Location, location…

Finding the perfect place for each cropping plant may seem like a tall order but it is possible, as Bob explains

ONE curious thing about a new garden is how almost anything will grow differently to how it managed in your last garden. A multitude of factors determine which crops thrive unaided, or pine away – well, unless you give them intensive care and support on top of all the usual efforts.

With enough enthusiasm, you can grow just about anything anywhere, but it’s sensible to grow what grows well easily. Naturally, gardens in the west are, in general, wetter – thus suiting crops such as leeks, runner beans and cabbages. Meanwhile, gardens in the east and southeast are sunnier and drier, so better suited to tomatoes and French beans.

It’s generally too cold (or rather, too short a season) in the north for such crops as sweetcorn, and too dry in the southeast for almost everything without lavish watering most years. And an old adage for soft fruit is that currants are best further south, and berries further north. Concentrating on crops suited to your region will make these reliable – more so if they also suit your soil. These factors interact; heavy, damp clay in a way ‘moves’ your garden more towards plants suiting the northwest, while sandy or stony soil ‘moves’ it southeast.

All that said, brassicas, swedes and leeks much prefer heavy clay, and carrots, garlic and tomatoes like it sandy, regardless of where they are.

Then there are the tendencies to pests and disease, so we find potatoes crop far heavier in the west but may be full of holes and more often get blight. So how can you decide what to grow? Without doubt, try anything you want – you never know. But also try to keep an eye on other plots and gardens near yours, and observe week by week what does well. Those will be your best crops to concentrate on over the coming years.

“A multitude of factors determine what thrives”

They reckon currants (like these redcurrants) are best grown further south, while berries fare better in the north Dithering over the best positions for beans, brassicas and leeks? Your geographical location may give you a head start…

Gardens in the east and southeast might be better suited to tomatoes like ‘Gardener’s Delight’ – but if you are north and you have sandy soil, you could swing the odds in your favour!

Try ‘Northern Extra Sweet’ if you fancy growing sweetcorn in the north