A pot a day keeps the gardener at play Our own garden isn’t large by any means so ever since I started gardening, container growing has been an essential part of its success. I particularly enjoy growing in pots and appreciate the exciting potential

What instantly comes to mind was the wonderful tongue-in-cheek re-titling of a piece I wrote; on frozen pools and ponds, on letting noxious gases out, and debating whether it was so wrong to smash the ice if that was deemed necessary - “Bob says now’

Beneficial insects will create a buzz even in a small space, writes Chris Collins, Garden Organic’s Head of Horticulture Insects don’t care how big your garden is – if you provide food and shelter, they’ll use your tiny plot as a stepping stone to ot

Do vegetable swedes have anything to do with Sweden? Well, yes they do. Some people refer to them as Swedish turnips. They were introduced to the UK from Holland in 1867, but they were first grown commercially in Sweden, as they are ideally suited to

Hi Kim! Please find my contribution for Poetry Corner. I think one of the best things about gardening is shared experiences. Monty Don shared his garden with Nigel but I much prefer a cat! Sadly, my cat, Fudge, passed away in January. My cat is… a ho

Time spent nurturing plants keeps money in the bank, says Ruth In the last issue I explained how having a naturally diverse garden with lots of birds, animals and insects can help keep pest populations low, saving you money on chemicals that kill or

Lucy explains how to make the most of the next few weeks As the daughter of commercial asparagus growers, I’ve eaten more than my fair share of these delicious and tender spears over the years. I also know quite a few secrets to this crop’s success,

Your lovely letters, emails and social media posts continue to flow in beautifully. Every message, poem, idea and comment matters. Please keep them coming. We will send out a thank you gift for every item published in the magazine so do please send y

This action-packed anniversary issue has been so exciting to pull together, with so many features to cram in, that I’ve squeezed my own pages down to one to accommodate everything else. As there’s nothing like a big anniversary to make one reminisce

The need to grow more of our own fruit and veg has been thrown into sharp focus as farmers are warning that dire winter and spring weather is likely to ruin many important crops. Farmers in many parts of the UK have been unable to plant crops such as

Beat the trend with these astounding beauties This anniversary edition of Amateur Gardening really got me feeling nostalgic, as I remember thumbing through the magazine when I was just eight years old, sitting in my grandparents’ house on a Sunday mo

Editor Kim Stoddart E-mail: Editor@amateurgardening.com Website: www.amateurgardening.com CEO Steve Wright Managing director Steve Kendall Group publisher Fiona Mercer Group web editor Rachel Harper Subscriptions marketing manager Claire Aspinall Ret

Ruth gets to grips with the most important May tasks The first ever issue of Amateur Gardening was issued 140 years ago this month and I am sure that Victorian gardeners were kept as busy in their plots at this time of year as we are today. There is

“The countdown is on for the premier show of the horticultural year, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and we can’t wait to see this year’s gardens. Last year one of our favourites was Sarah Price’s garden and we were very proud to have supplied many of the i

Celebrating the 140th birthday of our venerable mag has set me thinking about how food has changed over the years. I was born three years after rationing ended following World War II and grew up during the 1960s and 70s. There was not much variety, f