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and peered at the surrounding trees and bushes through our small cheap binoculars. It’s very much a waiting world out there. Hardly anything is moving and the various birds are huddled against the cold; like me they all seem to be thinking “come on, spring

A belated happy new year to one and all. May your beans be beauteous, your snapdragons sensational and your turnips on time. As I write this in the blushing dawn of the new year I feel it appropriate to come clean about something that I ought to have done by now. A box of tulips ...

spring arrives I'll be there, seed trays and compost at the ready, full of excitement for the year ahead.Throughout the growing season I'll share my experience of growing the Seed Club crops in this monthly blog. It will be lovely to swap notes

February is a blessedly short month. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but 28 days of cold wet yukkiness is hardly conducive to horticultural excitement. However, we have to get through it in order to edge our way closer to spring, so

the leaves like spinach and eat the braised stalks with cheese sauce. Seeds are cheap and it’s a foolproof crop that’s highly productive in a small space. Sow from spring until late summer. Summer-sown plants will give a second crop the following spring

. They are mainly encountered in October and November, but you may occasionally come across one in December and even further into winter or early spring as these tiny hedgehogs struggle to survive.If you spot one out now - during the day or night - it’s almost

and around £15 for a heated model.PropagatorAvailable for most greenhouses, but not for polytunnels, automatic vent arms prevent the house overheating on sunny days. This is particularly useful in spring and autumn, when temperatures fluctuate widely during

and everything will look distinctly brown and soggy. This will be the time to clear the decks, cutting back the borders and adding the discarded stems to the bulging compost heap.I always enjoy this time very much as it means that spring is on the way. As last

to deep mud. They’re in a worse state than they get into in the depths of a wet winter, and it’s only the end of November. I’ve had to plant the last of my spring-flowering bulbs in containers, as I can’t plant them into the saturated soil. In an attempt

. I’d almost given up when two little seedlings appeared last spring. Sadly, they never flourished. The weather was very dry at the time (remember the drought?) and I took my eye off the ball. I failed my field roses through lack of watering