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, such as 'John Downie' and 'Red Sentinel', which seem to also have good wildlife value. They’re all hardy and do well in most soils, and are now usually grown on dwarfing rootstocks so they reach an eventual height of just 4m. But they do like a bit of sun

soil as possible and store the energy-packed tubers in a dry, frost-free place until spring. I have decided to try a bit of an experiment this year and am going to leave some of my dahlia tubers in the ground. Instead of digging them up, I will cover

Dagenham, in an area completely out of bounds to the public, when I stumbled across what looked like a baby, half-buried in the soil. In fact it was a life-sized rag doll, presumably taken from one of the gardens that backed onto the railway lines here

-headed gull that you are most likely to see far inland. Indeed, many books make the point that it cannot really be called a ‘sea’ gull. These are the raucous white spots attentively following the tractor as it ploughs the dark lowland soil

invertebrates to amphibians, hedgehogs and even birds. A stumpery is similar to a log pile, but you can have a bit more fun with it. It consists of upright logs half buried in the soil, allowing moss, lichen and fungi to grow. Some gardeners plant ferns

to choose plants that require full sun.So, if I can choose a garden with more space, good soil, a decent amount of sun and maybe even a greenhouse, what will I grow?First, I’ll be able to consider plants that fail to grow in my current garden

of polythene can be used to warm the soil before planting outside, and then left in place to provide protection and encourage development. Alternatively, individual garlic cloves can be planted in small pots or modular trays and kept in the greenhouse or a cold

for an indulgent autumn, provided I can keep birds and wasps away.Just one more job for the week ahead: sprinkle sulphate of potash fertiliser over the soil around my fruit trees and bushes. Potash is the nutrient plants need to encourage good flowering

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

rightly - and while not unpleasant, they were certainly an acquired taste.Dandelions grow bigger, with longer leaves, in wild areas than they do in lawns, where mowing keeps them flat and close to soil level. Apparently, the French often eat them as a