Gardening guru reveals secret hack to transform your vegetable garden for free – & why now’s the perfect time for it
AS a gardener, you wouldn’t plant a rhododendron in chalky soil. And when it comes to clematis – it ‘roots in the shade – scrambles up to the sun’ – while roses do well in heavier clay.
But why don’t we give the same attention to where our vegetables grow best?
This is what gardener and author Lucy Chamberlain is asking, with a brilliant new book ‘Grow Food Anywhere.’
Filled with crucial advice on how to zone your garden, it explains what veg grow best where and how to get the most out of your harvests.
She told Sun Gardening; “We put plants in the garden as edibles because we want to eat them – and that obviously is our primary driver.
“But if you can think about where you put them, you’ll end up with robust, content crops that will reward you with the very best harvest.
January gardening jobs
The Sun's Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine has shared the jobs that will keep you busy during the first month of the new year.
Don’t bin your Christmas tree
If your Christmas Tree is still hanging around, shred it and use as a mulch – or just cut it into sticks with secateurs, hide it somewhere it won’t be in the way and let it rot gently into your soil – adding nutrients and providing a home for insects.
Check on your roses
Now is a good time to prune your roses back. Make sure you cut just above the bud and with a slope, so water doesn’t collect.
Spruce your apple tree
Apple Trees also deserve a prune while they’re still dormant. Cut out dead, diseased and damaged branches – as well as ones that are crossing each other. Aim for a goblet shape.
Add extra colour to your borders
For a splash of winter colour get Hellebores and snowdrops into the ground.
Start planting fruit and veg
Plant Spring planting garlic – it’s best not to use supermarket versions as they’re not certified as disease-free. Make sure you keep the silvery husk on them.
Start forcing rhubarb for an early harvest – this means covering the crown with straw or a bucket to ensure you get lovely pink tender stems.
You can put raspberry canes out into the ground as long as the ground is not completely frozen. They’re dormant right now, so any time until March is good
You can grow onion seeds in warm place indoors for early growth – which gives you a much better chance of getting bigger bulbts. A windowsill is ideal, or a propagator. Use seed trays of decent seed compost – I really like Urban Wyrm seed compost – and make sure the trays are big enough to accommodate the incoming bulbs.
“If you’re thinking I’ve got a really shady corner, what the heck can I put there?
“Well, there’s loads and it will naturally do better than if you put it in the wrong spot.
“And tricky spots like full sun, dry, sandy soil – they’re not really tricky. It’s just that we need to put things in there like maritime crops with a whacking great big taproot.
“Your garden contains many individual microclimates and each one is able to provide different crops with exactly what they need.
“Every edible has evolved in a climate that it prefers – why not replicate that in your garden.
“It’s the beginning of the gardening year – so now’s the perfect time to think about it.”
Lucy’s Top Tips
Sunny and sheltered Peaches, nectarines, and apricots; sweet cherries; basil; runner beans; strawberries; tomatoes, peppers; aubergine, sweet potato.
Sunny, open, and dry Asparagus, salsify and scorzonera; summer purslane; lima beans; figs; grapes; globe artichoke
Sunny and moist Winter squashes and pumpkins; French and drying beans; Asian broccolis; courgettes and summer squashes; broccoli; potatoes; lettuces, pears
Open and Cold Onions and shallots; carrots and parsnips; broad beans; plums, damsons, beetroot; winter kales and cabbages; blueberries; leeks; turnips, swede
Part shade Salad rocket; annual spinach; raspberries; elder; mint, Swiss chard and perpetual spinach, pak choi
Shady and Wet Celeriac and celery; rhubarb; winter purslane; blackcurrants; parsley
Shady and Dry Gooseberries; red, pink, and whitecurrants; alpine strawberries; horseradish; hazelnuts; garlic mustard
Indoors Dwarf tomatoes; pea shoots; microleaves; prickly pear; lemongrass; citrus; ginger and relatives; pomegranate.
RHS Grow Food Anywhere is out now – published by DK Books.
Follow Lucy’s Gardening journey at @lucychamberlaingardens
Also in Veronica's Column this week...
News, top tips and a competition to win £200 worth of compost
NEWS! Would you like to share your garden design talent with thousands of gardening enthusiasts? Applications for the ‘BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair’ and ‘Gardeners World Live’ Beautiful Borders competition both close on 23 January. The Beautiful Borders are compact, 9m2 show gardens, bursting with creative design features and imaginative planting. Whether you’re a design or landscaping professional, a first-time designer or student, gardening club, community group or charity, they want to hear from you. Twelve bursaries worth £200 each are available to Spring Fair applicants for plants and props. The creative theme for this year is ‘Cultivating Connections’ and organisers are looking for small spaces with big impact. The Spring fair is May 2-4 and Gardeners World Live is June 12-15.
For more information visit www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com
NEWS! Is your lawn your pride and joy? Then why not shout it out from the rooftops by entering the Lawn Association competition running until February. Each month the team are offering lawn lovers the chance to show off their lawns by sending in a picture and verifying the date the photo was taken – and there are prizes to be won! Simply share a picture via social media using #winterlawncomp. Entrants can also email the team with their pictures at info@lawnassociation.org.uk . For more information visit the @LawnAssociation Facebook page
NEWS! The first Plant Fair Roadshow of the year – a ‘Snowdrops and Spring Fair’ – is at Hole Park Gardens, Rolvenden on February 2. Nurseries from the South of England will be offering locally grown and often unusual plants. Visit https://www.plantfairsroadshow.co.uk/
WIN! One lucky reader can win £200 worth of UrbanWyrm compost. The prize includes 300L of Peat-free Black Gold Organic along with 30L of pure worm casts. To for more details and to enter, visit www.thesun.co.uk/UrbanWyrm or write to Sun Urban Wyrm competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Ends 23.59GMT 1.2.25 T&Cs apply.
SAVE! Keep your compost steamy with Reotemp’s thermometer for £27.06 from Amazon, or go for B&Q’s version at £12.95
TOP TIP! Lots of seeds benefit from a good soaking before planting – try it with peas, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and pumpkins. 24 hours is enough – don’t soak longer or they might rot.
JOB OF THE WEEK! Get a colony of snowdrops growing in your garden – buy them ‘in the green’ which means already growing and ready to plant. Dig over your veg patch, incorporating new compost.
Follow me @biros_and_bloom