It is now the moment to consider warming-up your seed beds in the vegetable garden. Before you sow or plant out your greenhouse seedlings, cover the area or bed with black plastic sheeting pegged to the ground, and above this, make a cloche from clear plastic or glass. The black plastic will collect the sun’s rays and warm the soil; the cloche holds the collected heat and raises the temperature which ensures better germination of your young plants and earlier crops. 

Warmer weather,gardening programmes and tempting advertisements on television, are all encouraging us to get out there and plant our gardens or new crops. However, bearing in mind that we could still get quite heavy frosts or even snow in some parts of the country, it is well worth purchasing protection fleece to cover your more vulnerable and young plants at night. It is not very expensive and will save your investment in your new plants.

It’s going to be a tough year for slugs. The hard winter will have destroyed many eggs and young hibernating slugs that were lying in wait for spring before attacking your vulnerable garden plants and fresh green vegetable shoots. The downside is, that winter will also have killed many of the slugs’ natural enemies such as birds and hedgehogs, and it is a certain bet that the slugs will recover faster than their predators. One of the best organic controls is the use of nematodes, a very small worm-like, parasitic organism which, worked into your garden soil in good time, will feed on slugs and stop the problem at source. It is safe to use and not harmful to humans, animals or plants.

If you fancy creating a place in your garden to get away from the kids, the mother-in-law or just a quite place to drink a peaceful cup of tea then this is the competition for you.

Shed Design Competition 2010. If you have an idea for a garden shed, write down some notes or draw some sketches detailing what makes your garden building stand out from the crowd. The lucky winner will have their garden shed made by our team at Walton’s and we’ll have it delivered to you all for Free*!For further details visit the Waltons web site click here

GardenAdvice.co.uk have designed daily and weekend gardening courses at Reading University. Perfect for anyone who is just starting out or an established gardener looking to hone their green fingers! Basic skills such as pruning, correct digging methods, growing your own shrubs, planting design and creating the perfect lawn are all covered. The cost for the daily course is 79 pounds per person which includes a 15 pounds voucher to spend on plants with GardenAdvice. There is also the opportunity to buy a range of gardening books at substantial discounts. Call on 0845 269 3183 or click http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/gardening-courses/index.html to book online. *special discounts are available to group bookings*

GardenAdvice.co.uk has created this specially designed one day course to teach you all the basic gardening skills to get you started. This short course is perfect for anyone who is just starting out or an established gardener looking to hone their green fingers! Basic skills such as pruning, correct digging methods, growing your own shrubs, planting design and creating the perfect lawn are all covered. The day includes practicle demonstrations and short talks. All course notes and materials are provided. The cost is 79 pounds per person which includes a 15 pounds voucher to spend on plants with GardenAdvice. There is also the opportunity to buy a rang of gardening books at substantial discounts. Call on 0845 269 3183 or click http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/gardening-courses/index.html to book online. *special discounts are available to group bookings*