Top Tips From The City Gardener | Food

Date Published:: 18/10/2007

The final word

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is certainly rewarding for both body and mind but there is a lot to, well…digest. Here’s my top ten tips for those craving the good life.

1. The soil is the lifeblood of the vegetable garden and a healthy soil means healthy crops. To keep your soil in good heart dig in lashings of well-rotted organic matter or compost at least once a year (ideally in autumn) to improve soil structure and aid fertility. If you’ve no room to make your own compost use the bagged stuff from the garden centre, just be sure it’s peat free.

2. Weeds will compete with your crops for water, air, light, nutrients and space. Knock them on the head early before they become a problem. In most cases weed killers are unnecessary. Weeding by hand and mulching regularly will help suppress weeds better than any chemical. Compost, shredded bark or clean straw are very effective biodegradable mulches, simply spread a 3-4in layer around the base of each plant.

3. Pests and diseases are inevitable, but you needn’t reach for the Agent Orange at the first sign of an infestation

Vigilance is key; deal with an attack early and it won’t turn into a problem. In many cases simply spraying a pest off with a strong jet of water will do.
Keep your plants fed and well watered; a healthy plant is less susceptible to disease.
Use disease resistant varieties wherever possible.
Deal with pests the way Mother Natures does and encourage predatory insects and animals into your garden. Colourful ornamentals around your plot will encourage lacewings and ladybirds for example.
Use ‘companion’ plants to deter pests and diseases. Garlic will deter black spot on roses and to stop whitefly plant drifts of French marigolds through your crops.
Physical barriers and traps are an environmentally friendly method of control e.g. simple cardboard circles nestled at the base of cabbages and cauliflowers will prevent damage from cabbage root fly.
Good hygiene is a must. Remove debris and dead plant remains whenever you spot them.

4. Don’t forget to rotate the position of crops around the garden especially when growing on a larger scale. (See ornamental edibles for more details.)

5. To prolong the growing season (and protect your crops from pests and diseases) consider buying a glasshouse or polytunnel. If you’ve not the space for that try growing under small cloches of plastic or glass, they aren’t expensive and will double your plots cropping potential.

6. Propagating plants from scratch is the most fun part of growing your own. The secret is practice, practice… practice! Don’t give up if you have a few failures; green fingers come with experience. If you do buy in plants, choose a healthy, rounded, well-branched specimen to get things off to a good start.

7. In cities air pollution is a nuisance. Don’t grow vegetables and fruit in the front garden if it borders a busy road. If you have no choice, create barriers using tall planting to help collect brake dust and exhaust fumes, or grow crops under cover or indoors.

8. Ideally vegetables and fruit need a sunny well-drained spot to thrive however in small gardens we often have to take what we’re given! None-the-less don’t fight the characteristics of your site, pick plants according to the garden and not the gardener!

9. Research will help no end but this doesn’t mean trawling through complicated textbooks. In many cases the best person to ask is friends, family and neighbours, or if you’re really stuck friendly nursery folk. Gardening isn’t a spectator sport; it’s something we all have in common so if in doubt just ask!

10. And lastly… keep it simple. Start with a few easy-to-grow crops, like those we’ve looked at in past weeks and then as your confidence grows… so can your vegetable patch!

Check out how Matt James got on at a particularly awkward city garden in Hastings.