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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

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...

having to thin out congested seedlings later on, because this releases a smell which attracts the pest.Avoid thinning outCover vegetable beds with fleece, secured at the edges, after sowing carrots to prevent low-flying female flies reaching your crop

Growing new potatoes for Christmas dinner is easier than you might think - you just need to plant them a little later. Some of the best new potatoes are grown from early and second early varieties, usually harvested in June and July. So, when planting in spring, save a few tubers...

Tying in climbers, tall perennials and trained shrubs and fruit bushes needs to be done when the stems are soft and pliable. When shoots are growing quickly in spring and summer, they may have to be tied in to their support once a week. Take care not to bruise or damage stems by...

Growing from seed is a simple and economical way of raising new plants for your garden. First master the techniques by sowing annuals in spring that will reward you with flowers in summer, then use these basic skills to grow perennials, trees and shrubs. If you're new to gardenin...

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'...

Doesn't it feel great to get your fingers into the ground? The weather has relented, the soil is warming and I've spent happy days outside sowing seeds directly in the garden. We're about three weeks behind on the season, I reckon, but nature always has a way of catching up. This...

now. They’re much more likely to germinate and grow successfully now that the soil’s warmer. It would have been a risk planting them a few weeks ago when it was still so cold.Some vegetable seeds can be sown directly outdoors now. I tend to sow only

Plenty of salad crops can grow outside in winter, if given a little protection. In early autumn, the soil is still warm enough to sow seeds direct, while plug plants or seedlings planted out will establish quickly.Choose hardy varieties of your favourite salad leaves, or experime...