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Digging and forking through the soil allows you to loosen any compaction, remove weeds and debris as well as providing the perfect opportunity to add the organic matter. Plants need good soil conditions if they are to give the best results

What an odd summer we're having. I'm behind after not daring to sow a thing in April as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them watered enough in those scorching temperatures. Then May hit us with lots of rain and wind so all the slugs and weeds I

would normally be permitted. Instead of a close-mown lawn I have ended up with a much softer, rather shaggy sort of arrangement. Different grasses, flowering weeds and even a small spinney of suckering Coyote willow (Salix exigua - which, while we

which is perfect for clearing weed out of ponds (drainage) and one with no wheel. Nothing fancy just bog-standard builders merchant types.The first recorded example of a man pushing a wheelbarrow is in a painted tomb mural in Chengdu, China (dated 118AD

it looks like. (We've had it where I work - very nasty - have to avoid growing onions and all alliums for years!I know that onion beds need to be kept weeded in summer or the onions become stressed and bolt, producing a flower spike that saps all

, tomatoes, beans and peas. Ornamental plants, especially roses and delphiniums, are also affected. This abnormal growth has been attributed to a weedkiller, which is widely used by farmers on grassland to kill broad-leafed weeds, such as chickweeed, fat hen

to disregard nettles as a useless (and delinquent) weed, as they can be very useful. Nettles make strong rope and tough cloth; up until the First World War the Germans harvested tonnes of nettles and made them into military uniforms (the sting is neutralised

on them accidentally and even squished them with my hands when weeding (truly revolting). It makes me shudder to think about it!I've given up on my slug pub (a dish of beer I used to lure them to their death) - it doesn't seem to pull in the crowds in wet

revived, enthusiasm has soared and the plot is looking rather good. I've done an awful lot of clearing and weeding and now I've started digging over the raised beds. Garlic, broad bean and autumn onion set planting is only weeks away, so I thought I might

of compost I knew they would be weed-free (and still are after 15 years), and would provide perfect planting conditions.Lastly comes a camellia growing in a large terracotta pot, again filled with ericaceous compost. Despite using the perfect compost I still