Master 10 key skills for your best-ever gardening year
✓ Fuss-free advice with no jargon
✓ Easy-to-follow instructions
✓ Top tips for success every time
How to plant in a border
There will be a lot of plants to add to borders as spring progresses and the soil warms up. Potted summer bulbs, perennials, shrubs, roses and trees can all be planted in gaps to give the area an instant lift. Get the planting right with plants securely slotted into their new home and they will bring joy to the garden; some for months, some for many years.
You will need
Spade
Digging fork
Hand fork
Garden kneeler
Peat-free compost (bagged or homemade)
Watering can
TOP TIP
Use a piece of wood to scrape soil off your spade or trowel blade after planting, so it doesn't feel heavy to use
STEP BY STEP How to plant potted lilies in a border
1 Dig a hole slightly bigger than the size of the pot, then ease the plant out of its pot, holding it upside down.
2 Lower the lilies into the hole and plant at the same depth as they were in the pot. Add compost to the soil as you fill the hole.
3 Firm the soil around the base of the plant to ensure that it is well anchored and that the roots are in full contact with the soil.
4 Water the plant well, until puddles start to form on the soil surface. Water again next time the soil looks pale and dusty.
Do's and don'ts
DO remove weeds growing in the plant's pot before planting.
Do check roots of new potted plants for white grubs (vine weevil).
DO break up the soil at the bottom of the planting hole with a fork.
DO take care not to tread on plants close to where you are planting.
Esta historia es de la edición March 2022 de Gardeners World.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March 2022 de Gardeners World.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
A new plot for tasty crops
Taking on a new allotment needn't be hard work. By simply following a few easy tips you can have bumper crops in no time, just like Alessandro Vitale
We love July
July is an island floating between the joy of June and the slightly fatigued month of August. It's a grown-up month: the year has shrugged off its adolescent exuberances, the weather is (hopefully) warm enough for ice cream to be one of your five a day, the sea should be swimmable without (too much) danger of hypothermia and thoughts will be of holiday shenanigans and family barbecues. School's out this month, the next tranche of glorious summer colour is washing across our borders and it's my birthday. Lots of reasons to give three rousing cheers for July!
YOUR PRUNING MONTH
Now, at the height of summer, Frances Tophill shows how to boost your plants' health and productivity with a timely cut
Hassle-free harvests
Flowers are out in abundance this month and for Jack Wallington, many of these blooms make delicious, low-effort pickings
Bite-sized bounties
Glorious doorstep harvests can easily turn into gluts, so let Rukmini Iyer's recipes help you savour every last bit
Upcycled outdoor living
Create unique and stylish garden features for minimal cost using reclaimed materials and simple DIY skills. Helen Riches shares four step-by-step projects and more inspiring eco tips
Secrets of a COLOURFUL GARDEN
Buildings and landscapes can play a vital role in supercharging your space, as Nick Bailey demonstrates
Greening up a city balcony
Looking for sustainable, small-space gardening ideas? Take inspiration from Oliver Hymans' transformed balcony garden in north-east London - now a lush, green haven for humans and wildlife
The dry and mighty garden
As we adapt our gardens to a more volatile climate, Alan Titchmarsh reveals how to create a drought-tolerant plot and picks his top plant performers
Nature knows best
Carol Klein explains how to choose plants for specific growing conditions, based on what has naturally adapted to thrive there