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Pavillion at the Chelsea Flower Show 2008.Vegetables at the Chelsea Flower Show 2008, with Alys Fowler's top 10 veg varieties to grow for beginners.

Unlocking the power of plants A herb garden is not only a place of beauty, it's also a medicine chest, holding remedies to many ailments. Discover the healing properties of the herbs in your garden.Find out how to... grow garlicUntil the 17th century, herbs were the principal ing...

Monty Don talks through the process of choosing a good pair of secateurs for pruning, looking at a variety of styles, to help you select a pair to suit your needs. all year roundMore practical garden projectsHow to prune your plantsMaintaining a lawnmowerWatering plantsHow to hoe...

Salad leaves can be grown on a cut-and-come-again basis; harvesting the larger leaves by cutting them, allowing the smaller leaves to grow for a second crop. If you make successional sowings of seeds every three weeks, you will have a constant supply of salad throughout the year....

Dig over veg plots, mixing compost into the soil as you goContinue filling a trench with kitchen waste where you want to grow beansCover rhubarb with forcing jars for an early harvestUse cloches to warm the soil for early sowingsPlant new fruit

Prune out the oldest stems from blackcurrants to encourage new shootsCheck crops that are in store and discard any showing signs of rotFork compost into the soil and clear old crops from the veg plotCover fruit trees and bushes with netting

artichokes as a windbreak on exposed plotsSprinkle sulphate of potash fertiliser around fruitSow seeds of broad beans, carrots, hardy peas and parsnips outside in soil that's been warmed with cloches

Use twigs pushed into the ground to support tall-growing peas, or use short canes and stringFeed strawberries with a high potash feed, such as tomato fertiliserSow flowering companions in your veg plot, such as tagetes and poached egg plants

I love the first harvest of the new season - it's so welcome after the long dark winter. For a while now, I've been harvesting winter veg, such as leeks, kale and cabbage. These stalwarts of the plot have meant we've had fresh veg for soups

of hardy annual flowers Lightly clip box edging and topiary to neaten them upFlowersPush twigs into the ground to support tall-growing peasFeed strawberries with a high potash feedSow flowering companions in your veg plotFruit & vegPlant tomatoes in large