The prime time to plant trees is during the dormant weeks of winter. This is especially important for bare-root trees, which are usually only available until around the end of…
How to
Sow more sweet peas
I sowed my first batch of sweet peas back in the autumn and now, at the tail-end of winter, I am starting a second batch. Although sweet peas are hardy,…
How to prune autumn raspberries
We had a bumper crop of raspberries last year and I’m hoping to get the same result in 2018. The summer-fruiting canes were cut back after they cropped, and January…
Crop rotation – why and how
If you’ve ever looked at a burgeoning allotment site crammed with serried ranks of fabulous veggies and wondered ‘how did they do that?’, the answer is probably crop rotation. It’s…
Preparing your soil for sowing
The secrets to successful growing are healthy, nutrient-rich soil and crop rotation, so this week I have been preparing and warming my soil and thinking about what crops to grow…
How to tidy up the strawberry patch
We had a relatively mild autumn here in the south and my strawberry plants have kept on growing and, amazingly, producing flowers and even fruit. These need to be removed…
How to dig in autumn’s green manures
I sowed a batch of green manure in the autumn to help replenish the soil in our raised beds after their contents – onions, shallots, broad beans – had been…
How to move a deciduous tree
Gardening Editor Ruth Hayes shows you how to relocate a young, leafless tree
Get instant colour from bulbs this Spring
Traditionally Autumn is the time to plant out dormant spring bulbs, but if you didn’t get round to the job last year, help is now at hand. Garden centres seem…
How to take rose cuttings and grow roses in potatoes..
Propagating roses by cuttings is easy, and it brings certain side benefits, says Kris (1) In an out-of-the-way part of the garden, which gets some shade during the hottest part…