Alan Titchmarsh's gardening tips

The very best plant advice

Feature by Karen O\'Grady

No blooms?

Q: Why won\'t my wisteria flower?

The questions to ask are: Is it a grafted plant? Is it on a sunny wall? Do you feed it, and do you prune it? If you\'ve bought a grafted plant and you prune it in January (shortening all the side-shoots to finger length), and you also prune it in July (shortening all those long-questing growths to about a foot), and you\'ve got it on a sunny wall, and you give it some rose fertliser in March... it should flower. If it doesn\'t, dig it up, throw it away and buy a new one, because you\'ve got a flower-shy variety that obviously isn\'t doing well.

Feeling sluggish?

Q: How do I deal with slugs and snails?

It\'s always difficult with slugs and snails - you can try growing plants they don\'t like to eat. I find copper collars are quite good - you can put them around hostas when they\'re just coming through. You\'ll find that some hostas are more resistant to them than others - careful plant selection will get you out of a lot of problems.

Think in the box

Q: What plants would you recommend for a window box?

It depends whether the window box is in sun or shade. If it\'s shady, then busy lizzies are hard to beat for summer colour. I would always have two schemes in a window box - a winter-come-spring one, and a summer one. At the moment I\'ve got universal pansies (winter flowering pansies) with little dwarf narcissi coming up through them. When they\'re all finished I\'ll whip them out and put in summer flowers. What you can also do is have some permanent residents, perhaps a few ivies trailing from the front that are left in for both winter and summer arrangements.

Getting on

Q: Got any tips for older and less able gardeners?

Look towards raising up your garden to meet you - use tubs or pots that you find more easily accessible. If you can\'t cultivate the whole garden, then put some of it down to gravel and have plants growing up through the gravel, which makes for easy maintenance. You don\'t have to give up gardening, even when you think that your body is giving up!

Veg for beginners

Q: If somebody hasn\'t ever grown their own veg before, which vegetables would you advise them to start with?

A: The most important thing is to only grow things that you love eating! If  you like them, radish are very quick. Lettuces are really easy - just don\'t sow long rows of lettuce; sow three foot rows at time with two week intervals so you have some dotted around, rather than having them all grouped together. Simply grow the veg you like and then work out what you\'ve space for.

Get planning

Q: What is it vital to consider when planning a garden design?

Look at your site properly, being aware of the path of the sun. It\'s the really obvious, practical things that people often overlook. Do you want sun or shade? And what materials will be best to use? Consider how big a patio area needs to be - do you want to dine there? In which case a table and four chairs - or six if you\'re a larger family - will take up more room than you think. Measure it out!

Keep it cheap

Q: Do you have any tips for saving money in the garden?

A: Just by gardening you\'re saving money, seeds are still great value for money. Gardening has always been ‘credit-crunch\' friendly because you\'re growing your own - you don\'t cost your labour into growing vegetables. But the pleasure and comfort you get out of growing things is great therapy. There is great pleasure in picking something yourself, taking it inside, and cooking it. And getting it onto the plate within the hour means that your crops are sweeter - because the sugar hasn\'t turned to starch. 

Style guide

Q: How do I decide on a style or theme for the garden?

The style of the house makes a good starting point. It\'s always better to come off the house in my view with straight lines. If you come off with a curve the two don\'t complement one another. Look at the size, the scale, the shape of the house and the materials of the house as well. If the house is brick, then maybe a brick path would complement it. Look at your house when you\'re in the garden, as the house will be the backdrop, you want the garden to complement the house. And then, it comes down to your own tastes, whether you like a formal or informal design.

Think eco

Q: What are your tips for being eco-friendly in the garden?

A: Remember you do have a choice when it comes to being eco-friendly. Don\'t use pesticides, you\'ll notice you get the odd nibble here and there but the garden is not something to be contained, it\'s a living thing. It\'s living, breathing, natural, so perfection isn\'t there. It\'s not like painting a room. Things go wrong, but it\'s learning to accept that, and not getting quite so uptight about it when it goes wrong. Enjoying the best bits. If there\'s a hole in the hosta leaf, pull your chair a little bit further away so you can\'t see it!