You really don’t need to spend a fortune on equipment in order to create a pretty garden. For many years I gardened on a very tiny budget. Of course it is lovely to have the fanciest pots and planters, and buy ready grown plants from the garden centre but it is possible to fill your plot with colour and vegetables in just one season. Doing it all from scratch is immensely satisfying, get your kids involved if you have them, get your partner involved and reach out to the community of gardeners around you. Start sowing seed early in the season. February to March is the time to get salad crops started, and choose what annuals what you fancy. If you are a novice go for easy to grow things like marigolds, chives, cosmos, antirrhinums, nasturtiums and sunflowers; climbers like sweet peas, morning glory and canary bird to hide an ugly fence or grow up rustic obelisks. The seed packet will be labelled as annuals and will flower in the first year. You can either sprinkle where you

Troublesome bed last summer Last week, despite the temperature, I piled on my jumpers and ventured outside to clear away more winter debris. Once I raked away dead leaves I could see the new shoots thrusting up from the soil and felt instantly better. At this time of year it is mostly 'housework' - it is rather like tidying up the morning after a heavy party but without the beer cans. I managed to surface tidy every bed, and lightly forked a few. Then the rain came back and after being chased out of the greenhouse by a monstrous spider, I was housebound again. Yesterday, it was sunny for a while so I went out again and today although the sun didn't put in an appearance, it wasn't cold. I persuaded my old fella to take a short break from the bathroom he is installing and replace the greenhouse glazing that was blown out over the course of the winter - now, I am worrying it will get windy and smash it all over again! I've cut back the fuchsias and tucked them

It is the last day of January and already it's been a tough year for me so far. The first month is always the worst; no money after Christmas, cold, long evenings, the garden assaulted by wind and salt and rain, not much fun on the beach in the biting cold wind. Since the end of autumn, as can be expected, we've had nothing but gales and rain, with just the odd bright day to keep us from total despair. I have always suffered with winter blues, perhaps I should live in a climate that allows you to garden all year round for it is the number one cure for depression. But now January is over; I have made it through the dark times, and can now venture outside to see what is happening. The bulbs are up, the daffodils just beginning to bloom, but unfortunately a nasty little mouse has eaten all the crocus I planted last autumn. (Note to self: Next year take precautions to protect crocus from vermin.)  Some things are blooming that really have no right to at this time