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to circulate through and between the plants, reducing fungal problems. some models are also available with shelves underneath, for extra storage. Prices from £30.BenchesA cold frame is a useful halfway house between the protected environment of a greenhouse

Today we got our first proper frost. The roofs of the buildings are dusted with white, the grass is crispy underfoot and the seedheads are glittering with ice - at least they are when the sun breaks through the lowering cloud. All very lovely, except for the fact that it’s a litt...

in the kettle after making my first brew of the day to melt them. The bracing cold also helps to wake me up! (Note to self: add thermal pyjamas to my Christmas list).6. Complete seed order before ChristmasMy neat pile of 2013 seed catalogues is sitting next

and jacket potatoes.Learn about each of the three potato types, and how to grow them, below.10-12 weeks to maturePlant: March (with frost protection)Harvest: JunePlanting depth: 12cmDistance between tubers: 30cmDistance between rows: 60cmFirst early potatoes

shame to sacrifice a prime location or an already productive spot in your garden, but when you weigh up the increased benefits you’ll get from protected cropping, it’s a sacrifice worth making.Think about what you want to do with your protected structure

to protect my garlic from waterlogging, I’ve planted the cloves on ridges. However, the ridges were getting washed away, so I had to brave the deluge, hair plastered to my face and rain running down my back, and try to repair them - or completely rebuild them

planting out, watering in plants naturally.However, I did put cloches to good use to provide extra protection from battering rain until some delicate seedlings were established. The main plants that suffered were sweetcorn, with every seedling being bent

New Year’s Eve. A defining moment, the joys and traumas of Christmas behind us and the blank page of 2013 stretching ahead like a freshly hoovered carpet. The question is whether, for us gardeners, that carpet will be lush shag pile or meagrely

Within days, two scientific reports on Britain’s wildlife have made national news headlines because of their dire prognoses. The State of the UK’s Birds 2012, produced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, British Trust for Ornithology

greenhouse, but I do have an outside power socket protected by a residual current circuit breaker. I run a robust outdoor extension cable from this to my greenhouse, which provides power for my electric propagator, light, and fan heater.Despite the warmth