How do I store a potato crop over winter?
Curing the skins, sorting out what will not keep, and the temperature, light and container conditions that get a home-grown crop through to spring.
beginner30 min4 min read
Garden
Seasonal, practical gardening for people with a normal garden and a normal amount of time. Timings are given for a temperate northern-hemisphere climate — adjust for yours.
687 guides
When do I pick pumpkins and squash, and how do I cure them?
The three ripeness tests, why you never carry a squash by its stem, and the two-stage curing that turns an autumn crop into a store that lasts to spring.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich tree should I plant in a small garden?
How to judge mature size honestly, the characteristics that matter in a small space, and a shortlist of trees that stay genuinely small in British conditions.
beginner25 min6 min readWhy are my seedlings pale and yellow?
Telling hunger from cold wet compost from too little light, using which leaves went yellow first and whether the stem stretched.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy are my tomatoes not ripening?
The temperature, plant load and timing reasons green tomatoes stay green, and what to do about a late crop.
beginner15 min2 min readAre my raspberries summer-fruiting or autumn-fruiting, and how do I prune each?
The one distinction that decides everything about raspberries — which canes carry the fruit — with the support system, the pruning for each type and the timing that saves or loses a crop.
beginner1 hr5 min readCan I grow a fruit tree in a pot?
Which fruit genuinely works in a container, the rootstocks that make it possible, and the watering, feeding and repotting regime that decides whether it crops or slowly dies.
intermediate1 hr 30 min5 min readCan I reuse last year's compost from my pots?
Where reused compost is fine, where it quietly loses you a season, and how to recondition a heap of it so it is worth using again.
beginner45 min3 min readHow and when do I repot a houseplant?
The signs a plant needs repotting, choosing the right pot size, and the aftercare that prevents transplant shock.
beginner30 min2 min readHow deep does a planter need to be?
Working minimum compost depths for salads, vegetables, shrubs and small trees in containers — and why width matters more than depth for everything except root crops.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I cut back a badly overgrown shrub?
Which shrubs tolerate hard renovation and which will die, the three-year staged method, and how to bring a plant back without losing it.
intermediate2 hr3 min readHow do I fit a water butt to a downpipe?
Siting and supporting a butt, fitting a rainwater diverter at the right height, and the overflow arrangement that stops it flooding the wall.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I get rid of the little black flies around my houseplants?
Fungus gnats breed in permanently damp compost — the four measures that break the cycle, and why they are a watering symptom rather than an infestation.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I look after a pond in a heatwave?
Hot weather strips oxygen out of pond water while simultaneously increasing what everything in it needs. Aeration, shade and restraint — and the one thing never to do to a struggling pond.
beginner20 min6 min readHow do I make a new bed on top of a lawn without digging?
The cardboard-and-compost method from measuring out to planting the same day — including the edge detail and the weeds that defeat it.
beginner2 hr 30 min5 min readHow do I mulch a garden and why does it matter?
What mulch does for water, weeds and soil, which material to use where, and the mistakes that make it counterproductive.
beginner2 hr2 min readHow do I plant a hanging basket that lasts all summer?
Basket size, the liner and reservoir, a compost mix that does not dry out by lunchtime, and the feeding regime that keeps it flowering into September.
beginner1 hr5 min readHow do I plant a new hedge?
Bare-root versus pot-grown, spacing that gives a dense hedge rather than a row of shrubs, and the first-year watering that decides whether it works.
beginner5 hr5 min readHow do I plant a tree or shrub so it survives?
Hole size, planting depth and the watering regime that gets a new plant through its first two years.
beginner1 hr 30 min3 min readHow do I protect fruit blossom from a late frost?
Why one clear night in April costs a whole year's fruit, how to tell whether blossom has been killed, and the fleecing, siting and variety choices that actually work.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I prune roses?
When and how to prune bush, climbing and shrub roses, and the cut that determines where new growth goes.
intermediate1 hr 30 min2 min readHow do I prune wisteria?
The two-cut-a-year system that turns rampant growth into flowering spurs, and why wisteria pruned once a year flowers badly.
intermediate2 hr3 min readHow do I stop plant pots getting too hot in the sun?
Roots in a container sit in a thin shell exposed to sun on all sides, and root temperature — not air temperature — is what damages them. What actually cooks a pot, and the cheap fixes.
beginner20 min5 min readHow do I water a garden efficiently?
How to use less water and get better results — timing, depth, mulching and where watering actually matters most.
beginner45 min2 min read