The Summer months arrive in June, long days and warm weather so this is one of the busiest times in the garden. Radish 'French Breakfast' has crisp, oval, red and white roots while 'Scarlet Globe' is bright scarlet with white flesh. It's easy to get carried away when looking through seed and plant catalogues, so make sure you grow only what you really like, keeping experiments to a minimum. Many of those new to gardening see wildlife as the enemy - insects and their larvae defoliate plants, birds eat our fruit and mice nibble our pea and bean seeds. The Biodynamic Cycle is slightly more detailed and is based around the 12 Zodiac signs and the position of them in relation to the moon.

Getting started with vegetables - help and advice on growing

Beetroot can be sown direct into shallow drills in the soil, and are ready to harvest within a few weeks. Keeping an eye out for increasing numbers of pests like aphids, slugs and snails, will help keep your plants safe, and save you a lot of heartache.Lighter evenings and a smell of spring in the air, March is the time that your vegetable growing should step up a gear. The RHS Advisory Service has produced an A-Z of vegetable profiles - including growing, storing and disease problems - for numerous vegetable crops.

Vegetable planting calendar UK | Love The Garden

This way you can work out what to grow where, rather than getting carried away at the garden centre and ending up with a jumble of plants that don't look good together and might not suit your growing conditions. With high risks of frost in February, the depths of winter is a good time to seek solace in the sowing of seeds, knowing that spring is just around the corner. They require little attention and will provide you with a variety of flavours, colours and textures to enjoy in stir fries and salads. For the best results, grow your courgettes in fertile ground and water regularly, picking the courgettes when they're no longer than 10cm. Trees planted too deeply will never thrive, and root-balls that sit proud of the soil surface will dry out quickly, leading to the eventual death of the plant.

Our experts have put together a number of advice pages to help you get started in the vegetable garden. The first to flower is usually Philadelphus coronarius, a native of southeast Europe with abundant, creamy, star-like flowers and a scent that can catch you by surprise metres away. What could be nicer than eating food you have grown yourself or eating an evening meal on the patio surrounded by the fragrance of scented plants you have grown?

10 Easy-to-Grow Vegetables for Beginners | BBC Gardeners

Defender' F1 is a British variety, ideal for small spaces, and is resistant to cucumber mosaic virus. Take a look at what's growing – camellias, magnolias and pieris will tell you the soil is acidic, while absence of these suggests a more alkaline soil. Composting kitchen and garden waste is good for the environment, wildlife, your purse and also your garden.Instead, it's best to grow crops that require little maintenance, are ready to harvest within a short time, and suffer few pests and diseases.

Grow plants - BBC Gardeners World Magazine

With the risk of frost now past it’s time to take advantage of those April showers and get your vegetable patch working hard. With hundreds of different varieties and types to choose from growing your own vegetables can be hugely rewarding. Let the waste break down for a year and then use it as a mulch around the base of plants in your garden and veg patch.Bush tomatoes are easier to grow than cordon varieties, as they don't need supporting and their side shoots do not require pricking out. It can be hard to know when and how to start a garden, but we're here to guide you through the process. Salad leaves like rocket and oak-leaf lettuce can be sown in pots and harvested on a cut-and-come-again basis, so you don't need to tend the plants for long.