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Discover how Chris Beardshaw ripens tomatoes on the vine after lifting the whole plant, in our step-by-step video guide, with advice on how and where to store the plant. autumnMore advice on growing tomatoesVideo advice on growing tomatoes outdoorsJoe Swift's video guide to grow...

The boot scraper is a handy tool to keep by the back door as the weather gets worse and gardens get muddier. It only takes a couple of hours to make and costs next to nothing.ChiselHammerSawLarge logThick slate tileWood glueall year roundtwo hoursStand the log for the boot scrape...

Winter is a good time to clean, tidy and reorganise your greenhouse. Remove all the clutter, clean the glass to maximise light levels, and create an ordered working environment in time for the season ahead. BroomBucketDisinfectantGlass cleanerLong handled spongeScouring spongewi...

Growing tomatoes with ring-culture pots involves surrounding the crop with a bottomless ring and adding layers of compost at 10-14 day intervals. This encourages the tomato to root from the stem so it can take up more water and nutrients than it would get from the growing bag alo...

to dig, spread a thick layer of compost, manure or composted green waste (like peat-free compost) over the soil surface. Worms will gradually work this in and the surface layer acts as a mulch to deter the germination of annual weeds.On the veg plot, I

The taste of fresh asparagusin May is worth waiting for. A perennial crop, established asparagus plants will provide an annual crop of tasty spears for up to 20 years.Choose the spot you will grow your asparagus carefully. Asparagus needs lots of space to grow and thrives in shel...

, such as manure or home-grown compost. It helps bind large particles together, helping retain moisture, but also increases the size of smaller particles, aiding drainage. Grit or sharp sand will also aid drainage of heavy soils.Depending on the size of your plot

Our towns and cities have become pocket-sized safari parks for insects, amphibians, small mammals and birds. In many parts of the UK, a number of amphibian species - such as frogs, toads and newts - are facing serious decline because of the loss of ponds in the wider countryside....

Autumn leaves are mainly broken down by the slow action of fungi rather than by bacteria that decompose other compost bin ingredients quickly, so it's best to compost them separately in a simple cage.The leaves of all deciduous trees make good leaf mould. Small thin leaves such a...

There's a lot more to a great salad than lettuce. Apart from a nice assortment of colourful leaves and a slight crunch if they're fresh, I'm not convinced that lettuce adds much more to salad than bulk!I prefer to grow salad leaves with real flavour like rocket, watercress, and a...