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at the back of my south-facing border, close to the wall where they'll be kept warm at night. As an experiment, one is planted in a bucket of semi-rotted compost, like a portable bean trench. All are staked with tall, strong bamboo canes. (They're only about 2

-sized tomatoes and need staking and growing in large pots or growing bags (three plants per bag). Bush types may be grown in smaller containers and usually produce cherry tomatoes and don't need staking. Popular cordon types are 'Moneymaker' and 'Gardeners

sweet peas that ended up in the border, but they're no giants.I've succeeded in my personal mission to beat Adam Pasco in the height stakes, as did our our colleague Ross, who managed to grow his sunflowers to a respectable 2m. Others weren't so lucky

by slugs and snails, and I spent many hours watching blackbirds foraging among the debris.In spring I tackled the garden in one go, removing leaves spiked on emerging bulbs, clearing spent stems and staking perennials. Only the still-sleeping frogs

This year I'm determined to only grow one variety of tomato. This is because my garden was overrun with tomato plants last year and I couldn't get onto my patio for growing bags and poorly staked cordons. So 2011 will see a more streamlined effort

in my high-rise flat in Manchester. I just had the two plants, and did exactly what I was told: stake them, water well, pinch out the side shoots and shake the plants to release the pollen. I got a good crop and was proud of myself. I’d buy mozzerella

generous mulch of compost. Despite getting such little sun, the wall warms up quickly, so should keep plants warm at night, aiding growth. All plants will be given a weekly nitrogen-rich nettle feed to encourage stem and leaf growth. I'll stake them from

in old mouse burrows in the countryside. Nowadays, bumblebees more commonly nest in gardens. This makes wax moth a bit more of a problem than it used to be, when there were plenty of mouse holes in hedgerows to nest in.The female wax moth stakes out