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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...

Snails, like slugs, cause a great deal of damage to plants. They feed mostly at night, seeking shelter during the day from the drying effects of the sun. However, the snail's shell allows it to move more freely than a slug over dry areas, such as paving. It too, leaves a tell-tal...

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...

of beige or silvery trails appear and spread just below the upper surfaces of leaves.Pinch off infected leaves as soon as the first 'wiggling' trails are seen and dispose of them in the bin or burn them immediately.many shrubs, perennials, vegetables, fruit

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...

You can never have enough lettuce in summer, but sowing directly into the soil takes up valuable space in the garden. Keep a regular supply growing by sowing seeds in lengths of plastic guttering: short, 1m lengths are convenient and easy to handle. Fill with moist multipurpose c...

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed and should germinate within two weeks. Compact cherry varieties can be grown in pots and hanging baskets, while larger, cordon types are more suited to being raised in the ground or in growing bags. Tomato seedsSeed compostPlastic potsVermiculi...

The culprit is the flea beetle, which, like its namesake, jumps away when disturbed. The small, shiny, black, brown or blue beetles emerge in April and May, after winter hibernation, ready to start feeding. Eggs laid near host plants hatch in late-summer. The beetles feed for a f...