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. 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

and trying to make the main pathways a little safer. Special cleaners are available, but I'm worried they might leach in to nearby soil and cause yet more damage to the soil micro-organisms.A little bit of salt can help too, but only in areas away from plants

with a flurry of "aaah, but they've got the climate", let me assure you that while we were in the lovely place we rented, we tried to keep the plants in the garden going. It was an uphill struggle, as the soil was extremely dry and the sun was often

I need clear signs of spring to help me to recover from a gloomy winter. This year, it seems spring is three whole weeks late. But it is, finally, in full swing: hundreds of daffodils planted alongside my drive are in glorious bloom.The daffodil

accessible source of pollen for bees and hoverflies. If left into into winter, the papery brown seed heads look beautiful when covered in dense frost.Apart from the addition of extra grit to my heavy soil, keeping my alliums has been easy. Despite frequent

I watered, it rained within 24 hours.The downpours we've had in Hampshire over the last few days have made a serious difference to the plants. The veg plots are suddenly flourishing and some of my miserable-looking lettuce seedlings have finally

of the driveway, are probably failing to flower because the soil is compacted by cars, delivery trucks and passing pedestrians.I’m sure that, with a little extra care, the blind daffodils will flower next year. I’ll surround them with a barrier of canes and twine

to the ground as soon as you touch the plant (usually black underside uppermost, making them much harder to spot). Collect what beetles you can, then I suggest laying old tea towels, or perhaps strips of an old bed sheet, on the soil beneath the plants. Give

in the wings, ready to cause devastation among seedlings.The various fungi responsible are generally soil borne, and thrive in damp compost. They find the very fragile young roots and stems of seedlings an easy conquest.But how does the fungi get