Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg

September is often overlooked as a month for taking a breather rather than planting, with many gardeners thinking the growing season is winding down and focusing primarily on tidying up summer’s glorious chaos by cutting back. Knowing what to plant during September is where the experienced gardeners beat newbies! September is the prime time for […]

If you’ve ever wondered why some of your prized perennial seeds refuse to germinate despite perfect conditions, warmth, and endless patience, you’ve likely encountered nature’s cleverly built-in safety mechanism called seed stratification. Understanding this fundamental process can transform your seed-starting success and unlock a world of beautiful plants that would otherwise remain frustratingly dormant in […]

This raised bed guide will explain exactly when and how to build raised beds for successful gardening. Raised beds can be used in nearly all gardens regardless of the condition of your soil. It allows you to build up away from poor, stony ground and choose the soil you need for the types of plants […]

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is a fantastic way to engage with your garden, reduce your carbon footprint and help eat better organic produce. Tomatoes are one of our most popular fruits to buy in supermarkets and can be bought year-round (usually by being flown halfway around the world, sadly). Often, these ‘forced tomatoes’ […]

Damsons are a subspecies of the Plum family and have a really high fruit rate, which is great for bakers, preservers or foragers in the garden. As Damsons have a high pectin rate, they set jam with just sugar alone, with no need for manufactured pectin additives. Damsons are a nutritious and versatile fruit with […]

Companion planting is the practice of growing plants together to support one another as part of a thriving garden community, to avoid pests, diseases and for plants to help support each other. Companion plantings in close proximity help to benefit each plant in some way. Like two friends cheering each other on and helping them […]

Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) are one of the most rewarding cane fruits to grow in your garden. Their juicy dark pink berries and fuss-free growth raspberries provide an abundant harvest with minimal effort. They are the perfect soft fruit for beginner gardeners to grow even in smaller gardens. This guide will show you how to grow […]

Gardening can be a deeply rewarding hobby, allowing you to reconnect with nature and find mindfulness in our often frantic lives. However, no matter how carefully we garden, our plants sometimes start to look sick. Plant diseases are a common challenge for all gardeners, no matter their experience level. They can be caused by fungi, […]

Updated 2024: The grow your own movement has really taken off over the past decade here in the UK, along with No Dig gardening. You only have to look online to see Instagrammers and social media full of grow-your-own tips. After all, who doesn’t want to be able to grow the food that they put […]

It’s a real surprise that the mighty Medlar tree isn’t more popular for small gardens. Not only is it a well-behaved small fruit tree, but it is self-fertile. Meaning it produces fruits without the need for a pollinator tree. It’s also one of the only winter-fruiting trees, so why aren’t they more popular? This is […]