Sowing seeds

Every spring, I try new plants from seed. From experience, I have discovered that seeds with hard coats or shells are best steeped in tepid water overnight. This encourages them to germinate faster. In particular, I find this helps with the germination of sweet peas. With smaller seeds, it’s important to sow them shallow and with very fine seeds, such as Begonias, it helps to mix them in some dry horticultural sand and sprinkle that on top of the compost. At this time of the year, the soil is still too wet and cold to sow directly outside, so I start seeds off on a windowsill or in my heated propagator.

Síle Nesbit, Co Meath