Sow much for spring!
AFTER enduring a heatwave and hail storms in April, gardeners will be hoping for warmer weather in May. We’re now in National Gardening Week so the Royal Horticultural Society is running extra workshops and activities at its five gardens and offering loads of top tips on its website (rhs.org.uk), where there are details of its Big Seed Sow 2024 campaign, which runs until May 12.
Some of the best British companies for seeds include Suttons, and Thompson & Morgan, which constantly improve the disease resistance, flowering and harvest capacity of their products.
They also have a large range of plug plants – from lavender to tomatoes – which many gardeners find much easier to grow on indoors until they’re big enough to be planted outside, rather than growing from seed.
Dobbies has some wonderful kit for this including its stylish Bamboo Grow Light, a bamboo stand with LED lights that mimic daylight to aid photosynthesis and produce rapid natural growth.
It’s a Scandinavian design and is also very good for growing herbs or salad leaves indoors or for displaying succulents such as sedums and houseleeks.
Outdoor gardening may require protective gloves and Feverfew Garden Company, which specialises in women’s garden clothes, offers four sizes all with padded palms for extra comfort and reinforced fingertips with touchscreen forefingers and thumbs.
Meanwhile Kent & Stowe, part of Westland Horticulture, has a range of Garden Life tools that are smaller and 40 per cent lighter than its standard stainless steel tools.