Amateur Gardening

Every week, Amateur Gardening is the first choice for both beginners and knowledgeable gardeners looking for advice and easy-to-follow practical features on growing flowers, trees, shrubs as well as fruit and vegetables. Be inspired, by our beautifully illustrated features covering plant and flower groups, both home grown and exotic, and take a sneak peek into some of the most beautiful private gardens around the country. Plus, every week we feature expert opinion and tips from some of gardening’s most influential exponents including Toby Buckland, Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank, Peter Seabrook and Jo Whittingham.

Editor’s note

Grow your own good life • Cultivating fruit’n’veg is easy and satisfying, says Ruth

Think small but grow big • Little spaces are no hindrance when growing crops

Nature getting out of synch • Plants are blooming a month early due to climate crisis

Welcome back! • Gardens reopen for charities

Making gardening easier • Ruth suggests four way of staying on top this year

Getting the most from bulbs • Ruth takes steps to make sure her bulbs do their best

These toms are a delight • A popular variety with generous yields, says Ruth

The big squeeze • When it comes to sowing seeds and pricking out seedlings, space is always at a premium, says Bob

Weeds and seeds • Don’t disturb the soil while weeding in March, says Val

Focus on… Compact plots • Are you struggling for space? Worry not, as even the smallest plots can be havens for bountiful harvests. Lucy explains how to get better edibles from compact gardens

Sweet peas for colour • Sow bright sweet pea shades now for a riot of cheering colour and fresh cut flowers this summer, says Hazel Sillver, as she reveals the best types to buy

Perfect penstemons • Easy-going and with a long flowering season right up until the first frosts, penstemons are excellent border perennials available in a range of colours, says Anne Swithinbank

This week… Witch hazel • Add colour and fragrance to your garden in winter and early spring with a witch hazel

How to GROW WITH GRAHAM RICE

Ask John Negus John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week • Best shrubs for a vandal-proof hedge

Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: pruning a gum tree • Pruning eucalyptus

Gardening books and gardening in books • Fascinating facts about gardening books

Crossword … just for fun!

6 issues ε6

Tree-branch removal • Steve and Val Bradley explain how to execute a ‘jump cut’

The sloping garden • Patience and a love of colour have come together to make Jane Giddins’ Somerset garden more than worthy of its spectacular backdrop, as Sue Bradley explains

Letters to Wendy

The peat principle • As gardeners consider if peat-free is the answer, Toby looks at the impact on the peat bogs we are using