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Beginner Plants: Native Flowers
The flowers I’m going to list here are native to the UK. They will attract various pollinators, and can be grown with minimum effort, mostly being able to just leave them once the seeds have been sown or planted. There are many more flowers to choose from, so there may be some native flowers that…
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Beginner Plants: Berries
For this category, I am referring to the culinary use of the word ‘berry’, and not the botanical term. The botanical definition is a fleshy fruit that grows from a single ovary, and includes fruits like bananas, cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines, and grapes. The ‘berries’ that I have chosen are blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries. None…
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Beginner Plants: Perennial Herbs
Perennial plants are plants that live for more than 2 years. So they will be a permanent or semi-permanent plant in your garden. Lemon Balm When to plant Sow seeds inside or outside from March to May. Transplant seedlings outside after all danger of frost has passed. Where to plant Lemon balm can grow in sun or…
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Covering Soil with Mulch During Winter
There are a few different ways in which you can cover your soil during the colder months where you won’t be growing most of your plants. This typically starts at some point during autumn, and continues until some point during spring. This mini post is about covering your soil with a layer of mulch, to…
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Beginner Plants: Annual Herbs
Annual plants are plants that complete their life cycle within one growing season before dying, going from seed to plant to flower to seed. Some of these plants can be kept alive through winter using certain methods, but they are generally considered annuals where you will let them die at the end of the season. Basil If…
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Leafmould
What is leafmould? Leafmould is the compost that is produced by the breakdown of leaves over time. While it doesn’t contain a huge amount of nutrients, it will still add some nutrients to your soil, and is a great soil conditioner. How do you make leafmould? Rake up fallen leaves. Then you can put them…
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Beginner Plants: Squashes
Squashes, or curcubits, are a group of flowering plants that produce edible fruits. The squashes that I’ve chosen for this series are cucumbers, courgettes, and winter squashes. These don’t need to go into a specific location in a crop rotation plan. Cucumber When to plant If you are sowing seeds inside, which is usually recommended,…
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Beginner Plants: Salad Leaves
Salad leaves are the leaves of vegetables that are eaten raw, and many different plants can be categorised that way, but I’ve chosen lettuce and spinach here, as they are the most commonly grown and are beginner friendly. They don’t need to be planted in a specific location in a crop rotation plan. Lettuce There…
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Beginner Plants: Onions and Root Vegetables
The last of the 4 plots in the 4-year crop rotation is onions & root vegetables. Plants in the onion family, otherwise known as alliums, grow below the ground. Root vegetables are a collection of plants from different ‘families’, where the edible root grows below ground. Legumes will follow in this plot next year, with…
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Beginner Plants: Potatoes and Tomatoes
The next of the 4 plots in the 4-year crop rotation is nightshades, which are a wide variety of flowering plants. These plants are planted in the plot where brassicas were planted the previous year. Onions & roots will follow them the year after in this plot, with legumes the year after that. The beginner plants…
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Welcome to my blog, where I talk about a variety of garden topics. Join me on my journey in the garden, which I started in 2020. I aim to simplify things and help as many people as possible, of all skill and experience levels, while showing you the things that I’m doing, including what has and hasn’t worked.
