The Herald - The Herald Magazine
You don’t need to be a pro to start pottering
ARE you frightened of your garden? Terrified of killing your plants and overwhelmed by the sheer choice of species? Gardening expert and author Charlie Hart is here to help with his new book, No Fear Gardening, aimed at budding gardeners who simply don’t know where to start.
And even if you’re a total beginner, with just a tiny balcony or a small backyard, you can ease into gardening and find relatively quick success, he promises.
“The most important thing is to make sure you’re enjoying yourself,” says Hart. “Don’t fall into the trap of thinking only experts can garden – and follow your instinct.”
FORGET NEEDING TO BE AN ‘EXPERT’
In fact, he adds: “Don’t get too caught up in the rule. People get caught up in a terrible flurry, start reading online and look at how to do this and that. Seeds want to grow. All you have to do is give them sun, water and soil.”
OR BEING A CONTROL-FREAK...
Things don’t have to look perfect, either. “Don’t worry about the garden being a bit out of control. As a species, we try to control everything. All the fun is in letting it go a bit. Win that battle in your mind,” says Hart. “I would rather have a slightly messy but abundant and productive garden, than a wonderfully tidy but sterile one.”
DON’T FORGET HERBS
“Parsley is easy, and it will stand through the winter when other herbs have vanished or are feeling sorry for themselves,” says Hart. “Given the potential reward, I’d strongly advise people to grow basil. Start the seed off in trays on a windowsill and let them grow on. I don’t pot them on. I treat them like some people treat lettuce.
“Once they reach a suitable height and it’s warm enough outside, I plant them straight from the tray into the ground. Think of basil as a shrub rather than a standard herb.
“If you can plant it in a pot with a reasonable root run, it should be all right, if you have a sunny spot.”
GROW UP AS WELL AS OUT
“Think about your small space not just horizontally but vertically. There’s nothing to say you can’t train a vine up a drainpipe, or why you can’t grow all sorts of soft fruit and train it in such a way that it doesn’t steal all the light from the rest of the garden.”
Veg such as climbing beans will make the most use of your vertical space, Hart recommends.
DON’T LET A SMALL GARDEN PUT YOU OFF
Tomatoes are great for small spaces, says Hart. “Of all the plants I grow, tomatoes give me the most pleasure. They are good for a small garden. They love the sun and you can grow bush varieties in a container and move it around to find the sun during the day.
“Grow them in a big tub. They want a good root run and they are quite hungry. Good varieties include Gardeners’ Delight.”
The simplest thing to grow is salad, which can be grown in small containers or even an old piece of gutter. Of all the salads, the easiest to grow is rocket.
START WITH EASY FLOWERS
“My go-to flowering plant is a pelargonium. They’re very pretty and you can get varieties with citrus-scented leaves, which are glorious. They’re fairly bullet-proof in summer and they are easy to propagate, so if you have one plant you can make several more without leaving the house. ”
No Fear Gardening: How To Think Like A Gardener by Charlie Hart, £16.99