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trays, compost or propagators. Just clear the soil, forking it over to remove debris, weeds or larger stones and get sowing. I use sand from the kids' sandpit to mark out separate areas for each type of seed, and sow in rough rows to make subsequent

them they were well-nigh perfect. For harvesting we used a super-sturdy potato fork; these minimise waste by making it virtually impossible to inadvertently spike and damage the tubers. I still found the whole process of lifting spuds as exciting as I

have to repeat the process several times.The autumn free fall is a real bonus. Leaves rot down into gorgeous compost, so I'll make the most of my free supply. On lawns they're easy to collect. I simply raise the cutting height on my mower blades

active (don't get me started on them again). But this wasn't about inspecting the Pasco estate to make sure all was in order - I was taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.Just an hour. That's all they wanted from me to play my part in recording

and every year they re-appear, flower their socks off and then disappear amongst the rather untamed grasses, mallows and nettles that make up the bank. Next time anyone moans about the price of bulbs and corms I think I'll have to whisk out this picture

, using railway sleepers, three high (about 50 cm), to make a raised water body. Triangular in shape, 2 metres long, with a deep corner dug down a further 50 cm and a shallow corner for marginal plants. Three species of damselfly, two species of dragonfly

brilliantly practical book - How To Create a Wildife Garden and we'll be spending the day making step-by-step projects for the wildlife section for 2008.We always have to plan ahead on the magazine, so as well as currently working on the January issue, we also

Hooray - it's officially turning wintry! We've had a couple of good sharp frosts - the kind that make your scalp shrink with the cold, and knock all those leaves that have been hanging onto the trees rather annoyingly off in one fell swoop

requiring the excavation of about a cubic metre of soil - nearly a skipful in total. Enough to make a complete mess of the average garden.And finally the idea of finding this tucking into your brassicas is enough to make most gardeners greet the next passing

it is occasionally used as a mild sedative, being considered a remedy for anxiety and insomnia. The flowers of cultivated forms of primrose can be used in salads. For the more adventurous primrose growers, the young leaves make an interesting vegetable if steamed