give them a good start. A few weeks in the greenhouse and they'll grow into big, healthy plants that should withstand the attentions of slugs once they've been planted out.Before I had my greenhouse, I had a production line

The heat has been incredible lately. I feel like my vegetables are cooking in the ground where they're growing. I'm used to the fact that all that soft, tender foliage is like a big advert to passing pests and pathogens, but the intense heat is a

-based compostFill the barrel with a loam-based compost for weight, stability and long-lasting nutrition. Firm the birch in well, and plant the ferns and heuchera around the base for ground cover.AdamBuy a younger birch to keep costs down. After a few years

peas in pots, and pinch out shoot tipsCut old stems of mallow (Lavatera) to ground levelPlant hedging plantsFlowersCover rhubarb with an old bucket to exclude lightPrune gooseberry bushes to open up the centreChit seed potatoes in trays in a bright

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is a woodland plant, much valued for its fragrant summer flowers. Its low, spreading habit also makes it ideal for growing as a ground cover plant. Convallaria thrives in a moist, shaded spot, and gradually

lake on my lawn once again. It’s happened a few times this year, with relentless rain falling on already saturated ground. I can’t recall this happening before, and it’s quite a change from the scorched and cracked earth caused by droughts in previous

. Easy to look after as no thinning out or supports are needed. The same plants crop for three to four weeks, so sow a row every three weeks to keep yourself stocked all summer.Dwarf French beansCover well- prepared ground with paper or a plastic mulch

satisfying week.Today I sorted out the autumn raspberries: pruning, clearing and feeding the bed. Autumn-fruiting raspberries produce fruit on new canes, so they should be cut to the ground in February to encourage them to produce this season's canes

be layers of food from tall trees through shrubs down to perennials and ground cover. So starting with things like chestnuts (Castanea sativa); cornelian cherries (Cornus mas) and obvious things like apples, mulberries and plums. Then shrubby stuff like

one of the long, new shoots of growth from a blackberry along the ground, cover it with soil, and wait for it to send out roots in the same way. When you dig the shoot up after a few weeks it will be ready to sever off and re-plant.