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The warmth of spring and summer allows you to sow vegetable seeds outdoors in the soil. Here they'll quickly germinate to produce crops to enjoy this season. Try easy-to-grow salads such as radish, spring onion and salad bowl lettuce. You can also use this technique to grow flowe...

The easiest way to trim established conifer hedges is by using a powered hedge-trimmer to give a regular, even finish. Quick-growing conifers will need about three cuts per year during the growing season, at roughly eight week intervals.Inspect your hedge thoroughly before trimmi...

Sugar snap peas score top marks for taste and texture. As with so many crops, home-grown sugar snaps are much sweeter and juicier than anything you can buy in a shop. You can grow them in large containers as well as in beds, as long as they're kept well watered. A fairly sheltere...

You can't beat the taste of barbecued meat cooked on an open fire. Forget rushing to the garden centre to buy an expensive barbecue - set aside one day and you can have your own stylish brick barbecue.Once you've built your barbecue, why not turn to your hand to building a raised...

Home-made compost is a great soil conditioner and plant food. Good compost will take about six months to produce if you turn it regularly.Monty's compost recipeWhat should you put on your heap? The simple answer is anything that has lived. But I exclude all meat, fat and anything...

In order to get the best out of your garden plants and crops, it’s worth testing your soil pH. In the UK this ranges from 3.5 (strongly acid) to 8.5 (strongly alkaline), with 7 being neutral. Most fruit and vegetables prefer soils that have a neutral to slightly acidic pH.The ava...

Growing your own brings a host of benefits, like better freshness and saving money. One of the most important to me, is being able to choose specific crops that have the very best flavour.I think, what's the point in buying supermarket produce simply sold as 'sweetcorn', 'tomato'...

For the last couple weeks I've been on something of a 'grand tour' of South America. Along the way, I've visited many gardens and seen some interesting horticultural practices. This is the first in a series of four blogs, documenting the fascinating things I've seen.In Peru, I vi...

Learn environmentally friendly methods for controlling aphids, and other garden pests with Monty's guide to organic insecticides and how they work. Monty also talks you through how to make your own, organic pesticide.summerAdvice on aphids and other garden pestsAphidsMealybugsWhi...

Watch Monty's video guide to planting a kiwi plant, ideal for fast-growing extensive coverage of a tree or arbour, and follow his practical tips on positioning for best effect.summerAdvice on growing fruitGrowing citrus plantsTraining a nectarine tree video projectGrowing a fig t...