AG gardening editor Kris Collins, shows you how to get your flower garden underway
Fill cell trays with sieved seed and cutting compost. Don’t compact the compost by pressing down, but do tap the tray to knock out trapped air.
Water the trays with a fine-rose watering can until you see water escaping from the drainage holes. Allow to drain fully…
Even though the weather has prevented me finishing my winter digging in borders, I did manage to venture into the greenhouse last weekend.
Trying to stay busy I decided to check over my potted plants for pests and diseases. One plant that caught my eye was a hellebore, which I bought bare rooted last autumn.
The foliage is showing signs of either…
AG garden editor, Kris Collins, is dusting off the heated propagator to gets his favourite summer crops underway
Fill cells with seed and cuttings compost. I sieve mine first, to take out all the lumps so there are no obstructions for root development.
Water the trays before sowing, to settle the compost and help seeds to stick firmly in place. Watering afterwards…
Plant begonia tubers now ready to early cuttings in spring, says AG garden writer Michelle
Fill a seed tray with light, sandy, loam-based compost. Or mix horticultural sand with multi-purpose compost. Adding leaf mould to the mixture will give the tubers perfect growing conditions.
Space the tubers in the tray, hollow-side up, about 2in (5cm) apart so they are not touching each…
Got gaps to fill, or didn’t plant in autumn? Plant sprouted bulbs this weekend for a quick fix, says AG garden editor Kris Collins
Autumn is the traditional 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 to have upped their game in supplying…
Want a quick fix green boundary or screen? ‘Trough’ hedging is an option, says AG garden writer Michelle
Although we have hit a cold spell, spring is just around the corner so if you are thinking of planting bare-rooted plants the time to do so is running out.
But don’t forget that many plants can be bought in containers and these can…
1. Eranthis hyemalis
The golden glow of this charming low-growing winter perennial is a heartwarming sight indeed. The winter aconite will thrive in any soil that is well-drained during the summer. They prefer dappled shade, reaching up to about 6ins (15cms) and growing so thickly that the vigorous leaves soon cover every piece…
Get plants started now, for bigger plants and bigger crops, says AG garden writer, Michelle Wheeler
If you have a heated propagator or a space on a warm, bright windowsill, sow tomatoes seeds this weekend. Here’s how:
1 Fill a 3in (9cm) pot with good quality seed compost; level the surface, firm down and water in. Pots are better than modular trays…
AG gardening editor, Kris Collins, shows how to bring a large tree back down to size
If a tree has out grown its space in the garden, you don’t have to get the chainsaw out and shout ‘Timber’. Try the ancient method of pollarding instead. Some timely hard pruning while the tree is in its dormant phase will bring it back…
The heat of different chillies is measured using the Scoville scale, which marks the degree of dilution of the chilli sample in a sugar solution. A rating of 100,000 means the extract had to be diluted 100,000 with the sugar solution for its heat to be undetectable.
Chilli Variety
Scoville Rating
Naga Jolokia
855,000-1,041,427
Dorset Naga
876,000-970,000
Red …
