First stages in setting up a fruit and vegetable garden
If you are considering growing some of your own fruit and vegetable garden a bit of thought and planning in January and February can make sure your venue is well on the way to a successful year.
Here are the key point that the GardenAdvice Advisors get our MyGardenTeam service members to consider
• Position of your fruit and vegetable garden – this is key it has to be in a sunny shelter position. With regards to shelter you can create this with hedges and windbreak but your fruit and vegetable garden has to be in a sunny position, under trees or in the shade of a wall all day long is not a good position.
• Next you need to selected what you wish to grow. A good place to start is to write down your favourite meals or dishes most will have an element you can grow. Currently some of the GardenAdvice teams favourite are fresh asparagus, fresh peas, forced rhubarb and blanched chicory.
• Consider crops that are best really fresh such as asparagus and new potatoes and fruit and vegetables you just cannot buy easily. Growing vast amounts of tomatoes and potatoes is fine but its a lot of work especially when you realise that you could have purchase them in the supermarket at a low cost.
• Once you have a list of the fruit and vegetables you wish to grow next think about the soil each crop needs. For example asparagus is from family of sea shore plants so thrives in a salty soil, the brassica family needs lime, rhubarb needs a heavy soil to supply water for the springs quick growth. You should be looking to engineer each area of soil to suit your crops – Mushroom compost will make the soil more moisture retentive and raise the soil pH, well rotted farmyard manure will lower the soils pH
• One of the keys with vegetables is to start early using black plastic and cloches to cover the soil once its been prepared will help to collect the suns heat and warm up to soil and speed you the early seasons growth once the seed and new plants are planted out.
The MyGardenTeam service from GardenAdvice provides you with your own expert gardener on the GardenAdvice staff to help you plan and create a fruit and vegetable garden. Click Here for further details
Gardening course for beginners from GardenAdvice
One day gardening courses especially created for beginners run in your own garden by the GardenAdvice expert gardeners. Available as a gift voucher for the gardener in your life.
Become a gardener with the GardenAdvice Gardening Course.
If you are new to gardening it can all seem a bit complicated at first with all the Latin names and the gardening terminology. GardenAdvice.co.uk have developed a especially designed short one day course to be able to teach you all the basic skills of gardening to get you started.
The courses in your own garden cover such basic skills as pruning, correct digging methods, growing your own shrubs and creating the perfect lawn. See some of our clients our gardening course and our MyGardenTeam service on Instagram and the client section on the GardenAdvice website.
For further information visit or gardening courses section.
