Gardeners’ World star Alan Titchmarsh has issued important advice for any gardeners who work away from home during the day
Alan Titchmarsh has advice for gardeners who ‘work away all day'(Image: ITV)
Renowned gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh has shared some invaluable tips for those who spend their days “away all day at work”. The television presenter and horticulturalist believes now is the perfect time to get started growing your own vegetables.
While many gardening enthusiasts choose to cultivate directly in the ground or tend to their own allotment, Alan insists that limited outdoor space needn’t be a barrier. For those blessed with only the “tiniest of patios or balconies”, he recommends container gardening as an ideal alternative.
The green-fingered presenter has himself been utilising pots to cultivate lettuce, beans and radishes at his own home. He does, however, caution that those who are out during the day must ensure they select the correct type of container for their plants.
Speaking on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine YouTube channel, Alan said: “You don’t need a vast allotment to grow veg. If all you’ve got is the doorstep or the tiniest of patios or balconies, you can still grow things to eat.
“What you need is a large pot. I say large because small ones tend to dry out and if you’re away all day at work, you’ll come back and find your plant is completely desiccated.”
Alan says any size plot can be used for growing vegetables(Image: Jeff Spicer, Getty Images)
Alan favours ordinary peat-free multipurpose compost when planting his vegetables, ensuring his containers have adequate drainage holes so any “surplus water can escape”.
He also points out that although gardens can be grown from established plants, it is “even cheaper” to raise vegetables from seeds, recently highlighting radishes and spring onions as particularly worthwhile choices.
When sowing the seeds, he prefers to create a small drill – a type of shallow trench – in his compost by pressing a cane across the surface. He then enjoys sprinkling his seeds, “almost like salt,” into his palm before positioning each seed approximately half an inch from the next.
He continued: “Then pull the compost with your fingers, right the way across. I moistened this [soil] before I put them in to make it easier to do.”
Vegetables can be grown in bags(Image: Getty)
Alan subsequently waters his seeds to “settle them into position”. He added: “It’ll take you next to no time to do them but boy, will you feel proud when you’re picking your first crop.”
Alan has previously highlighted that grow bags offer an excellent method for transforming your garden into a productive vegetable plot. Writing in the Express back in 2015, he said: “Lay two or three in a row along the foot of a wall, cut the tops open, following the directions, and loosen the compost with the prongs of a small hand fork. Then just sprinkle some salad seeds over the surface.”
He recommends providing your vegetables with regular watering and feeding throughout their growth. If you choose grow bags, Alan notes they can be utilised again after harvesting your produce.
He added: “In eight or 10 weeks’ time, when your salad crop comes to an end, you can re-use the bags. Pull out the remains of the old plants into each bag, planting them in a straight line down the middle.”
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