Welcome

Gardeners are famous for ingenuity – after all, we’re generally a practical bunch and if you want something enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen. So we think you’ll like the ingenious ideas throughout this issue, designed to help you get more from your garden. We go back to basics with Monty and Carol, on the right way to grow those two essentials: tomatoes and dahlias. We’ve got long-term solutions for the age-old problems of pests and weeds; and we’ve mapped out a foolproof plan to guarantee you fresh veg on Christmas Day (clue: you start now!). Most ingenious of all, our 16-page Small Space Solutions section shows you 20 achievable, economic – and clever – ways to grow on any size plot. Since Gardeners’ World launched 50 years ago (see page 25) our gardens have flourished in many ways, but size isn’t one of them. We mostly now live cheek by jowl in cities or suburbs, and gardens are shrinking, yet the need to get our hands in soil runs as deep as ever. So from a garden in a gutter and greening up walls, to an allotment on your windowsill, get stuck in with our ideas on page 63. And we’re inviting you to share with us the creativity you’ve poured into your own plot, for our Garden of the Year Competition. We’ve got amazing prizes on offffffer, and it’s easy to enter, so find out more on page 72. Enjoy this great gardening month, and see you here next time...