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I’m not one for New Year resolutions, but there’s a nagging voice in my head (no, it’s not my wife) saying I should make one.My shed has become a disgrace … again. I did give it a good clearout a couple of years ago, but the clutter accumulates

at Christmas when relatives out-stay their welcome. But as a gardener my shed is entirely functional... no stove, no bookshelf, no biscuits, just the tools of the trade.One of the previous owners of my house was an Italian family, and Gino, the father

Totting up the value of everything in my garden shed this week, I was amazed at how much it came to. There are the big items like a mower, shredder and pressure washer, then all the smaller things from forks and spades to secateurs, greenhouse

What's in your shed? If it's anything like mine it will contain some (or all) of the following: tools (some hanging from nails, some lying around on the floor), mowers, plant pots, deckchairs waiting for a sunny day, three bicycles with flat tyres

, leading to flooding. If every building had a green roof - be it an office block or garden bin store - much of this water would be absorbed before it even hit the ground.My shed has a tiny, steep roof, so we needed to make sure any soil that was added

and there were numerous opportunities to talk garden design. I had a great time chatting about pests and pathogens in the potting shed. It was amazing just how many people were happy to queue in the hot sun to talk about their problems (it got so hot that we

gratuitous vandalism on allotments remains horribly common. Thefts range from handfuls of fresh fruit and veg to expensive garden tools, while whole sheds are reported to have been torn down and burned for 'fun'. As gardens and allotments are quieter now than

to be trusted with much, so we can relax, knowing that everything will fall into place and all we have to do is be useful when required and grateful on the day. This leaves me with the spare time to go and pootle around in the shed and look at tools. We have

eating pies. But your garden can harm you at any time of year - just the other day my friend came round to dinner sporting a black eye, which she'd received from a thorny bramble while picking blackberries. Another friend once caused herself so much

The weather outside is frightful: rainy, cold and in every way disgusting. It may well be that by the time you read this the weather might be balmy in your part of the country but, just in case…What can the diligent and conscientious gardener do