A little bit of community spirit

We’ve launched our fantastic Cultivation Street competition in conjunction with the Sunday Mirror and our brilliant new sponsor, Calliope® Flowers.

So if you are involved in a school or community gardening project, there is a total prize pot of £20,500 up for grabs. We’ve been rewarding people who make their schools, streets and communities better since 2012.

One of the key categories is for Garden Centre Ambassador of the year – rewarding those employees who go that extra mile to help out. This year’s top prize is a stunning £1,000, with a second prize of £500 – third prize is £300. Twelve runners-up get £100.

Last year’s Ambassador of the Year, Matthew Lewis of the Old Railway Line Garden Centre in Brecon, Powys, said: “I love working with community groups and schools. It’s very rewarding to see communities coming together and creating beautiful spaces within their town or village.

“I love growing fruit and veg in my own garden. It’s very rewarding to be able to pick food you have grown yourself for dinner. You can’t beat the fresh, delicious taste of homegrown food.

“I would encourage other garden centres to get involved and reach out to local community groups and schools to advise them of the benefits of taking part in Cultivation Street.” ■■Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and cultivationstreet.com. remove weeds by slicing the stem or cutting them out from the ground.

If you are waging war on dandelions in your garden, then go in for the kill with a corkscrew weeder, which is perfect for long, tap-rooted weeds and pulls the whole plant out in its entirety.

I also have a fantastic long-handled multi-weeder that can remove a variety of different weeds – it has a long reach to reduce back strain.

And don’t forget the razor hoe – this one has a sharp blade to slice out weeds and can also be used to scrape out weeds between paving slabs.

Every gardener has a different set of tools because every garden is different, so find what works for you and stick with it.

All my tools are from UK-based brand Kent & Stowe, which has a great range that are all durable, attractive and excellent quality.

Maintaining your tools with a sharpener and oil will go a long way in making sure they work properly. There are also lighter ranges available if you find heavy tools difficult to wield.

You can even get specialist kids tools that are lighter and perfectly sized for growing gardeners, enabling you to teach your little ones all about the wonders of the garden. If you’ve got big hedges, having a proper ladder is a must.

I’ve seen many gardeners making do with a rickety old stepladder that’s seen better days. Not only does this make the job harder, it can be highly dangerous too.

These Niwaki tripod ladders are purpose-made for gardens and pruning. They’re not cheap – this model costs £249 – but, frankly, they’ll last and last and keep you pruning safely.

I found them on niwaki.com.