Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Because so many recipes make use of onions, shallots or garlic, growing them in your garden always seems like a sensible option to me. Not only are they all very easy to grow, these indispensable vegetables are simple to store for future use. Onions of ordinary size and quality can be grown in most soils. Always, check the specific instructions provided by your supplier, but the basics of growing onions, shallots and garlic, are laid out below. read more »

Growing potatoes is one of the most satisfying of all vegetable gardening adventures. Furthermore, potatoes are an excellent crop for new or neglected gardens as the root system breaks up the soil and improves its structure. There are few soils in which potatoes won’t grow reasonably well and the sequence below shows how simple the process can be. You do need to do a bit of preparation in getting your seed potatoes ready for planting, and because there are many varieties to choose from, always pay particular attention to the supplier’s guidelines on when exactly to plant. read more »

Garden tool kits do not need to include a huge selection of tools, but do need to contain the basics. Quality of tool is generally reflected in its price. It is always best to go for the most expensive you can afford. Cheaper tools can be useful for light work, or if you only use them infrequently. The selection of tools assembled below are what I consider to comprise a good gardening toolkit. The first group includes the essential hand tools for all gardens, large and small. Further down the page you will see how your gardening tool kit will need to expand as required. read more »

How to plant plants, shrubs, or even trees is a topic which can be simplified to a basic technique that can be applied to most planting situations in your garden. Fundamentally, you follow the same procedure whether you are dealing with a small bedding plant, or a much larger tree. If you are worried about the ground conditions, don’t be, as soil doesn’t need to be incredibly rich for the majority of plants to thrive, but it does need to be well drained, contain enough organic matter to stop it from drying out, and to encourage natural organisms. Below are my main considerations when deciding how to plant up a garden. read more »

Laying turf is the quick way of creating a lawn, and your next option if you don’t want to go down the lawn seeding route. Laying turf will be a more expensive option to seeding, but many people feel that is a price worth paying for such an instant result. Good preparation of the soil is still vital for laying turf and the sequence below picks out the main principles you should look to follow. read more »